Keynote speaker: Dr Jim Salinger

Dr Jim Salinger is an Honorary Research Associate at The University of Auckland School of Environment. He has been a leading climate researcher at several universities and government research institutes, and is currently president of the World Meteorological Organisation's (WMO) Commission for Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM).

For over three decades Jim has been leading research and teaching on climate and climate change in New Zealand and the South Pacific, including documenting climate change, climate prediction and examining the impacts of past, present and future climate especially on agriculture and climate-sensitive communities. He has been a lead author on several Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Reports. He was elected as a Companion of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2001.

Some of the positions Jim has held include:
1976 – 1979 Junior Lecturer, Victoria University of Wellington
1980 – 1981 Senior Research Associate, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia
1982 – 1988 Senior Agricultural Meteorologist, New Zealand Meteorological Service
1989 – 1992 Principal Scientist, New Zealand Meteorological Service
1993 – 2002 Senior Climate Scientist, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)
2003 – 2009 Principal Scientist, NIWA
2009 – Honorary Research Associate, School of Environment, University of Auckland
2007 – President, World Meteorological Organization Commission for Agricultural Meteorology