Phil Evans Appointed Director General of EUMETSAT

Darmstadt, Germany, January 4, 2021--Phil Evans has been appointed Director General of EUMETSAT effective January 1,  2021. Before starting at EUMETSAT, Phil Evans was the Director of Physics Programmes for the Institute of Physics, where he was responsible for education, and science and innovation programmes, a role that aligns with his sensitivity for the social impact of science.

In addition, before that experience, he spent more than three decades in several senior positions at the UK Met Office, where he honed his technical skills in remote sensing and weather and climate simulations, and acquired experience in managing international collaborations.

“Being appointed by EUMETSAT is both an immense honour and a huge responsibility because I could not think of a more socially relevant institution to work for at the moment.”

He is bringing this very special combination of skills to EUMETSAT to lead on the development of the organisation, on the many satellite launches planned until 2033, and on the expansion of the services provided daily to users in many countries.

“EUMETSAT is an extremely high-technology and efficient organisation, that manages very complex satellites in space, and delivers, every day, 24/7, accurate and pertinent data to its users worldwide,” describes Phil Evans. “This is our expertise and we need to keep it going,” he added.

He already feels a keen sense of ownership for this mission that he knew a long time before joining. In his role at the Met Office he was also leading the UK delegation to EUMETSAT, and was, thus, already in close contact with the institution and its values and people.

The international scope and the many multinational collaborations that form the backbone of many programmes at EUMETSAT are core to the success of the organisation, according to him: tackling planet-wide climatic issues can only be done at a planet-wide level, whether it is about developing innovative satellite programmes, sharing data to simulate complex phenomenon, or generally bringing knowledge forward.