Steering Committee

The following group of scientists currently acts as Steering Committee for MedECC. All members are present in personal capacity – they do not represent any institution or country. The Committee will be further extended to ensure better thematic and geographic coverage of Mediterranean environmental science. Wolfgang Cramer, Fatima Driouech and Joël Guiot currently act as coordinators of MedECC.

Current steering committee members

Marie-Claire Boillot

Marie-Claire Boillot

Union for the Mediterranean / Barcelona, Spain

Senior Energy and Climate Change Expert at the Union for the Mediterranean Secretariat (UfMS) since November 2022, Marie-Claire Boillat has working in international cooperation for more than 18 years and dedicated her career to strengthen the security and well-being of populations including their resilience and responses to natural and human threats. She worked for more than 12 years in the Middle East (Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan) promoting initiatives and dialogues towards sustainable institutional reforms and renewable energy programs. Prior to joining the UfMS, she was head of the Global Threats Unit at Expertise France in the Peace, Security and Stability Department.

Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat

Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat

Saint Joseph University / Beirut, Lebanon

Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat is a plant geneticist working on biodiversity conservation. She is head of laboratory Biodiversity and Functional Genomics at the Faculty of Science at the Saint-Joseph University of Beirut. She is the co-founder and President of “Jouzour Loubnan”, an NGO dealing with forest ecosystem restoration.

Wolfgang Cramer

Wolfgang Cramer

IMBE / Aix-en-Provence, France

Wolfgang Cramer is an environmental geographer, global ecologist and research director (CNRS) at France’s Mediterranean Institute for Biodiversity and Ecology (IMBE). He received his academic training at the Universities of Gießen/Germany (geography, diploma 1981) and Uppsala/Sweden (plant ecology, Ph.D. 1986). From 1987 to 1993, he taught and conducted his research at the Department of Geography, Trondheim University (Norway) while also being a frequently visiting scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria). In 1992, he joined the newly founded Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Potsdam, Germany, as head of the department “Global Change and Natural Systems”, later to become the institute’s research domain “Earth System Analysis”. In 2003, he was appointed full professor of global ecology at Potsdam University. In 2011, he left Potsdam for his present position. Since 1995, he has continuously been involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climatic Change (IPCC). In 2017, he was elected associated member of the Académie d’Agriculture de France.

Fatima Driouech

Fatima Driouech

University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P) / Benguerir, Morocco

Prof. Fatima Driouech the Executive Coordinator of the Adaptation Metrics and Techniques Cluster at the UM6P. She is Vice-Chair of Working Group I of the IPCC and Co-Chair of the Focus Area I of the Commission Climatology (World Meteorological Organization). She is the MedECC co-coordinator.

Marianela Fader

Marianela Fader

Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) / Munich, Germany

Dr. Marianela Fader is the deputy director if the ICWRGC. She leads studies in the area of climate change impacts on food security, hydrology and irrigation water use (mainly on a global or large scale and using process-based modelling).

Carlo Giupponi

Carlo Giupponi

Ca’ Foscari University (UNIVE) and Venice International University (VIU) / Venice, Italy

Prof. Carlo Giupponi is Full Professor of Applied Economics at the Department of Economics, UNIVE and Dean of the VIU. His research activity focuses on sustainability science and global change, with specific interests for valuation methods, scenario analysis and the integrated assessment of natural resources.

François Guerquin

François Guerquin

Plan Bleu / Marseille, France

Mr François Guerquin is the director of Plan Bleu. He has an expertise on water, biodiversity and sustainable development at international level. He was Executive Secretary of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB), before becoming the Science-Policy Director of the Wetlands Ramsar Convention.

Joël Guiot

Joël Guiot

CEREGE / Aix-en-Provence, France

Joël Guiot is a CNRS researcher emeritus at the European Centre for Research and Training in Environmental Geosciences (CEREGE, France). His main research work concerns the impact of past, present and future climate change on Mediterranean ecosystems. In 2008, he co-founded the ECCOREV network (Continental Ecosystems and Environmental Risks) to promote interdisciplinarity in environmental sciences, in particular with the social sciences, and in 2012 the OT-Med Laboratory of Excellence to study climate change and natural hazards in the Mediterranean basin. He launched in 2015 with W. Cramer, the Mediterranean Expert Group on Environmental and Climate Change (MedECC), to transfer scientific knowledge on climate change to societal actors on both sides of the Mediterranean. He is one of the main authors of the IPCC special report on the impact of a 1.5°C global warming (published in 2018).

Piero Lionello

Piero Lionello

University of Salento / Lecce, Italy

Piero Lionello is full professor of Oceanography and Atmospheric Science at the University of Salento, Lecce (Italy). He is a climatologist with a focus on the climate of the Mediterranean Region, its past and future evolution, impacts of climate change and extreme events. He is the chairman of the MedCLIVAR (Mediterranean CLImate VARiability) network, has been member of the Scientific Advisory Board of ECMWF (European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast). He has been a leading author of the IPCC WG2-AR6 chapters devoted to "Europe" and "The Mediterranean". He has edited three books on the Climate of the Mediterranean Region, several special issues of international scientific journals, and organized many conferences and meetings on related topics. Piero Lionello is full professor of Oceanography and Atmospheric Science at the University of Salento, Lecce (Italy). He is a climatologist with a focus on the climate of the Mediterranean Region, its past and future evolution, impacts of climate change and extreme events. He is the chairman of the MedCLIVAR (Mediterranean CLImate VARiability) network, and has been member of the Scientific Advisory Board of ECMWF (European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast) and chairman of the International Scientific Steering Committee of the HyMeX project (Hydrological cycle in the Mediterranean eXperiment). He has edited three books on the Climate of the Mediterranean Region, several special issues of international scientific journals, and organized many conferences and meetings on related topics.

María Carmen Llasat

María Carmen Llasat

University of Barcelona / Barcelona, Spain

María Carmen Llasat is Full Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Barcelona (UB) and leads the GAMA Group since 1995. Her research and activity focus on climate change and hydrometeorological risks from a multidisciplinary approach; she also develops a strong outreach activity, and acts as mentor of a high number of PhD students. In addition to research, she has developed a high international coordinating activity (Natural Hazards IWG/EGS, NHESS journal, MEDEX, HYMEX,…). She is a member of the MedECC Steering Committee, and has participated as coordinating lead author of the MAR1 report (2020), and co-coordinator of the Special Report on coastal risks (2024). In 2023, her work has been recognized with the Distinction for the best scientific and humanistic dissemination activities, from the University of Barcelona, and the Sant Jordi Cross from the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Manfred A. Lange

Manfred A. Lange

The Cyprus Institute / Nicosia, Cyprus

Dr Manfred A. Lange was the founding Director of the Energy, Environment and Water Research Center at the Cyprus Institute in Nicosia, Cyprus (2007-2015). He is the Director of the Future Earth MENA Regional Center. His expertise includes the climate change impacts on water and energy security, renewable energies, and energy and water use efficiency.

Ilias Mavroeidis

Ilias Mavroeidis

UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention Secretariat / Athens, Greece

Dr. Ilias Mavroeidis is a Programme Management Officer (Governance) at the UN Environment/Mediterranean Action Plan Coordinating Unit - Barcelona Convention Secretariat. He is a chemical engineer with a PhD in atmospheric pollution and has a long experience on environmental management and technology, both from a scientific and a policy perspective.

Arnau Queralt Bassa

Arnau Queralt Bassa

Advisory Council for the Sustainable Development of Catalonia (CADS) / Barcelona, Spain

Arnau Queralt Bassa is Director of CADS since October 2011. Since 2017, he is the Secretary of the Interministerial Commission for the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Catalonia and, from 2020, member of the Sectorial Commission for the 2030 Agenda in Spain on behalf of the Government of Catalonia.

Ethemcan Turhan

Ethemcan Turhan

University of Groningen / Groningen, The Netherlands

Dr Ethemcan Turhan is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Planning. His research focuses on political ecology with empirical attention to environmental conflicts, energy infrastructures, social movements, and climate mobilities mainly in Türkiye, the larger Middle East, and the Mediterranean.

Shlomit Paz

Shlomit Paz

Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa / Haifa, Israel

Prof. Shlomit Paz is the Head of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Haifa. She is a climatologist and environmental health researcher who investigates the impacts of climate change on the human health and security.

Past steering committee members

Ghani Chehbouni

Ghani Chehbouni

Mohammed VI University Polytechnic (UM6P) / Benguerir, Morocco

Dr. Abdelghani Chehbouni the representative in Morocco of the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD). His main research interests include hydrology and the application of remotely sensed data in land-surface-atmosphere models especially in arid semi-arid regions.

Ines Duarte

Ines Duarte

Union for the Mediterranean / Barcelona, Spain

Ines Duarte is a specialist in Climate Finance. She is currently a Project Manager at the Energy and Climate Action Division of the Secretariat of the Union of the Mediterranean.

Arnault Graves

Arnault Graves

Conservatoire du Littoral / Boulogne-sur-Mer, France

Arnault Graves is a North Sea, Chanel Delegate (Délégué Manche, Mer du Nord) at Conservatoire du Littoral. Between October 2017 and September 2021 he was Senior Climate Adviser of the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (seconded by the French Ministry for Ecological and Inclusive Transition).

Samir Grimes

Samir Grimes

National High School of Marine Sciences and Coastal Management / Algiers, Algeria

Dr Samir Grimes is a professor at the National High School of Marine Sciences and Coastal Management (Algeria), specialising in marine ecology and biodiversity, non-indigenous species, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and integrated coastal zone management.

Julien Le Tellier

Julien Le Tellier

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) / Beirut, Lebanon

Julien Le Tellier works as Economic Affairs Officer at ESCWA. He was Programme Management Officer in charge of Socio-Economic Affairs at the UNEP/MAP – Barcelona Convention Secretariat in Athens, Greece (2017-2022). Supporting the work of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD), this position followed his long engagement with Plan Bleu Regional Activity Centre (UNEP/MAP) in Marseille, France.

Elen Lemaître-Curri

Elen Lemaître-Curri

CIHEAM / Montpellier, France

Elen Lemaître-Curri is a deputy director of the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier (CIHEAM IAMM). She was a director of Plan Bleu between (09.2017-08.2020). Her expertise covers agricultural, environmental and sustainable development, public policies, international cooperation and science-decision interfaces.

Cyril Moulin

Cyril Moulin

Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESRI) / Paris, France

Dr Cyril Moulin is the Deputy Director of the Research and Innovation Strategy Department at the MESRI. He was the Deputy Director of the National Institute for Earth Sciences and Astronomy, INSU-CNRS (2018-2021). He was a researcher at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA).

Andrea Torreti

Andrea Torreti

European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) / Ispra, Italy

Andrea Torreti main research interests focus on: climate change, variability, extremes, and impacts on agriculture; climate change adaptation for agriculture. Before joining the JRC in 2013, he was at the: Italian national weather service, Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, University of Bern, University of Giessen as Ass. Professor. In 2011, he got the MedCLIVAR award for his important contribution to research that addressed issues on climate extremes in the Mediterranean region. He is the author/co-author of more than 60 publications and a member of the Editorial Board of the Nature’s Journal Scientific Reports​.

Elena Xoplaki

Elena Xoplaki

Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen / Gießen, Germany

Elena Xoplaki is an expert in Mediterranean climate change. She has conducted analysis on weather extremes (heat waves, floods, droughts, etc.) and health impacts, paleoclimatology; climate reconstructions / model comparison, influence of circulation on European and Mediterranean climate. She has participated in and coordinated several European, Swiss and US research projects. She holds a Ph.D. in Natural Sciences from the University of Bern, Switzerland. From August 2011, she is awarded an Akademischer Rat (Assistant Professor) position at the University of Giessen, Germany. In this function, she is doing research on the Mediterranean climate, climate change and impacts and she is teaching at the BSc and MSc level at the Department of Geography.