Janita Pahalad

About

Climatologist, Program/project management, capacity development and training, stakeholder engagement ,

Pacific Science Solutions

Summary

I am the Managing Director for the Pacific Science Solutions, a science consultancy service based in Suva, Fiji. I have a major in climatology (Bachelor of Science) from Macquarie University, Australia and my first job was as a scientific officer at the Fiji Meteorological Services in January 1993. I was heading the Fiji Climate Service Division by the time I left the service in 2001 and I moved to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. In January 2004, I became the Team Leader for an Australian Government funded project titled Pacific Islands Climate Prediction Project (PICPP). I continued managing the project until February 2012 when I moved onto to managing a much larger Australian funded (AUD 33.3M) program known Climate and Ocean Support Program in the Pacific (COSPPac).
Both projects involved at least 10 Pacific Islands. I have co-authored several WMO publications, and have been a member of a WMO working groups. I have been recognised as a regional expert on climate services.

Qualifications and credentials

Bachelor of Science (major in Climatology), 1985 - 1992 (part-time), Completed, Macquarie University

PRINCE2 Foundation, Completed

PMBOK Project managment course, 2014, Completed

Project Management Institute, Member, November 2014 - current

English, Excellent, Excellent, Excellent, Excellent

Hindi, Average, Good, Average, Excellent

Work experience

M & E specialist

Proposal writing/Report writing

Capacity building specialist

Project managment (planning, designing, implementation and monitoring)

Pacific Science Solutions, Managing Director, Suva, Fiji, Melbourne-based, Program Manager, Climate and Oceans Support Program in the Pacific (COSPPac), COSPPac is a Australian Government funded, Australian Bureau of Meteorology managed project working with Pacific Island stakeholders to analyse and in, Honiara, Solomon Islands, Development of a National Drought Policy in the Solomon Islands., Pacific Science Solutions is working with World Meteorological Organisation, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Solomon Island

Australiah Bureau of Meteorology, Program Manager - Climate and Oceans Support Program in the Pacific, Melbourne, Australia

Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Project Team Leader - Pacific Islands Climate Prediction Project, Melbourne, Australia, Based in Melbourne but implemented in ten Pacific Islands, Project Team Leader, Pacific Islands Climate Prediction Project, Seasonal to inter-annual climate variability has important practical, planning and policy implications for Pacific Island Countries (PICs). Acknowledg

Fiji Meteorological Services, Climatologist (Manager Climate Services in last 3 years), Nadi, Fiji

Development of National Drought Policies for Solomon Islands, World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Honiara, Solomon Islands, 1) Assist WMO with the National Drought Consultation Workshop Develop to be held in the Solomon islands (5-8 September 2016) - completed 2) Assist the

Climate and Oceans Support Program in the Pacific (COSPPac), Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), COSPPac Manager, Melbourne-based but PSS is providing the service from Suva, Fiji, I have managed COSPPac since July 2012 when the project first started therefore the project is well underway and most of its deliverables have been ac

Publications

Drought Prediction Scheme for Fiji, 7th International Conference on Southern Hemisphere Meteorology and Oceanography

6. Seasonal climate summary southern hemisphere (autumn 2001): a return to near-normal conditions in the tropical Pacific, Australian Meteorological Magazine

Extended Seasonal Prediction of Precipitation in Fiji, Australian Meteorological Magazine

Trends in extreme daily rainfall and temperature events in Southeast Asia and South Pacific: 1961 - 1998, International Journal of Climatology