Stephen E. Zebiak, Ph.D.

Director & Founder, Climate Information Services Ltd.

Stephen E. Zebiak, President and Founder of CIS, is a senior scientist, director and leader of international climate services initiatives.  He has 30 years of research experience in climate dynamics, modeling, forecasting, climate risk management & climate services development. He has 15 years experience in institutional and program leadership with the International Research Institute for Climate and Society and the International Climate Services Partnership.

previous experience

As Director-General of IRI (2003-2012), Zebiak provided leadership and management of the institution, overseeing an annual budget of more than $12 Million, and a staff of over 60. He led the process of advancing the IRI institutional vision, mission, and objectives, to embrace and promote climate risk management and ultimately, climate services as central concepts.  

As Director of the Climate Services Partnership international secretariat (2012-2015), Zebiak provided leadership for the formation of the Partnership - an international and interdisciplinary platform bringing together climate services researchers, providers, users, and funders, to advance the knowledge and practice of climate services worldwide. In this role, Zebiak led the CSP strategic planning process, the convening of (annual) International Conferences on Climate Services, outreach and partnership activities.

Zebiak’s earlier research concerned climate dynamics, ocean-atmosphere interactions, modeling and forecasting.  He is co-author, with Mark Cane, of the first dynamical model used successfully to predict the El Niño phenomenon, opening the way toward operational seasonal climate prediction. Later research has addressed issues of seasonal climate forecasting, climate risk management, and climate services tools and approaches.

Zebiak has over 100 publications, with over 13,000 citations (h-index 50).  He has chaired, or served on numerous international advisory groups, programs, and working groups; and served as editor or associate editor of multiple professional journals.  He is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society.