PICRC Junior Researcher McQuinnley Mesengei Enhances Data Analysis Skills at YSSP in South Korea

McQuinnley Mesengei, a Junior Researcher at PICRC, recently attended the Young Scientist Support Program (YSSP) at the APEC Climate Center (APCC) in South Korea.

The YSSP is part of the ‘Strengthening Climate Information and Knowledge Services in Five Pacific Island Countries’, supported by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF). This five-year project (2022-2026) includes Palau, Cook Islands, Niue, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu.

The training, conducted under the UNEP CISPac-5 project, aimed to improve climate data analysis skills and make accurate climate predictions. This year’s theme, ‘Understanding and Analysis of Climate Characteristics and Changes in the Pacific Region’, focused on enhancing participants’ abilities to analyze climate data and understand tropical climate characteristics. The program aimed to provide a better understanding of climate change and how to develop coping strategies for extreme weather events.

During the month-long program, Mesengei gained essential knowledge of climate variability and its impacts and was trained in accessing, collecting, and processing climate data. Participants were lectured on various meteorological topics, including major climate patterns like El Niño Southern Oscillation and the Madden-Julian Oscillation, and tropical meteorology.

Applying his newly acquired skills, Mesengei analyzed the state of the climate in Palau, focusing on major climate variabilities and their impacts. His participation in the YSSP was made possible by a nomination from the Palau Weather Office. “This training helped me enhance my knowledge of climate variability, its impacts, and climate data analysis. It also helped me understand the climate situation of Palau in a global context,” stated Mesengei.

The skills gained by Mesengei will contribute to PICRC’s research efforts and the broader understanding of climate impacts in Palau.