Prof. Thelma Krug is the esteemed Chair of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Steering Committee. As a Brazilian mathematician, teacher, and climate change researcher, she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from Roosevelt University in the United States and completed a doctorate in spatial statistics from the University of Sheffield in England. Krug had a distinguished career at Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), significantly contributing to climate science. From 2015 to 2023, she served as Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), playing a pivotal role in global climate assessments and policy recommendations. Her extensive experience and dedication to climate research have made her a prominent figure in environmental science.