Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Ailie is an Associate Professor in the School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment in the Faculty of Science.
She is an interdisciplinary researcher whose work spans weather and climate hazards, impacts and resources.
Much of her career has focussed on hydroclimate variability in Australia, with a focus on drought. Past work has also included palaeoclimate investigations to place recent droughts in a longer-term context. However, her most recent work has focussed on the weather-drought connection, identifying the strong role that individual weather systems play in making and breaking droughts, including rapid-onset "flash" droughts.
Additionally, her current research interests include:
- Connections between weather systems and drought and fire weather
- Investigating weather as a resource
- Energy meteorology
- Impact-driven weather hazards
These topics are investigated from a multiple lenses, including climate change influences and short-term (weeks to months) prediction.
Ailie is the Deputy Director for Industry & Government Partnerships and a Chief Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Weather of the 21st Century, and the Monash Node Lead of the National Environmental Science Program Climate Systems Hub.
She is also a passionate science educator, teaching courses on hydrology and water risks, and natural hazards. Ailie's passion for science education and communication extends beyond the classroom and she regularly interacts with media as a science communicator. She is a regular on Melbourne's 3RRR Science Show Einstein-A-Go-Go and on 774 ABC Melbourne.
Research area keywords
- Drought
- energy meteorology
- climate change
- weather systems
- Climate variability
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy -
SDG 13 Climate Action -
SDG 15 Life on Land
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
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ARC Centre of Excellence for The Weather of the 21st Century
Jakob, C. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Lane, T. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Perkins-Kirkpatrick, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Holbrook, N. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Sherwood, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Singh, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Ritchie-Tyo, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Arblaster, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), McGregor, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Gallant, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Vincent, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), King, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Brown, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), McColl Hogg, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Evans, J. P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Alexander, L. V. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Taschetto, A. S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Spence, J. P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Franklin, C. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Pepler, A. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Brown, J. N. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Risbey, J. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Ziehn, T. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Shipway, B. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Senior, C. A. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Wernli, H. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Seneviratne, S. I. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Hohenegger, C. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Stevens, B. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Sobel, A. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Mullendore, G. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Meehl, G. (Partner Investigator (PI)), O'Gorman, P. A. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Hallberg, R. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Maher, N. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Nazarian, N. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Huang, Y. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Constantinou, N. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Bain, C. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Dunstone, N. (Partner Investigator (PI)), de Burgh-Day, C. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Tian, S. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Thatcher, M. (Partner Investigator (PI)), Nguyen, T.-L. (Project Manager) & Stewart, K. (Chief Investigator (CI))
ARC - Australian Research Council, Aon Reinsurance Solutions Australia Ltd, Suncorp Corporate Services Pty Ltd, University of Tokyo
1/02/24 → 31/01/31
Project: Research
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NESP CSH C: National Environmental Science Program Climate Systems Hub Postdoctoral Research Fellow C
Gallant, A. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)) & McGregor, S. (Chief Investigator (CI))
Monash University – Internal Department Contribution
1/01/24 → 30/01/27
Project: Research
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National Environmental Science Program Climate Systems Hub Postdoctoral Research Fellow B
Gallant, A. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)) & McGregor, S. (Chief Investigator (CI))
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) (Australia)
1/07/22 → 31/01/27
Project: Research
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National Environmental Science Program Phase 2 Climate Systems Hub
Marsland, S. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Gallant, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), McGregor, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Jakob, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Holmes, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Goldie, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Boulter, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Bullio, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Hopkins, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Murphy, B. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/10/20 → 31/12/26
Project: Research
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NESP CSH A: National Environmental Science Program Climate Systems Hub Postdoctoral Research Fellow A
Gallant, A. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)) & McGregor, S. (Chief Investigator (CI))
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) (Australia) , Monash University – Internal Department Contribution
1/07/22 → 21/03/26
Project: Research
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Climate impacts of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation on Australia
Taschetto, A. S., McGregor, S., Dommenget, D., Gillett, Z. E., Nicholls, N., Sharmila, S., van Rensch, P., Verdon-Kidd, D., Boschat, G., Chung, C., Lieber, R., Abram, N., Allan, R., Allen, K., Ashcroft, L., Brown, J. R., Cai, W., Chand, S., Cowan, T. & Dao, T. L. & 21 others, , 2026, In: Nature Reviews Earth and Environment. 7, 2, 21 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › Research › peer-review
17 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus) -
The Extent of El Niño and La Niña Influence on Australian Rainfall
van Rensch, P., McGregor, S. & Gallant, A., 16 Jan 2026, In: Geophysical Research Letters. 53, 1, 10 p., e2025GL118454.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
Physical mechanisms of meteorological drought development, intensification and termination: an Australian review
Holgate, C. M., Falster, G. M., Gillett, Z. E., Goswami, P., Grant, M. O., Hobeichi, S., Hoffmann, D., Jiang, X., Jin, C., Lu, X., Mu, M., Page, J. C., Parker, T. J., Vogel, E., Abram, N. J., Evans, J. P., Gallant, A. J. E., Henley, B. J., Kala, J. & King, A. D. & 7 others, , 25 Mar 2025, In: Communications Earth and Environment. 6, 1, 14 p., 220.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access29 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus) -
Quantifying inter- and intra-sensor variability in low-cost soil moisture and soil temperature sensors: A comparative study
Todd, M., Gallant, A. J. E., Wang, A., Plucinski, J. & Wong, V. N. L., Dec 2025, In: Smart Agricultural Technology. 12, 19 p., 101186.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access8 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus) -
Understanding drought onset: What makes flash droughts different from conventional droughts?
Goswami, P. & Gallant, A. J. E., Sept 2025, In: Weather and Climate Extremes. 49, 13 p., 100782.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access20 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)
Prizes
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Monash University, Dean of Science’s Award for Excellence for Research Impact
Gallant, A. (Recipient), Holmes, D. (Recipient), Hall, S. (Recipient), Shergill, R. (Recipient), Gillett, Z. E. (Recipient), Thomas, S. (Recipient) & Goldie, J. (Recipient), 2020
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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VC Excellence Awards Research Team of the Year
Gallant, A. (Recipient), Arblaster, J. (Recipient), Dommenget, D. (Recipient), Gray, S. (Recipient), Jakob, C. (Recipient), Katragadda, S. (Recipient), McGregor, S. (Recipient), Purich, A. (Recipient), Reeder, M. (Recipient), Siems, S. (Recipient), Ritchie-Tyo, L. (Recipient), Saunders, K. (Recipient), Singh, M. (Recipient), Wilson, A. (Recipient), Wolff, H. (Recipient), Chor, S. (Recipient) & Harmer, G. (Recipient), 2024
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)