Martin received his PhD from Kiel University, Germany, in Physical Oceanography on research about deep ocean convection in 1993. During a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his research interest focused on the interaction of ocean eddies and deep convection regions and their respective heat and density transport. As a Research Scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Associate Professor at Columbia University, New York, his interest shifted to more general aspects of the ocean's role in the climate system, including work on the North Atlantic Oscillation and Deep Water formation off the Antarctic.Since October 2004 he has held the chair in Physical Oceanography at the Leibniz Institute for Marine Sciences at the University in Kiel.

His current research is concerned with ocean and climate variability and change with particular emphasis on the circulation of the sub-polar North Atlantic, climate-biogeochemical interactions in the tropical ocean, observations of ocean circulation and mixing, using modern robotic platforms including profiling floats and gliders, and development of ocean observatories for long-term observations in the water column. He has served on several national and international committees. He is Speaker of the Kiel Cluster of Excellence The Future Ocean.

Guy Brasseur has been Associate Director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), in charge of the Earth and Sun Systems Laboratory (ESSL), in Boulder, Colorado, USA, since January 2006, after being Director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg. Guy headed NCAR’s Atmospheric Chemistry Division from 1990 to 2000 and continued thereafter as an NCAR senior scientist and senior research associate within the Advanced Study Program.

A native of Belgium, Guy holds two engineering degrees and a doctorate in aeronomy from the Free University of Brussels, where his PhD dissertation dealt with the effects of nitrogen oxides on stratospheric ozone. He completed his postdoctoral work at the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, where he worked on advanced models of photochemistry and chemical transport in the middle atmosphere.

Ms. Sherburne “Shere” B. Abbott is currently serving as the Associate Director for Environment of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President, with the appointment beginning on April 30, 2009. Prior to holding this position, Ms. Abbott was a faculty member of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin and served as the Director of the Center for Science and Practice of Sustainability in the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost. Previously, Ms. Abbott served as Chief International Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest general science organization in the world, where she was responsible for the International Office, and where she established and directed the Center for Science, Innovation and Sustainable Development. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Abbott consulted on environmental science and sustainable development for private foundations, the World Bank, the Brookings Institution, and other non-governmental organizations.
Until 2001, Ms. Abbott worked at the National Academies’ National Research Council over a 17-year period, serving in several capacities—Executive Director of the Board on Sustainable Development, where she directed the Sustainability Transition Study and the Global Change Research Program; Director of International Organization Programs for the Office of International Affairs; and, Director of the Polar Research Board. Ms. Abbott also served as Assistant Scientific Program Director of the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, an independent federal agency, where she managed the research program and developed a model of environmental research for monitoring human impacts in Antarctica.
Ms. Abbott earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Goucher College and her master’s degree in environmental science and natural resource policy from Yale University, where she was a Dodge Fellow in Human – Animal Ecology.

Letitia Obeng is the current Chair of the Global Water Partnership, an international network with 13 Regional and over 70 Country Water Partnerships. There are almost 2000 GWP Partners who work together to form a neutral and inclusive platform for dialogue and to facilitate change processes. GWP's mission is to support the sustainable management and development of water resources at all levels. As Chair, Letitia is responsible for guiding the range of activities and Network interactions, ensuring effective and efficient functioning of the GWP Organization.
Letitia spent 25 years at the World Bank working primarily on water supply, sanitation and other development issues in rural and urban space before joining the GWP. She is from Ghana and holds a Ph.D. (London University) in public health and water resources engineering.

Peter Höppe has been Head of the Geo Risks Research/Environmental Management Department of Munich Reinsurance Company since 1 January 2004. He studied meteorology at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich (LMU), gaining his diploma in 1979 and a doctorate in physics 1984. In 1996 he qualified as a university professor and lectured in environmental medicine, particularly biometeorology. From 1979 to 1984, he was research assistant and then, until 1990 tenured lecturer at the Institute of Bioclimatology and Applied Meteorology, LMU. From 1989 to 2003, he was tenured lecturer and senior lecturer at the Institute for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, LMU. Peter’s main areas of research are the effects of atmospheric processes (heat/cold, UV radiation, air pressure fluctuations) and air pollutants (ozone, particles) on humans and assessment of environmental risks. Peter has served as President of the International Society of Biometeorology (1999–2002) and has been a member of the Board of the German Meteorological Society for a number of years. He has been involved in several activities of WMO and the World Health Organization.