Between 11 and 14 January 2011 Dr Olwoch attended the first Lead Author’s meeting of Working Group II of the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report in Tsukuba, Japan. The objective of this Working Group is to assess the scientific, technical, environmental, economic and social aspects of vulnerability, sensitivity and adaptability of ecological systems, socio-economic sectors and human health to climate change.

The IPCC is regarded as the leading international body tasked to assess climate change. It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts. During May 2010 Dr Jane Olwoch was selected from more than 1000 nominations to become a Lead Author of the Chapter on Human Health. Over the next three years she will be one of only eight prominent international scientists in the world who will assess the vulnerability of human health under conditions of global warming for the IPCC. Dr Olwoch is coordinator of the Environmental Science programme in the UP Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology (GGM).