Time-line / Zeitleiste in Bildern

My name in Arabic and in Chinese

Chinese

Arabic

1972

Diplome de licence en sciences botaniques

 1. Gommes, R., 1972. Etude comparative des sédiments, de Lagarosiphon major (Ridley) Moss et de Myriophyllum spicatum L. utilisés comme indicateurs de pollution du lac Majeur par les métaux lourds. Mémoire de Licence en sciences botaniques. Liège, Belgium. (A comparative study of sediments, Lagarosiphon major (Ridley) Moss and Myriophyllum spicatum L. as heavy metal pollution indicators of Lake Maggiore, Degree in botany thesis, Univ. of Liège, Belgium). Published as EEC-Euratom report 1660, Ispra, Italy, 114 pages.

1975

On Lago Maggiore to collect aquatic plants during winter.

1977

Invitation to attend a doctoral dissertation

 

Doctorat en sciences botaniques

1978

Estimating Ranunculus biomass using light interception at Jamoigne (Semois, Belgium). With Annie Vets.

Euratom certificate

1979

19791104, Lagos, NIMET: Nigerian Meteorological Agency,Agrometeorology section. L to R: Dinyaein, Olukoya, Atitebi-John, Igeleke (head), Gommes (WMO), Akeh (Director General, from 2006), Umana, Dosunmu. This was my first mission to Africa.

1980

WMO certificate

1985

FAO certificate

1986

Training workshop of meteorological and crop observers in Dar Es Salaam, organised by Department of Meteorology and Crop Forecasting and early Warning project. Trainers included R. Gommes, W. Powell, Martin Lukando, Philippe Dekerck and Tharsis Hyera (first row, second from right)

1987

Permit to visit the restricted areas of eastern Bhutan

1993

Participants in FAO Expert meeting that led to the adoption of the “Penman-Monteith PET” or “PenMan-Monteith reference crop evapotranspiration” method as described in the classic Crop evapotranspiration – Guidelines for computing crop water requirements – FAO Irrigation and drainage paper 56, 1998. Front row,  l. to r.: Monteith, Pruitt, N, Doorenbos; second step: Smith; next row: Jensen, N, Gavazza; second row from top: Feddes, Popov, Perrier,N, Gommes, Pereira;top row: N, Allen, Rijks

1994

The only 1994 picture I managed to find, a GIMP-improved scan from the Global Change Newsletter, Dec. 1994, N.20 on page 9. The legend says Participating at the 3rd Session of the Coordinating Commitee of the World Climate Programme, Geneva, 5-7 October, 1994. From left to right: Gordon McNean (Deputy MInister for the Environment, Canada), René Gommes (coordinator, Agrometeorology Group, Food and Agriculture Organization), Gisbert Glaser (Director, Bureau for Coordination of Environmental Programmes, Unesco)

1997

Beijing, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Remote SEnsing Institute. Left: Wu Bingfang

WMO workshop in Pune, India

1998

Suwon, Korea. Two week WMO-FAO Roving Seminar on Crop Yield-Weather MOdelling

19980318-20, Washington, joint USDA-FAO-ISI meeting on Agricultural Statistics in the 21st century, speech on crop yield forecasting.

WMO Roving Seminar on Crop yield-weather modelling in Dar Es Salaaam. Among the participants: 1st from left, Martin Lukando; 2nd from right, second row: Tharsis Hyera.

1999

19990218: WMO/CAgM meeting in Accra, Ghana

19990719-30: FAO-WMO-IMD Roving Seminar on Crop Yield Weather Modelling

2000

Ottawa, February 2000. Meeting on terrestrial carbon observing systems

2001

The agromet team in FAO/Rome: Michele Bernardi, Angela Scappaticci, Fulvia Petrassi, René Gommes

Chiang Mai, Thailand

2002

Mohamed Nooruddin, the head of the agrometeorology section of BMD ( Bangladesh Meteorlogy Department)

Istiqlal Amien (Indonesia), FAO agrometeorologist working at BMD with Nooruddin, and a computer magician!

2003

MInstry of agriculture in Kabul, with Fahim Zaheer

Darussalam experimental station with Rabah Lekhal (2nf from right)

Qarga agronomic reserach station

From front left: Robina Wahaj, Martin Smith, Claudio Stockle, Lee Heng, NNN, Giovanni Munoz-Castaneda. Second row: John Annandale, Terry Howell, Gerardo van Halsema, Bruno Basso, Gerrit Hoogenboom, René Gommes, Amir Kassam, Florent Maraux, Pasquale Steduto, Ted Hsia with NN (woman?) behind him, Kees van Diepen, Tim Wheeler, Elias Fereres, Daniel Renault

First CRAM (Crop and Rangeland Monitoring) meeting in Nairobi (20 to 30 January 2003)

2004

Welcome dinner, meeting on climate and HIV/AIDS at Mahidol University, Thailand

2005

20050404: “permit” to access the airport premices in Blantyre, handwritten by the DIrector of the Malawi Meteorological Services

Course at the University of Venice

Dinner in Islamabad with Dr Hanif, Ronny Adhikarya (FAO representative in Pakistan) and Imran Iqbal (at the time, dIrector of SUPARCO ground station)

2006

Receiving the 25 years of service medal from FAO Director General Jacques Diouf on 18 January 2006

2007

CRAM-II meeting in Nairobi (28 March 2007)

With Sanginboy Sanginov (left: Director,Tajik Soil Research Institute) and Sandor Szalai (Hungarian Meteorological Service) in Dushanbe, Tadjikistan

13 August 2007, with Armen Sedrakyan and Sandor Szalai at the office of the Food Security Information for Action Project in Erevan, Armenia

2008

World Food Day (16 October) celebrations at FAO HQ on the theme of climate change impacts in Morocco. From l to r: Ait Hmid Mohamed (Moroccan Embassy in Rome), Charles Riemenschneider (FAO), René Gommes, Riad Balaghi, INRA, Rabat

Riad Balaghi and René Gommes

World Food Day Meeting announcement

2009

Automatic weather station in Juba, with Elijah Mukhala (FAO, 2nd from right)

Seminar organised by the Turkish Regional WMO training center at Alanya.

Atelier international sur l’adaptation de l’agriculture aux changements climatiques en Afrique de l’Ouest, 27-30 avril 2009 à Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (with R. Stefanski, WMO)

2010

Meeting on methodologies of climate change impact assessment in agriculture. Front row (seated): Eddy de Paauw, ICARDA; Oscar Rojas (JRC), Riad Balaghi (INRA, Morocco), Tarik El Hairech (DMN, Casablanca). Standing, from left to right: François Delobel, FAO; N;Wolfgang Göbel, ICARDA; Abdelaziz El Ouali, Casablanca; Michele Bernardi, FAO; Mauro Evangelisti, FAO consultant; René Gommes, FAO; Ono Kuyk, Univ. Amsterdam; N, N; Bernard Tychon, Univ. Liège, Belgium; Freddy Nachtergaele, FAO; Martin Dubrowski, Univ. Prague.

FAO work certificate

“Last Supper” at debre-Berhane with some crop insurance project participants, l. to r., Shukri Ahmed, FAO; Aleko Sarris, Univ. Athens; N, Eyob Meherette, Nyala Insurance Company, N, N, Craig MacIntosh, Univ. of California, Davis

2011

CRAM-III meeting in Nairobi, with Adams Chavula (Malawi meteorological Services and Rogerio Bonifacio, WFP

CRAM-III meeting in Nairobi, with Steffen Fritz (IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria) and Pietro Ceccato (IRI, Columbia University)

2012

… a bureaucratic way of saying that the two years I spent a JRC are over!

2013

20130608: it's graduation day in Beijing

20130608: it’s graduation day at CAS in Beijing! The fresh PhDs are Dong Taifeng (left) and Afu (right, in the inset). Other people, from left to right: Dr Zou Wentao, Dr Meng Jihua, Zhang Miao (PhD student), Taifeng, You Xingzhi (MSc student) and… Afu (inset).

Some prominent visitors at CAS/RADI on 20130704, from left to right. First row: Dr Nana Yann, assistant professor; Dr Zeng Yuan, assistant professor; Dr Thanya Kiatiwat, Associate Professor, Dean of Faculty of Engineering, Kasetsart University, Thailand; Mr Chaiyan Peungkiatpairote, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Thailand; Prof Wu Bingfang (Head of CropWatch Unit); Dr Mongkol Raksapatcharawong, Associate Professor & Lecturer of Faculty of Engineering at Kasetsart University; Dr Meng Jihua, assistant professor. Second row: Dr René Gommes, visiting professor; Dr Chang Sheng, assistant professor; Mr Zhang Miao, PhD student; Dr Zeng Hongwei, assistant professor; Jiratiwan Kruasilp (Ink). PhD student.

Some prominent visitors at CAS/RADI on 20130704, from left to right. First row: Dr Nana Yann, assistant professor; Dr Zeng Yuan, assistant professor; Dr Thanya Kiatiwat, Associate Professor, Dean of Faculty of Engineering, Kasetsart University, Thailand; Mr Chaiyan Peungkiatpairote, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Thailand; Prof Wu Bingfang (Head of CropWatch Unit); Dr Mongkol Raksapatcharawong, Associate Professor & Lecturer of Faculty of Engineering at Kasetsart University; Dr Meng Jihua, assistant professor. Second row: Dr René Gommes, visiting professor; Dr Chang Sheng, assistant professor; Mr Zhang Miao, PhD student; Dr Zeng Hongwei, assistant professor; Jiratiwan Kruasilp (Ink). PhD student.

 

2014

20140708: Lecture on Crop Forecasting and Remote Sensing Inputs at Peking University at a Summer Course on climate change. First row, left of the blogger:  Prof. Qiming Qin, course organiser, and Zhang Ning (ydia)

20140708: Lecture on “Crop Forecasting and Remote Sensing Inputs” at Peking University at a Summer Course on climate change. First row, from left to right: 5 course participant ladies, the blogger, Prof. Qinming Qin (Vice Director of the College of Earth and Spatial Science & course organiser), and Zhang Ning (Lydia, RADI/CAS/CropWatch), 3 participants.

2015

Paul Raskin, Tariq Banuri, Gilberto Gallopãn, Pablo Gutman, Al Hammond, Robert Kates, Rob Swart, 2002. Great Transition, The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead; A report of the Global Scenario Group. Stockholm Environment Institute, Boston, Tellus Institute. SEI PoleStar Series Report no. 10. 98 pp.

Paul Raskin, Tariq Banuri, Gilberto Gallopãn, Pablo Gutman, Al Hammond, Robert Kates, Rob Swart, 2002. Great Transition, The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead; A report of the Global Scenario Group. Stockholm Environment Institute, Boston, Tellus Institute. SEI PoleStar Series Report no. 10. 98 pp.

Global futures cannot be predicted due to three types of indeterminacy— ignorance, surprise and volition. First, incomplete information on the current state of the system and the forces governing its dynamics leads to a statistical dispersion over possible future states. Second, even if precise information were available, complex systems are known to exhibit turbulent behavior, extreme sensitivity to initial conditions and branching behaviors at critical thresholds—the possibilities for novelty and emergent phenomena render prediction impossible. Finally, the future is unknowable because it is subject to human choices that have not yet been made. (Raskin et al., 2002. Chap.2, page 13)

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