Dr Samuel Akande is a visionary researcher and consultant with 12+ years of experience, applying geospatial technologies to provide early warning services against environmental hazards and also enhance the socio-economic opportunities for both the private and public sectors. In achieving transformative results, he grasp the principles of leveraging regional operations, change leadership, quantitative analysis, project management, and human capital development.
His doctoral research titled, “Coastal Vulnerability Assessments and Adaptation to Climate Change and Extreme Events along the Gulf of Guinea” provided some answers to the issues of coastal hazards along West Africa. The research, through the support of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Future Earth was advanced to “Enhancing Adaptation and Resilience against multi-hazards along West Africa’s Coasts” (EARWAC) Dashboard. The Enhancing Adaptation and Resilience against multi-hazards along West Africa’s Coasts” (EARWAC) is a web-based visualisation tool that currently combines Earth Observation data and local indicators to generate detailed maps and analytical charts on coastal flood vulnerability index, flash flood (historical and projected), land cover, and at-risk populations at different administrative zones.
After his doctoral degree, he took up a position as a Visiting Researcher under the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) African SWIFT, a programme led by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), United Kingdom. He was stationed at the African Centre for Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD), Niger Republic. There, I assisted the team on improving the accuracy of weather forecasting capability, from hourly to seasonal timescales, to protect the lives and livelihoods of African people while improving their socio-economic values.
