Climate, Oceanography

Prof. Juliet Hermes, Manager of the South African Polar Research Infrastructure (SAPRI) and the South African Environmental Observation Network Egagasini Node

Juliet leads a team focusing on observations, modelling and research of the marine environment around southern Africa as part of the National Research Foundation’s South African Environmental Observation Network (NRF-SAEON). In addition, Juliet manages the South African Polar Research Infrastructure and is a Professor at the University of Cape Town and the Nelson Mandela University.

Her research focuses on the Agulhas Current, the Indian Ocean, the Benguela Current and the Southern Ocean, including coastal-offshore interactions, observations, and numerical modelling.

She has significant experience with developing and managing national, regional and international multidisciplinary, ocean observations. Her passion is in fostering regional and international collaborations as well as capacity development. Juliet focuses attention on development through ensuring knowledge generation and sharing, as well as growing a diverse cohort of marine scientists.

Juliet is currently part of the African Task Force for implementing the Ocean Decade and chairs the CLIVAR Indian Ocean Regional Panel, and the Indian Ocean Rim Association Academic Group. In addition she is part of supporting the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance Declaration and is on the advisory board of the EU Polar Research Infrastructure Network.

Her work through these and her involvement in GEO Blue Planet, GCOS and the African Group Negotiators Experts Support, has gained her experience in working with policy. She supports global ocean observing systems through the GOOS Observation Coordination Group, as well as their standards and best practices through the IOC/GOOS Ocean Best Practices Group.