Dr. Simon J. Mason

BIOGRAPHY:

Simon Mason has been involved in seasonal climate forecasting research and operations since the early 1990s. He has published numerous papers on seasonal climate forecasting and verification, and on climate services, and works primarily at the interface between climate science and application in sectors such as health, disasters, and agriculture. He is the lead developer of the Climate Predictability Tool (CPT), which is used in seasonal and sub-seasonal climate forecast operations and research around the world. Mason has extensive experience in the production and translation of climate information in contexts such as the Regional Climate Outlook Forums. He works closely with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to promote the definition and adoption of forecasting and verification standards, and to assist National Meteorolgoical Services in the development of climate services. He was a member of the drafting team for the High-Level Task Force on the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), and was a lead author for the GFCS Implementation Plan. He currently contributes to the WMO's heatwave activities under the Early Warnings for All initiative. In 2018, Mason was awarded the World Meteorological Organization Commission for Climatology Award for Outstanding Service. Mason joined the IRI in 1997, working initially at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and moving to Columbia University in 2003. He is the longest-serving member of the IRI. Prior to joining the IRI, Mason was deputy director of the Climatology Research Group at the University of the Witwatersrand, in South Africa, where he developed models for predicting southern African rainfall variability.