Dr. Mannava Sivakumar is currently Acting Director, Climate and Water Department in the World Meteorological Organization. He obtained his B.Sc (Agriculture) and M.Sc (Agronomy) in India and his Ph.D in Agricultural Climatology from the Iowa State University (USA).
From 1977 to 1995, Dr Sivakumar worked at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India (1977-83) and in West Africa (1984-96). In 1996, Dr Sivakumar joined the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and occupied the positions of Chief of the Agricultural Meteorology Division and the Director of the Climate Prediction and Adaptation Branch (CLPA).
Dr Sivakumar has over 300 publications to his credit, including 49 books and 76 articles in various international journals. Dr. Sivakumar received the "Young Scientist Award' and the Science Academy Medal from the Indian National Science Academy of India in 1983. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences of India, Indian Meteorological Society, American Society of Agronomy, Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences of Belgium and Corresponding Academician of the Academy of Georgofili of Italy.
Dr Sivakumar received the 2007 International Service in Agronomy Award from the American Society of Agronomy, the Award of Excellence for exceptional and outstanding contributions in the field of Science from the Telugu Association of North America (TANA) in 2009 and the Bharat Jyoti Award from the India International Friendship Society in 2012.