Akinsanola Akintomide Afolayan

Dr. Akinsanola Akintomide Afolayan is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) within the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, with a joint appointment at Argonne National Laboratory's Environmental Science Division. His research focuses on regional climate modeling, climate variability/change, and extreme weather events, particularly in tropical and mid-latitude regions. He utilizes climate models and observational data to study monsoon systems, precipitation dynamics, and climate model biases.

Education:

• B.Tech. Meteorology (2011), Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria
• M.Tech. Meteorology (2015), Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria
• Ph.D. Climate Science (2019), City University of Hong Kong
• Postdoctoral Research (2019–2022) at University of Georgia and Argonne National Laboratory

Research Interests:

• Regional and Earth system modeling
• Monsoon climates and dynamics
• Tropical/mid-latitude climate interactions
• Extreme event mechanisms and attribution
• Climate impacts on agriculture, water resources, and health
• Climate resilience strategies

Key Awards:

• 2022 Argonne Impact Award
• 2018 Chow Yei Ching Scholarship (City University of Hong Kong)
• 2017/2018 Outstanding Academic Performance Awards (City University of Hong Kong)

Professional Roles:

• Co-chair, Monsoons Panel Working Group on African Monsoons (CLIVAR/GEWEX)
• Editorial Board Member, Communications Earth & Environment (Nature)

Labs/Teams: Leads the Akinsanola Lab at UIC, focusing on advancing climate modeling and understanding climate extremes.