Dr. Lawal completed his PhD program in Atmospheric Science with specialization in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP), Seasonal Climate Prediction and Regional Climate Modeling at the Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, University of Cape Town (www.uct.ac.za). His PhD thesis uses discrepancy in a large ensemble of climate simulations as a tool to investigate variability in dominant seasonal rainfall and temperature patterns (i.e. classes) over West and Southern Africa, to examine the capability of climate models in reproducing the variability, and to study the predictability of the seasonal climates over South Africa. The thesis suggests that utilizing dissimilarity in multi-ensemble simulations (multi-analysis ensemble of Global and multi-analysis ensemble of Regional Climate Models) can aid in understanding the variability and predictability of seasonal climate in Africa (https://open.uct.ac.za/handle/11427/16556). Before then, Dr. Lawal has studied meteorology (B. Tech and M. Tech) at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (www.futa.edu.ng). He has also worked as an Aeronautical Meteorologist, Research Officer, and briefly as the Head of the Research and Training Directorate of NiMet. He has taught various meteorological courses at the Regional Meteorological Training Centre (RMTC), an affiliate of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), situated in Lagos. Presently, Dr. Lawal is the General Manager of the Numerical Weather and Climate Prediction Unit of NiMet. Skillful and competent in computer programming languages and scripting in UNIX environment, his passion is to impart knowledge to younger generations. He is a member of the Nigerian Meteorological Society, a National Focal Point for Education and Training with WMO and an individual member of the WMO Technical Commission for Atmospheric Science (https://www.wmo.int/cpdb/nigeria).

Dr. Lawal is presently participating in the International Research Project funded by the United Kingdom’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) – the African Science for Weather Information and Forecasting Techniques (SWIFT: https://africanswift.org/). It is a four-year program consisting of 25 UK and 45 African Atmospheric Scientists, Social Scientists and Operational Forecasters who would undertake fundamental scientific research into the physics of tropical weather systems, evaluation and presentation of complex model, satellite data, communications and exploitation of forecasts. Dr. Lawal will specifically be involved in the study of predictability of African rainfall on sub-seasonal timescales, skill assessment of sub-seasonal to seasonal models, satellite and remote sensing as well as synoptic methods of forecasting major rain-producing systems over West Africa. This will further help to produce highly–skilled professionals for West Africa in order to address the region’s weather and climate challenges. Overall, the project which would have direct impact on aviation, agriculture, energy, water resources, health and emergency response will ensure results can be translated beyond partner countries and into the wider developing world.

Journal Articles  

1. Nana Ama Browne Klutse, Vincent O Ajayi, Emiola Olabode Gbobaniyi, Temitope S Egbebiyi, Kouakou Kouadio, Francis Nkrumah, Kwesi Akumenyi Quagraine, Christiana Olusegun, Ulrich Diasso, Babatunde J Abiodun, Kamoru Lawal, Grigory Nikulin, Christopher Lennard and Alessandro Dosio. 2018. Potential impact of 1.5°C and 2°C warming on extreme rainfall over West Africa. Environ. Res. Lett., 13, 055013. Available via http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aab37b/meta
2. Olaniyan E, Adefisan EA, Oni F, Afiesimama E, Balogun AA and Lawal KA. 2018. Evaluation of the ECMWF Sub-seasonal to Seasonal Precipitation Forecasts during the Peak of West Africa Monsoon in Nigeria. Front. Environ. Sci., 6:4. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2018.00004. Available via: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fenvs.2018.00004/full?&utm_source=Email_to_authors_&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=T1_11.5e1_author&utm_campaign=Email_publication&field=&journalName=Frontiers_in_Environmental_Science&id=287899
3. Kamoru A. Lawal, Abayomi A. Abatan, Oliver Angélil, Eniola Olaniyan, Victoria H. Olusoji, Philip G. Oguntunde, Benjamin Lamptey, Babatunde J. Abiodun, Hideo Shiogama, MichaelF. Wehner, and Dáithí A. Stone. 2016. The Late Onset of the 2015 Wet Season in Nigeria. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 97 (12), S63–S69. DOI:10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0131.1. Available via: www.ametsoc.net/eee/2015/13_nigeria_precip.pdf
4. Olaniyan E, Afiesimama E, Oni F, Lawal KA. 2015. Simulating the Daily Evolution of West African Monsoon Using High Resolution Regional Cosmo-model: A Case Study of the First Half of 2015 over Nigeria. J Climatol Weather Forecasting, 3:142. doi:10.4172/2332-2594.1000142. Available via: http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2332-2594.1000142
5. Abayomi A. Abatan, William J. Gutowski, Kamoru A. Lawal and Babatunde J. Abiodun. 2015. Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Trends in Extreme Temperature Indexes over Nigeria. International Journal of Climatology, 36, 2527–2540. DOI:10.1002/joc.4510
6. Kamoru A. Lawal, Daithi A. Stone, Tolu Aina, Cameron Rye and Babatunde J. Abiodun. 2015 Trends in the Potential Spread of Seasonal Climate Simulations over South Africa. International Journal of Climatology, 35: 2193–2209. DOI:10.1002/joc.4234
7. Babatunde J. Abiodun, Kamoru A. Lawal, Ayobami T. Salami and Abayomi A. Abatan. 2012. Potential Influences of Global Warming on Future Climate and Extreme Events in Nigeria. Regional Environmental Change, 13: 477–491. DOI:10.1007/s10113-012-0381-7.

Thesis / Dissertations:

1. Understanding the Variability and Predictability of Seasonal Climates over West and Southern Africa using Climate Models. A PhD Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of Cape Town, South Africa. (2015). Available via: https://open.uct.ac.za/handle/11427/16556 and http://portal.nersc.gov/c20c/pub.html  
2. Statistical Downscaling of Climate Change Scenarios over Nigeria. An M. Tech. Thesis submitted to the Dept. of Meteorology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. (2010).
3. Performance Evaluation of the Shallow Water Equation Model over West African Sub-region. A B. Tech. Thesis submitted to the Dept. of Meteorology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. (1997)