Climate Change

Prof. Dr. Daniela Jacob

Director of Institute

Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS)

Prof Dr Daniela Jacob studied meteorology in Darmstadt and obtained her doctorate in Hamburg. Since 2015, Daniela Jacob has been Director of the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS), an institution of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon.

She is also a visiting professor at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg. She was the coordinating lead author of the IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and one of the lead authors of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (WG 2).

Daniela Jacob is Chair of the Climate Council of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and of the German Committee for Sustainability Research in Future Earth (DKN) and Co-Chair of WPN2030. She was a member of the European Commission's Mission Board for "Adaptation to Climate Change including Societal Transformation". She is also a member of the Earth League and the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Destination Earth Initiative. Daniela Jacob has been an ECMWF Fellow since 2021.

Her research focuses on regional climate modelling, climate services and adaptation to climate change, as well as scientific support for the societal transformation towards a sustainable and climate-resilient 1.5°C lifestyle.

Until 2024, Daniela Jacob was editor-in-chief of the journal "Climate Services", a scientific journal she co-founded with Elsevier.

Kristie L. Ebi

Professor, Global Health

Professor, Env. and Occ. Health Sciences

University of Washington, Department of Global Health

Kristie L. Ebi, Ph.D., MPH has been conducting research and practice on the health risks of climate variability and change for 25 years.

Her research focuses on understanding sources of vulnerability; estimating current and future health risks of climate change; designing adaptation policies and measures to reduce risks in multi-stressor environments; and estimating the health co-benefits of mitigation policies. She has supported multiple countries in Central America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific in assessing their vulnerabilities and implementing adaptation policies and programs.

Education:

• PhD (University of Michigan)
• MPH (University of Michigan)
• MS (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
• BS (Michigan State University)

Expertise:

• Sustainable Communities
• Climate Change
• Heat
• Policy
• Risk Assessment

Professor Virginia Murray

Consultant in Global Disaster Risk Reduction at Public Health England

Visiting Professor in Health Protection, MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College and King’s College, London

Policy Fellow Alum, Centre for Science and Policy

Virginia Murray, FFPH, FRCP, FFOM, FRCPath, is a distinguished medical professional with a comprehensive background in medicine and toxicology.

She commenced her career at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital Poisons Unit in 1980 and advanced to the role of consultant medical toxicologist in 1986. Notably, in 1989, she established the Chemical Incident Research Programme and subsequently held the position of Director of the Chemical Incident Response Service from 1995.

In April 2014, Murray assumed the role of Consultant in Global Disaster Risk Reduction for Public Health England, aligning with her concurrent responsibilities as vice-chair of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) Scientific and Technical Advisory Group and Chair of the Science & Technology Organizing Committee for the UNISDR Science and Technology Conference. Her unwavering commitment to public health also led her to join the Health Protection Agency’s Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards (CRCE) in 2003, where she provided expert counsel on the toxicological and environmental aspects of responding to chemical and extreme event incidents.

Murray's academic contributions include her appointment as a Visiting Professor in Health Protection at Imperial College and King’s College, London in 2004. Furthermore, she assumed the pivotal role of Head of HPA’s Extreme Events and Health Protection section on January 1, 2011, which transitioned to Public Health England in April 2013. In this capacity, she has focused on advancing evidence-based information and advice pertaining to flooding, heat, cold, volcanic ash, and other extreme weather and natural hazards events.

Murray's influence extends beyond her professional capacities, as evidenced by her role as a Coordinating Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation, published in March 2012.

Moreover, her active involvement in the UN International Strategy for Disaster Scientific and Technical Advisory Group and the Hyogo Framework for Action Mid-Term Review Advisory Group underscores her enduring commitment to representing science in disaster risk reduction initiatives.