Last year, the Risk Prediction Initiative (RPI) of BIOS expanded to include a locally-focused program called BermudaRisk.  BermudaRisk investigates, through academic research, the risks to Bermuda’s society from natural hazards. This effort leverages RPI’s decades of experience in managing scientific research with relevance to risk management, and by collaborating with a network of local and international contacts in the fields of environmental science, catastrophe modeling, policy development, re/insurance, and disaster risk reduction.

Mark Guishard, who heads the Risk Prediction Initiative at BIOS, was elected in June as a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society, an organization of professionals and scientists dedicated to the understanding of weather and climate. He also received the designation Registered Meteorologist from the society’s chief executive Prof. Liz Bentley during their annual conference, held at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. “It is an honor and a privilege to be recognized by my peers in academia and the profession of meteorology,” he said. “This achievement comes from the support and encouragement of my family, teachers, employers, and mentors.” Guishard began his 20 years of work in atmospheric sciences with the Bermuda Weather Service in 1997, which he went on to direct for six years until 2012.

Many fields of science require, by their nature, a multidisciplinary approach. The field of catastrophic risk prediction—in which scientists combine information about forecasting, economics and both current and past climate conditions to help insurance companies deal with global unpredictability—is a perfect example. Mark Guishard, head of the Risk Prediction Initiative (RPI) at BIOS, appreciates the need for diverse expertise to address complex issues that cross international boundaries. Not only does he have a background that includes 15 years with the Bermuda Weather Service and time as a reinsurance analyst and risk modeler, he also mentored RPI interns this summer with three different academic careers and plans for the future.

BIOS’s Risk Prediction Initiative (RPI) is undertaking new research focused on hurricane risk specific to Bermuda, in addition to its traditional focus on global catastrophic risk.

At the intersection of oceanographic science and the (re)insurance industry stands the Risk Prediction Initiative (RPI), founded in 1995 by a group of local Bermudian insurers and reinsurers and BIOS.

Every hurricane season, from June 1 through November 30, we’re reminded that hurricanes are a force to be reckoned with, particularly when they make landfall in densely populated areas like Bermuda. In the wake of such a storm, local governments, businesses, homeowners and—of course—insurance companies are left trying to assess the damage and assign a final price tag to recovery and rebuilding efforts. Rick Murnane, Risk Prediction Initiative (RPI) Project Manager and Senior Research Scientist at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), recently published a study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters that may serve as an important tool in streamlining these efforts.

In a nod to the value of crowdsourcing as an effective forecasting method, the Risk Prediction Initiative (RPI2.0) announces the start of its seasonal forecast competition, in which participants can win up to $5000.

Source: RPI2.0

Between April 1, 2011 and April 1, 2012, a total of 622 babies were born at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.  The wellbeing of these babies and their mothers is of great importance to the health and vibrancy of the local community. To this end, Laval University’s Atlantis Mobile Laboratories, stationed at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) and supported by a grant from the Lepercq Foundation, is facilitating a National Maternal Nutrition Survey to assess the nutritional status and needs of pregnant women in Bermuda.

Adding to its already-distinguished staff, the Risk Prediction Initiative (RPI2.0) recently welcomed Dr. Mark Guishard as its new Science Program Manager. RPI2.0— part of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS)—works to create effective and efficient dialogue between scientists and (re)insurers involved in catastrophic risk by funding and showcasing academic research relevant to the (re)insurance industry and assisting in translating science into applications for the industry.