Dr. James W. Hansen

BIOGRAPHY:

James Hansen is a Senior Research Scientist at the IRI, where he has worked since 1999. With a background in Agricultural Systems, his work at IRI aims to strengthen the use of climate information for smallholder agriculture and food security in the developing world. 

Research interests:

• Translation of climate information into actionable forms for agriculture and food security management;
• Rural climate service communication strategies and challenges;
• Scaling, sustainability and equity challenges in agricultural climate services; and
• Livelihood and food security impacts of climate services and climate risk management interventions.

His current work focuses on integration of climate services with climate-smart agricultural practices, and curriculum to strengthen the capacity of current and future agricultural professionals in sub-Saharan Africa to use climate information to manage agricultural risk.

From 2009 to 2019, Dr. Hansen served on the leadership team of the CGIAR research program on Climate, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), leading its Flagship Program on Climate Services and Safety Nets. CCAFS Flagship contributions during this period included expanding farmers' access to improved climate information, strengthening capacity of African National Meteorological Services to provide locally useful climate information at scale, new index-based agricultural insurance solutions, and evidence of livelihood and food security impacts of climate services and climate risk management. 

He holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from the University of Florida, and an M.S. in Agronomy and Soil Science and B.S. in General Tropical Agriculture from the University of Hawaii.