Dolly Na-Yemeh, PhD, came to her interest of geography and environmental sustainability by way of meteorological curiosity. As a child growing up in Ghana, she was aware of the vastly different climates between where she lived on the coast and in more northern regions. “Like a lot of places, in the coastal part of Ghana, we were worried about things like sea-level rise and coastal erosion,” said Na-Yemeh. “But in the northern part of Ghana, closer to the Sahel region, the concern was droughts and the Sahel moving southwest into northern Ghana and causing more droughts. So, it was very different.”
Later, as a teen in Kentucky, she experienced an ice storm and the conflict of being a student thrilled to be out of a school and being aware of the type of devastation such a storm creates. That broad range of climatological and weather experiences—the lush tropical forests versus the Sahel, the devastation of an ice storm versus that of a tornado—became of interest to her, and she could tell that an interdisciplinary approach was necessary.
“For me, geography was kind of the home where I could study weather and look at all these aspects,” said Na-Yemeh. “The best part about being a geographer is always thinking about problems holistically. Place, space, time, relationships, and movements matter.”
Now, Na-Yemeh works as a Climate Adaptation Specialist with the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (South Central CASC), Na-Yemeh describes her job as dynamic and functioning in a similar way to an agriculture extension position: Some days she’s in the office, working with data, other days she’s in the field, working directly with people. “I focus on networking, outreach, and stakeholder engagement… Typically, my time is spent on data requests, longer-term projects such as proposals and research meetings, doing research, stakeholder engagement and networking, and familiarizing myself with new literature and resources.” She gets the best of both worlds: the hands-on opportunities of being in the field, and the opportunity to foster the connections that make this work possible.
Na-Yemeh joined South Central CASC in May of 2022, after finishing her Ph.D. in the College’s Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability. She studied the value of weather information under the supervision of her advisor Dr. Mark Shafer, evaluating cost savings, economic value, and the decisions made by public safety officials. During that time, she worked with individuals with the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, the Oklahoma Mesonet, the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program, and the Cooperative Institute for Serve and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations. The Mesonet in particular was a big draw for Na-Yemeh when deciding where to pursue a Ph.D.—she worked with the Kentucky Mesonet while at Western Kentucky University, where she got her master’s in Climate and a graduate certificate in Geographic Information Science.
She describes South Central CASC as funding actionable science, a rewarding and worthwhile endeavor that means the work she does is actively supporting end users because it is co-produced with end users. She encourages potential collaborators or researchers interested in climate adaptation to contact the SC CASC.
Outside of work, Na-Yemeh loves traveling, Zumba, hiking and enjoying nature when the weather is good. She’s a fan of documentaries and has recently been thinking about who gives a voice to the poor, youth, indigenous people, and wildlife after watching The Letter: Laudato Si’ Film.
“It’s nice doing this job because we focus on fish and wildlife, things that may not have a voice,” she said. “People need to be speaking for these things… and communities that are underserved or underrepresented.”
She encourages students to keep an eye out for scholarships and internships available through South Central CASC. “There are always opportunities to come work here, to collaborate.”
By Kathryn Gebauer
Article Published: Tuesday, February 21, 2023
