Retired head of Climate Service/Finnish Meteorological Institute, former head of the Expert Team on User Liaison under the Commission for Climatology/World Meteorological Organization (CCl/WMO) (2001-2004), former co-leader of the Expert Team on Climate Information and Prediction Services (CLIPS), Verification and Climate Applications (CCl/WMO) (2005-2008), Chair of the Local Organizing Committee and Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the WMO Conference on Living with Climate Variability and Change: Understanding the Uncertainties and Managing the Risks (LWCVC), 17-21 July 200