Nick van de Giesen receives AGU Ambassador Award
Prof. dr. ir. Nick van de Giesen has received the AGU Ambassador Award. He is highly appreciated for empowering sub-saharan African communities in measuring and understanding their climate and improve local climate resilience. This award is given in recognition of his outstanding contributions to empowering sub-saharan African communities in measuring and understanding their climate and improving local climate resilience. AGU, the world's largest Earth and Space Science association, annually recognizes a select number of individuals for its highest honors. The Ambassador Award is given annually to between one and five honorees in recognition of their outstanding contributions to one or more of the following areas: societal impact, service to the Earth and space community, scientific leadership, and promotion of talent/career pool. The Ambassador Award honors individuals whose achievements extend beyond those recognized by traditional scientific discipline awards.
Nick is co-founder of the Stichting TAHMO project, which has developed and installed a vast network of 640 weather stations across Africa. The network needs to be locally owned and maintained and be a benefit for local communities. Now, ten years after its beginning, TAHMO is fully self-sustaining and operated by local African staff. More than 90% of TAHMO stations are located at schools, supporting the climate curriculum. Thanks to this weather station network, new projects (TWIGA and TEMBO) improve the usability of satellite data for farming decisions or flood and drought predictions. This brings great value to African and global communities.
In addition, since January 2015, he has been chairman of TU Delft | Global Initiative. Currently, Nick van de Giesen also chairs the Route 23: Sustainable Development Goals of the National Science Agenda . In this role, and together with this consortium, he is developing GROW (Graduate Research on Worldwide Challenges): an Africa-Netherlands Ph.D. programme focussing on advancing the SDGs in Africa.
We are proud that the AGU has awarded Nick van de Giesen with the Ambassador Award, honoring his achievements that extend beyond those recognised by traditional scientific discipline awards.