David Ogier
Climate, Disaster Risk and GIS specialist
My career journey to date has been seeking, through qualifications and experience to try to make the world at least a bit better through my intervention. To this end, I have built a specialisation in climate change and meteorological analysis as well as building disaster risk and vulnerability profiles of differing scales, all of which adheres strongly to the base GIS principles of accuracy and informative presentation.
I am constantly learning new methodologies and technologies that allow for innovating beyond the status quo of analysis and information delivery. I am relentless, almost to a fault, of evolving analysis to better convey actionable development and resilience objectives.
I have been lucky enough to be given the opportunities to educate government officials and provide the evidence and motivation for the intervention in poverty and vulnerability alleviation. My working philosophy is that information only becomes knowledge when it’s easily comprehended. The experience I have obtained in lecturing highly technical concepts such as atmospheric dynamics and climate change, and my empathetic drive to has given me the ability and desire to effectively communicate complex scientific spatial and statistical analysis in practical local and relatable contexts. If reports or analysis I undertake sits un-utilised on the preverbal “dusty shelf”, I have failed and have wasted an opportunity.
My life to date...
September 2020 - ...
Climate Change, Risk consultant
I have moved into independent consulting in order to give high-value bespoke climate and risk solutions to clients by employing adaptability and unconventional problem-solving in order to capacitate beyond the status quo. Work undertaken comprises technical climate change analysis addressing status quo and additionality of impacts, Spatial analysis contextualising current and future climate exposure and sensitivity. Spatial disaster risk assessments, and advanced GIS analysis.
May 2019 - August 2020
C4 EcoSolution - Senior Consultant (Climate Change)
While at C4ES, I led a specialist team with various unique skills including advanced communication techniques, technical spatial land cover, environmental, hydraulic analysis, and economic modelling. My specialization was climate change data extraction and statistical analysis, hydraulic flood analysis and early warning systems. Climate change vulnerability assessments comprise spatial exposure, adaptive capacity and sensitivity analysis focusing on tangible, contextualised impacts and assessing the varied spatial component of social and sectoral risk and vulnerability informing potential climate resilient interventions.
June 2008 - April 2019
Aurecon - Senior Consultant (Disaster Risk, Climate Change and GIS)
While at Aurecon, myself and a partner created the entire climate change risk assessments and strategy pipeline. Other skills we enhanced was the Disaster action planning, Disaster management and resilience analysis, spatial risk data capture, assessment, and presentation. I was a specialist in Multi-level Stakeholder engagement specialist and enhanced information design making complex analysis comprehensible bridging the gap between the science and actionable knowledge. I undertook hazard, capacity and vulnerability analysis and mapping and continued to bring GIS skills into the climate change and disaster risk fields.
January 2009 - December 2012 (part time)
University of Cape Town - Head Tutor, Course Coordinator (Atmospheric and Environment science)
I was responsible for the organization and presentation of synoptic climatology practical sessions, co-ordination of Tutors – task delegation and data collation, examination schedules. Additional teaching of course content as required. Various miscellaneous facilitation/administrative tasks.
MSc Atmospheric Science
University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa (2013)
The thesis examined the characteristics of Inertial Gravity Waves over Southern Africa as simulated with
a computationally inexpensive methodology in order to forecast clear air turbulence.
BSc (Hons) Atmospheric Science
University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa (2009)
The thesis assessed changing precipitation characteristics across varying Topographies of the Western Cape from 1960-2000 to quantify the extent to which climate change was already measurable and how it varied between coastal, inland, and mountainous areas.
BSc Environmental and Geographical Science and Ocean and Atmospheric Science
University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa (2008)
Studies were a combination of the pure sciences such as chemistry, physics, oceanography and geology; essential skills developing courses such as computer science, statistics and geographic information system, and contextual subjects included environmental problems, change analysis, resource utilization, sustainability, climate change, disaster risk, population dynamics and human response.