GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands – CCRIF SPC has announced a pioneering postdoctoral fellowship at The UWI Climate Studies Group Mona (CSGM), supporting cutting-edge research in tropical cyclone modelling and climate change attribution. This initiative, valued at US$50,000, marks CCRIF’s first direct grant to support a postdoctoral research fellowship, designed to strengthen regional expertise in tropical cyclone modelling and detection and attribution science.
The fellowship will deliver high-resolution hurricane simulations and loss and damage statistics and will provide public engagement opportunities, positioning the Caribbean as a global thought leader in climate attribution science.
According to CCRIF CEO, Isaac Anthony:
“This fellowship reflects CCRIF’s commitment to strengthening the region’s scientific capacity. The early analyses of hurricane Beryl and the collaborative study on hurricane Melissa being undertaken demonstrate how advanced detection and attribution methods can help us better understand the changing nature of storms and hurricanes in the Caribbean. By working closely with The UWI, we are building the evidence base needed to improve risk modelling, support resilience planning, and ensure our communities are better prepared for the future.”
The fellowship has been awarded to Dr Jhordanne Jones, a NOAA Climate and Global Change Fellow, UWI graduate, and recently appointed Lead Author for Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Her work focuses on detection and attribution (D&A) science, which provides the evidence needed to connect extreme weather events directly to human-driven climate change, supporting Caribbean advocacy for fair access to global climate finance, including the Loss and Damage Fund.
Professor Michael Taylor, Dean, Faculty of Science and Technology, The UWI, and Co-Director, Climate Studies Group Mona notes:
“CCRIF’s investment in detection and attribution science is truly visionary. By supporting research that directly links extreme weather to climate change, CCRIF is helping to place Caribbean science at the centre of global climate justice efforts. At the Climate Studies Group Mona, we are proud to support Dr Jhordanne Jones and this critically important work for the region.”
This collaboration between CCRIF and The UWI builds on both organisations’ longstanding partnership to expand regional capacity in comprehensive disaster risk management, financial protection and climate analytics.
For example, over the period 2010 to 2025, CCRIF has provided 169 scholarships to students at The UWI valued at US$1.3 million and internships for Caribbean university graduates to work in 14 departments and centres throughout the University with an investment of US$400,000. Beyond this, CCRIF continues to fund a range of projects at The UWI. Since 2015, CCRIF has funded 5 projects at The UWI, focused on sustainable agriculture, nature-based solutions, and linkages between natural hazards and human health, among others, with an investment of over US$100,000.
The D&A fellowship will deliver high-resolution hurricane simulations and loss and damage statistics and will provide public engagement opportunities, positioning the Caribbean as a global thought leader in climate attribution science.
The D&A fellowship is already producing impactful results, strengthening the Caribbean’s leadership in climate attribution science and resilience financing.
Preliminary findings from Dr Jones’ work demonstrate the transformative potential of detection and attribution science for the region:
Hurricane Beryl 2024 Analysis: Using synthetic storm catalogues (STORM), Dr Jones conducted a preliminary attribution analysis of hurricane Beryl. Results show that Beryl’s wind intensity exceeded the maximum intensity of historical analogs and ranked within the top 5 percent of intense storms under future warming scenarios. This underscored the extraordinary nature of Beryl and highlights the growing role of climate change in amplifying storm severity.
Hurricane Melissa 2025 Study: UWI scientists, supported by CCRIF, played a central role in the World Weather Attribution (WWA) study published on November 6, 2025. The study, “Climate change enhanced intensity of hurricane Melissa, testing limits of adaptation in Jamaica and eastern Cuba”, found that climate change increased Melissa’s maximum wind speeds by ~7 percent and extreme rainfall by ~16%, while making the conditions that fueled its rapid intensification six times more likely. Despite preparedness measures, Melissa’s devastation across Jamaica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti revealed the limits of adaptation for small island states.
Principal of The UWI Mona Campus, Prof. Densil A. Williams, hailed the CCRIF/The UWI partnership as fundamental for capacity building to recover stronger and better from hurricane Melissa.
He noted that: “The fellowship is an important investment that will help The UWI to produce the relevant human capital that will help to guide policy decisions informed by rigorous and relevant scientific work to build back better for the future.”
The work uderway demonstrates the strategic value of CCRIF’s investment in advancing regional D&A capacity. By linking global methodologies with Caribbean-specific expertise, The UWI and CCRIF are generating the evidence base needed to advocate for resilience financing, influence global climate policy, and protect vulnerable communities across the region.
