Speakers
Prof Andrew J Pitman
Director ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
Prof Pitman is an internationally respected climate scientist. He has played a lead role in national and international climate organisations and was a lead author for IPCC assessment reports three and four, contributing to the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the IPCC in 2007. Prof Pitman is a review author for the latest IPCC assessment report.
His awards include: NSW Scientist of the Year Award (2010), the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographical Medal (2009) and the Priestly Medal for Excellence in Atmospheric Science Research (2004). He jointly won the International Justice Prize for the Copenhagen Diagnosis (2010) and was among Sydney Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people (2010). Read more.
Director ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
Prof Pitman is an internationally respected climate scientist. He has played a lead role in national and international climate organisations and was a lead author for IPCC assessment reports three and four, contributing to the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the IPCC in 2007. Prof Pitman is a review author for the latest IPCC assessment report.
His awards include: NSW Scientist of the Year Award (2010), the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographical Medal (2009) and the Priestly Medal for Excellence in Atmospheric Science Research (2004). He jointly won the International Justice Prize for the Copenhagen Diagnosis (2010) and was among Sydney Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people (2010). Read more.
Dr Lisa Alexander
Lead researcher in Extreme Weather, ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
Dr Alexander's primary research focuses on understanding the variability and driving mechanisms of climate extremes. She has contributed significantly to the IPCC Assessments. Of particular significance is her ongoing work assessing global changes in temperature and rainfall extremes. Dr Alexander was awarded the 2011 Priestley Medal by the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society and the 2013 Australian Academy of Science Dorothy Hill award for her contribution to this field. She has contributed to the IPCC assessments in 2001 and 2007 and the 2012 Special Report on Extremes and is currently a Lead Author of the IPCC's 5th Assessment Report.
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Lead researcher in Extreme Weather, ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
Dr Alexander's primary research focuses on understanding the variability and driving mechanisms of climate extremes. She has contributed significantly to the IPCC Assessments. Of particular significance is her ongoing work assessing global changes in temperature and rainfall extremes. Dr Alexander was awarded the 2011 Priestley Medal by the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society and the 2013 Australian Academy of Science Dorothy Hill award for her contribution to this field. She has contributed to the IPCC assessments in 2001 and 2007 and the 2012 Special Report on Extremes and is currently a Lead Author of the IPCC's 5th Assessment Report.
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Dr Julie Arblaster
Senior Research Scientist, Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research
Dr Julie Arblaster is a senior research scientist in the climate change processes team of the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, based at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Julie worked for many years at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, before returning to Australia and formally joining the Bureau of Meterology.
Julie’s research interests lie in using climate models to investigate mechanisms of recent and future climate change. She is a member of the World Climate Research Programme Stratospheric-Tropospheric Processes and their Role in Climate (SPARC) scientific steering group. Dr Arblaster is a lead author on both the Long-term Climate Change: Projections, Commitments and Irreversibility chapter of the IPCC's 5th Assessment Report. Read more.
Senior Research Scientist, Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research
Dr Julie Arblaster is a senior research scientist in the climate change processes team of the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, based at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Julie worked for many years at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, before returning to Australia and formally joining the Bureau of Meterology.
Julie’s research interests lie in using climate models to investigate mechanisms of recent and future climate change. She is a member of the World Climate Research Programme Stratospheric-Tropospheric Processes and their Role in Climate (SPARC) scientific steering group. Dr Arblaster is a lead author on both the Long-term Climate Change: Projections, Commitments and Irreversibility chapter of the IPCC's 5th Assessment Report. Read more.
Prof Nathan Bindoff
Chief Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Systems Science
Professor Bindoff is a physical oceanographer specializing in ocean climate and the Earth's climate system. He has documented some of the first evidence for changes in the climate change signals in the Indian, North Pacific, South Pacific and Southern Oceans and has shown some of the first evidence of changes in the Earth's hydrological cycle.
Professor Bindoff’s career publications include more than 68 scientific papers and 42 reports. As the coordinating lead author for the Ocean Chapter in the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report, Professor Bindoff contributed to the receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize by the IPCC in 2007 and is coordinating lead author in 5th Assessment Report. He has guest edited two special volumes of Deep Sea Research. Read more.
Chief Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Systems Science
Professor Bindoff is a physical oceanographer specializing in ocean climate and the Earth's climate system. He has documented some of the first evidence for changes in the climate change signals in the Indian, North Pacific, South Pacific and Southern Oceans and has shown some of the first evidence of changes in the Earth's hydrological cycle.
Professor Bindoff’s career publications include more than 68 scientific papers and 42 reports. As the coordinating lead author for the Ocean Chapter in the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report, Professor Bindoff contributed to the receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize by the IPCC in 2007 and is coordinating lead author in 5th Assessment Report. He has guest edited two special volumes of Deep Sea Research. Read more.
Dr John Church
CSIRO Fellow and leader of the Coasts and Sea-level Team in CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
Dr Church is a world leader in sea-level rise research. His work with CSIRO colleagues, the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, and international climate science agencies, has helped generate a new benchmark in understanding the science and issues of sea-level rise.
He was the lead editor of the book Understanding Sea-Level Rise and Variability, which brought together researchers from around the world to generate a new standard in knowledge of sea-level rise.
Dr Church was co-convening Lead Author for the Chapter on Sea Level in the IPCC 3rd Assessment Report, a contributing an lead author for the IPCC's 4th Assessment Report and is the coordinating lead author of the Sea Level Change chapter for the IPCC 5th Assessment Report. Read more.
CSIRO Fellow and leader of the Coasts and Sea-level Team in CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
Dr Church is a world leader in sea-level rise research. His work with CSIRO colleagues, the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, and international climate science agencies, has helped generate a new benchmark in understanding the science and issues of sea-level rise.
He was the lead editor of the book Understanding Sea-Level Rise and Variability, which brought together researchers from around the world to generate a new standard in knowledge of sea-level rise.
Dr Church was co-convening Lead Author for the Chapter on Sea Level in the IPCC 3rd Assessment Report, a contributing an lead author for the IPCC's 4th Assessment Report and is the coordinating lead author of the Sea Level Change chapter for the IPCC 5th Assessment Report. Read more.
Dr Jason Evans
Climate Change Research Centre
Dr Evan's expertise is in the area of land-atmosphere interactions, the water cycle and climate change. He is chair of the Murray-Darling Basin Regional Hydroclimate Project. This project is an element of the Coordinated Energy and Water Cycle Observations Project, which is a project of the Global Energy and Water cycle Experiment (GEWEX). GEWEX run by the World Climate Research Programme.
His research involves general issues of water cycle processes over land, and how we can change them, largely through changes in land use and changes in climate. He focuses at the regional (or watershed) scale and studies processes including river flow, evaporation/transpiration, water vapour transport and precipitation.
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Climate Change Research Centre
Dr Evan's expertise is in the area of land-atmosphere interactions, the water cycle and climate change. He is chair of the Murray-Darling Basin Regional Hydroclimate Project. This project is an element of the Coordinated Energy and Water Cycle Observations Project, which is a project of the Global Energy and Water cycle Experiment (GEWEX). GEWEX run by the World Climate Research Programme.
His research involves general issues of water cycle processes over land, and how we can change them, largely through changes in land use and changes in climate. He focuses at the regional (or watershed) scale and studies processes including river flow, evaporation/transpiration, water vapour transport and precipitation.
Read more.
Prof Christian Jakob
Deputy Director ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
Prof Jakob is an internationally respected climate researcher whose research has placed him in a prominent position in a number of prestigious international bodies. He is the current Co-chair of the World Climate Research Programme's Modeling Advisory Council and before that led the prestigious Working Group on Numerical Experimentation from 2008 to 2012. Dr Jakob has been the Chair of the World Climate Research Programme’s Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Modelling and Prediction Panel, led 150 scientists in the GEWEX Cloud System Study, co-led the Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment and was Co-chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Radiation and Climate. He is a lead author in IPCC 5th Assessment Report. Read more.
Deputy Director ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
Prof Jakob is an internationally respected climate researcher whose research has placed him in a prominent position in a number of prestigious international bodies. He is the current Co-chair of the World Climate Research Programme's Modeling Advisory Council and before that led the prestigious Working Group on Numerical Experimentation from 2008 to 2012. Dr Jakob has been the Chair of the World Climate Research Programme’s Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Modelling and Prediction Panel, led 150 scientists in the GEWEX Cloud System Study, co-led the Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment and was Co-chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Radiation and Climate. He is a lead author in IPCC 5th Assessment Report. Read more.
Dr Fiona Johnson
Chair of NSW Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
Dr Johnson's research is focused on problems related to climate change and catchment and water resources modelling. She is particularly interested in climate change impacts on water resources systems and developing methods to evaluate and correct the simulations from climate models. Her work includes bias correction methods that can be applied to climate model simulations to improve the representation of rainfall and evaporation.
Dr Johnson was involved in the revision of Intensity-Frequency-Duration (IFD) data for Australia at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology as part of Australian Rainfall and Runoff. She is a member of American Geophysical Union and International Association of Hydrological Sciences. Read more.
Chair of NSW Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
Dr Johnson's research is focused on problems related to climate change and catchment and water resources modelling. She is particularly interested in climate change impacts on water resources systems and developing methods to evaluate and correct the simulations from climate models. Her work includes bias correction methods that can be applied to climate model simulations to improve the representation of rainfall and evaporation.
Dr Johnson was involved in the revision of Intensity-Frequency-Duration (IFD) data for Australia at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology as part of Australian Rainfall and Runoff. She is a member of American Geophysical Union and International Association of Hydrological Sciences. Read more.
Prof David J Karoly
Chief Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
Prof Karoly is recognised worldwide for his work at the leading edge of climate science. Professor Karoly’s research focuses on climate variability and climate change, including greenhouse climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion and interannual climate variations due to El Niño-Southern Oscillation. He is recognized as one of the leading global experts on the dynamics of large-scale atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere and its variability. He is also recognized as a world leader in the detection and attribution of climate change, particularly at regional scales.
He was involved, through several different roles, in the preparation of the IPCC’s 4th Assessment Report and is a Review Editor for a chapter in the current IPCC 5th Assessment Report. Read more
Chief Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
Prof Karoly is recognised worldwide for his work at the leading edge of climate science. Professor Karoly’s research focuses on climate variability and climate change, including greenhouse climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion and interannual climate variations due to El Niño-Southern Oscillation. He is recognized as one of the leading global experts on the dynamics of large-scale atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere and its variability. He is also recognized as a world leader in the detection and attribution of climate change, particularly at regional scales.
He was involved, through several different roles, in the preparation of the IPCC’s 4th Assessment Report and is a Review Editor for a chapter in the current IPCC 5th Assessment Report. Read more
Dr Scott Power
Senior Principal Research Scientist with Bureau of Meteorology
Dr Power is an ARC “Expert of International Standing” and is highly regarded for his expertise in the large-scale drivers of climate and climate variability of the southern hemisphere. He is also a co-ordinating lead author of WG1 IPCC 5th Assessment Report, a member of the Core Writing Team for the overall WG I-II Synthesis Report, and a Co-editor of the IPCC WG1 Regional and Global Projections Atlas.
His primary research areas include global warming; decadal climate variability and the El Nino-Southern Oscillation; climate change projections; and understanding the causes of climate variability and quantifying the extent to which climate can be predicted.
He is the former head of operational climate monitoring and prediction in the Bureau and the former acting head of Australia’s National Climate Centre. Read more.
Senior Principal Research Scientist with Bureau of Meteorology
Dr Power is an ARC “Expert of International Standing” and is highly regarded for his expertise in the large-scale drivers of climate and climate variability of the southern hemisphere. He is also a co-ordinating lead author of WG1 IPCC 5th Assessment Report, a member of the Core Writing Team for the overall WG I-II Synthesis Report, and a Co-editor of the IPCC WG1 Regional and Global Projections Atlas.
His primary research areas include global warming; decadal climate variability and the El Nino-Southern Oscillation; climate change projections; and understanding the causes of climate variability and quantifying the extent to which climate can be predicted.
He is the former head of operational climate monitoring and prediction in the Bureau and the former acting head of Australia’s National Climate Centre. Read more.
Prof Steve Sherwood
Director of the Climate Change Research Centre
Prof Sherwood is an established leader in climate system science. In particular, he has made significant contributions to the understanding of moisture-related processes in the atmosphere. His areas of study include: atmospheric humidity, convective systems, interactions between clouds, air circulation and climate, remote sensing of storms, and observed warming trends.
He has given a briefing in the US House of Representatives, gives public lectures and has made many television and radio appearances. A 2005 Science paper on atmospheric warming was named as one of the top 100 scientific discoveries of 2005 by Discover magazine. He was contributing author to the IPCC’s 4th Assessment Report and is a leading author for the IPCC 5th Assessment Report. Read more.
Director of the Climate Change Research Centre
Prof Sherwood is an established leader in climate system science. In particular, he has made significant contributions to the understanding of moisture-related processes in the atmosphere. His areas of study include: atmospheric humidity, convective systems, interactions between clouds, air circulation and climate, remote sensing of storms, and observed warming trends.
He has given a briefing in the US House of Representatives, gives public lectures and has made many television and radio appearances. A 2005 Science paper on atmospheric warming was named as one of the top 100 scientific discoveries of 2005 by Discover magazine. He was contributing author to the IPCC’s 4th Assessment Report and is a leading author for the IPCC 5th Assessment Report. Read more.
Dr Blair Trewin
President of Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
Blair Trewin is a Senior Climatologist with Bureau of Meteorology and has been with the Bureau of Meteorology since 1998. His specialist areas are the development of long-term historical data sets for the assessment of climate change, and the analysis of extreme events, both current and historic. He was the lead developer of the Bureau’s current long-term Australian temperature data set, ACORN-SAT.
In the international sphere, he was the scientific coordinator of the World Meteorological Organisation’s annual Global Climate Statement in 2010 and 2011, and is a member of the WMO’s Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices, and Task Team on Definitions of Extreme Weather and Climate Events. He is also editor of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal. Read more.
President of Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
Blair Trewin is a Senior Climatologist with Bureau of Meteorology and has been with the Bureau of Meteorology since 1998. His specialist areas are the development of long-term historical data sets for the assessment of climate change, and the analysis of extreme events, both current and historic. He was the lead developer of the Bureau’s current long-term Australian temperature data set, ACORN-SAT.
In the international sphere, he was the scientific coordinator of the World Meteorological Organisation’s annual Global Climate Statement in 2010 and 2011, and is a member of the WMO’s Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices, and Task Team on Definitions of Extreme Weather and Climate Events. He is also editor of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal. Read more.