February 2, 2023・2 min read

Weather Services for Emergency Response: TomorrowNow Student Practicum Group Visit the Kenya Red Cross

A group of graduate students at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) visited the Kenya Red Cross as part of TomorrowNow’s weather service mapping exercise.

Kenya – As a group of graduate students at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), we had the chance to visit the Kenya Red Cross. Our visit to the Kenya Red Cross was extremely illustrative, as we discussed the key role that high quality weather data plays in early warning systems. During our visit, we saw that collaborations between meteorological departments and humanitarian response organizations are crucial for increasing climate resilience. With accurate forecasts, organizations are able to respond in a timely manner, act early, and save lives.

To learn more about our visit, please check out the article “Johns Hopkins University delegates pay ICHA a courtesy call” written by our colleagues at the Kenya Red Cross.

About the authors:

Veronica Addai Mensah, Macda Gossa, Julia Kresky, Michelle Lee

Veronica Addai Mensah, Macda Gossa, Julia Kresky, and Michelle Lee are students in the International Relations Program at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). They study Development, Climate, and Sustainability with a regional focus on Africa. As part of their studies, they are consulting with Tomorrownow.org to help the organization develop its thought leadership around Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in the hydrometeorological sector in Africa.

Georgina Campbell Flatter

Georgina is the co-founder and Executive Director of TomorrowNow.org - a global non profit leveraging transformative philanthropy to connect next generation weather and climate technologies with communities in need. Prior to TomorrowNow.org, Georgina spent a decade at MIT where she was a senior lecturer and led global initiatives designed to bridge technology and social impact. Georgina has worked on many innovation initiatives for organisations including: the MIT Legatum Center, MIT REAP, the XPRIZE Foundation, the World Bank, USA Dept of Energy, MIT, Harvard and Oxford University. Georgina is mother of two, passionate about empowering the next generation of STEM leaders, with a focus on women and youth, and is an active member of her local community. She acts as trustee and advisory board member for several charities (The Darwin Centre, Mama Foundation, FOSPs) and is a local Parish Councillor. She read Material Science at Trinity College Oxford and Technology and Policy at MIT.