International Coordination Office for Polar Prediction (ICO)

The International Coordination Office for Polar Prediction (ICO) supports the Polar Prediction Initiative which is an undertaking by WWRP (World Weather Research Programme) together with PCPI, the Polar Climate Predictability Initiative by WCRP (World Climate Research Programme).

The ICO is hosted by the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) having entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the WMO

You can reach out to the ICO at office (at) polarprediction.net. Read more about the tasks and responsibilities of the ICO.

Staff

Kirstin Werner (former Director)

Kirstin has worked as a freelance journalist and in the media departments of the Alfred Wegener Institute and the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum. During her PhD and postdocs at GEOMAR (Kiel, Germany), the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (Boulder, Colorado, USA), and the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center (Columbus, Ohio, USA), she studied high-resolution sediment cores from the eastern Fram Strait in order to understand the variability of heat transfer to the Arctic Ocean and corresponding changes in the sea-ice extent during the past ca 12,000 years. In 2017, Kirstin completed her on-the-job master studies in Science Marketing at the Technical University Berlin with a study on internal and external communication in the Polar Prediction Project.

Katharina Kirchhoff (Administration)

e-mail: katharina.kirchhoff (at) awi.de

Katharina holds a Bachelor degree in Applied Business Chinese and a Master degree in Sustainability Economics and Management. After her studies, she joined Alfred Wegener Institute to support the climate research. She supports the sections Paleoclimate Dynamics and Climate Dynamics including the Polar Prediction Project as well as many other national and international research projects as the first contact for administrative or organisational questions and issues.

Jeff Wilson (WMO Consultant)

e-mail: jeffwilson (at) netspace.net.au 

Prior to holding his position as Director of the WMO Education and Training Office for nearly nine years until 2016, Jeff Wilson worked as an educator, trainer and Principal of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology Training Centre for more than 27 years. In addition to his extensive experience in education and training, he worked as a forecaster with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for five years including three summer seasons providing forecasting support for land, sea and air operations in Antarctica. Jeff Wilson started his career as a glaciologist with the Australian Antarctic Division analysing Antarctic ice cores for evidence of climate change and was awarded a Polar Medal for his work in Antarctica in 1977.

Nadine Hillenbrand

e-mail: Nadine.Hillenbrand (at) awi.de

Nadine studied at the University of Heidelberg receiving a Master in Geography and a Bachelor Degree in American Studies. She joined the Alfred Wegener Institute in 2017 working for the project "klimafit" to develop an adult education program on climate change with REKLIM. Besides her work for klimafit, Nadine is now supporting the International Coordination Office for Polar Prediction.
 

Helge F. Goessling

e-mail: helge.goessling (at) awi.de

Helge is a physicist specialized in climate modelling and polar prediction, with a particular focus on sea ice prediction and verification. Serving as director of the PPP/YOPP coordination office since 2014, he is involved in a broad range of YOPP-related activities, ranging from modelling and forecasting via the polar observing system to user engagement, education, and dissemination.

Former Members

Sara Pasqualetto (Outreach and Communications, 01 December 2018 – 30 June 2021)

Jakob Hafner (Intern, 01 June – 08 July 2021, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany)

Patrick Hansen (Intern, 10 May – 2 July 2021, Technical University in Brunswick, Germany)

Manon John (Student Assistant, March 2020 – May 2021, Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences, Germany)

Mayleen Schlund (Intern, 22 February 2021 – 28 May 2021, Leibniz University Hanover, Germany)

Nikoleta Petridi (Intern, 15 March 2021 – 09 May 2021, University of Athens, Greece)

Daniel Butkaitis (Intern, 01 September 2020 – 28 February 2021, University of Applied Forest Sciences Rottenburg)

Laura Hüßner (Intern, 01 September 2020 – 29 January 2021, University of Applied Science Weihenstephan Triesdorf)

Anastasia (Nastia) Maksimova (Intern, 01 April – 30 June 2020, University of Bremen)

Aaron-Christoph Frehlich (Intern, 03 February – 27 March 2020, Göttingen University)

Ann-Christin Stucke (Intern, 16 September – 17 December 2019, Kiel University)

Malena Andernach (Intern, 01 July – 09 August 2019, Göttingen University)

Juyeon Bae (Student Helper, 01 December 2018 - 28 February 2019, University of Bremen)

Peter Chen (WMO Consultant)

Neil Gordon (WMO Consultant)

Winfried Hoke (Scientific Support)

Stefanie Klebe (Administrative Support)

Kim Schnackenberg (Intern, 01 March – 31 May 2019; Osnabrück University)

Richard Swinbank (WMO Consultant)

Address

International Coordination Office for Polar Prediction (ICO)
Alfred Wegener Institute
Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
Bussestrasse 24
27570 Bremerhaven
GERMANY