WCRP academy votes Franck Ghomsi as Scientist of the month

Franck Ghomsi is a physical oceanographer and geophysicist passionate about sea-level variability and extreme events, with a strong commitment to protecting coastal communities and both terrestrial and marine ecosystems from the impacts of climate change, especially in Africa. He holds dual PhDs in Oceanography from the University of Cape Town and Geophysics & Geodynamics from the University of Yaoundé I, complemented by MSc degrees in both fields. As a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cape Town and the Centre for Earth Observation Science at the University of Manitoba, and a Research Officer at Cameroon’s National Institute of Cartography, Franck blends rigorous research with practical solutions for coastal resilience. His work on sea-level variability, ocean–climate interactions, and geodynamic processes has yielded over 45 publications. He also serves as an Early Career Scientist (ECS) Representative for the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) and an Early Career Researcher (ECR) Representative for the Inter-Commission Committee on Geodesy for Climate Research.

A highlight of Franck’s career is an interactive, high-resolution flooding model of sea-level rise scenarios impacting populations and potential land loss in the Gulf of Guinea, Africa’s most densely populated coastal region, spanning from Guinea-Bissau to Gabon, from 1993 to 2100. this tool stems from his recent peer-reviewed study in Nature Scientific Reports. It reveals sea levels rising twice as fast as predicted, threatening over two million people with displacement by 2050 in a region with minimal adaptation infrastructure and among the lowest GDPs globally. Built using a combination of  satellite altimetry products, tide gauge data, up to date world population data and CMIP6 multi-model ensemble simulations, the model supports planning for effective adaptation and has been showcased in scientific panels and featured in outlets like Radio-Canada.

In parallel with these data-driven contributions, Franck has also engaged in advancing climate knowledge through collaborative science and advocacy. As part of a team of early and mid-career researchers (EMCRs), he co-authored a perspective paper published in Frontiers in Climate (DOI: 10.3389/fclim.2024.1501216). The work emerged from the EMCR Symposium at the 2023 WCRP Open Science Conference and articulates pathways to enhance the usability of local-scale climate information, bridge research gaps in the Global South, and strengthen EMCR contributions to policy-making.