An external view of the Met Office building at night.

Jessica Stacey

Jess is a climate scientist and qualified meteorologist working in the Climate Services Development team.

Areas of expertise

  • Seasonal forecasting and climate drivers of the South Asian monsoon
  • Interactions between plant physiology and the water cycle
  • Climate services for capacity development
  • Applied meteorology
  • Science communication and outreach

Current activities

Jess helps to enhance the understanding and uptake of climate information for building resilience to climate variability and extremes. Her main focus is on seasonal variability of climate in the tropics. On the ARRCC project, she has collaborated with international organisations to enhance capabilities in the South Asia region. This includes co-producing reports on the climate drivers of monsoon variability and investigating the skill of how well the dynamical models capture year-to-year changes in monsoon precipitation. She has delivered training on seasonal forecasting to meteorologists in South Asia, so they can translate model output into clear messages for decision makers. Furthermore, Jess has produced a series of videos to explain the fundamentals behind seasonal forecasting and how they can add value to long-term planning.

Jess is particularly interested in interactions between climate and ecosystems. Her current research with the University of Exeter is exploring the relationship between plant physiology and the water cycle. Jess is using the JULES land surface model to highlight the importance of including the plant physiological response to elevated CO2 in future predictions of water availability.

As a STEM ambassador, Jess enjoys taking part in events to promote STEM careers to young people and teach them about weather forecasting and climate science.

Career background

After studying mathematics at the University of Exeter, Jess went on to work as a Risk Data Analyst at AXA Insurance. Here, she developed programming and statistical modelling skills by making changes to pricing models and analysing their impact.

With a passion for science and the natural world, Jess was thrilled to secure a job at the Met Office in 2013. Initially she trained to become an Operational Meteorologist and worked in various UK and overseas locations for 5 years. By using her knowledge of theoretical meteorology, she communicated information from numerical weather models and observations into guidance for decision makers in a range of sectors, including aviation, defence and energy.