Personal profile
Biography
Professor Christian Jakob was awarded his PhD in Meteorology by the Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, in 2001. As a research, then senior research, scientist for the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts from 1993 to 2001, he worked on the development and evaluation of the model representation of clouds, convection and precipitation. From 2002 to 2007 he was senior and principal research scientist of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and since 2007 he has been a professor at Monash University. He currently is the Professor for Climate Modelling at Monash’s School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment. Christian has been the Deputy Director, and later Director, of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climtae System Science as well as Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, for which he is still a Chief Investigator.
Christian's experience and current interests are in the development and evaluation of the processes crucial to the energy and water cycles in global atmospheric models. Internationally, he is engaged in many scientific and collaborative activities. He is the current Co-chair of the World Climate Research Programme’s (WCRP) Digital Earths Lighthouse Activity. Before that, he co-chaired the WCRP Modelling Advisory Council (2012-2017) and led the prestigious Working Group on Numerical Experimentation (20082012). He was Chair of the WCRP’s Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Modelling and Prediction Panel from 2007 to 2010. .
In recognition of his prominent position in the climate science field, Christian was a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 5th Assessment Report, Working Group 1. In 2016 he won the Ascent Award of the American Geophysical Union’s Atmospheric Sciences Section, and in 2018 he was elected a fellow of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS). He was awarded the AMOS Morton Medal in 2019.
Research interests
Tropical Convection
Weather and Climate Interactions
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 14 Life Below Water -
SDG 15 Life on Land
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Hosting ACCESS-NRI Ice Sheet Modelling team
McCormack, F. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Purich, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Jakob, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Arblaster, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Mackintosh, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Selwyn Jones, R. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Tetley, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Bird, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Hogg, A. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/04/25 → 31/03/28
Project: Research
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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. J. (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)), Hogg, A. M. (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. (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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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. F. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/10/20 → 31/12/26
Project: Research
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Climate Vocabularies: New methodologies for music and science communication
Devenish, L. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Jakob, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Hope, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Richardson, L. (Chief Investigator (CI))
ARC - Australian Research Council
1/07/26 → 30/06/29
Project: Research
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Cloud Climatology for Numerical Model Validation
Lynch, M. J. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)) & Jakob, C. (Chief Investigator (CI))
Monash University – Internal School Contribution
1/10/20 → 31/12/21
Project: Research
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Heavy summer rainfall in southeastern Australia
Henderson, C. R., Barnes, M. A., Reeder, M. J., Quinting, J. F. & Jakob, C., Apr 2025, In: Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society. 151, 768, 27 p., e4936.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (Scopus) -
Stormy Subtropics and Stratiform South: Radar-Based Classification and Analysis of Australian Rainfall Events
Bowden, A., Jakob, C. & Soderholm, J., 28 Jan 2025, In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 130, 2, 20 p., e2024JD041790.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access3 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus) -
Weather systems associated with synoptic variability in the moist margin
Robinson, C., Narsey, S., Jakob, C. & Nguyen, H., 7 Apr 2025, In: Weather and Climate Dynamics. 6, 2, p. 369-385 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (Scopus) -
A moisture budget perspective on Australian rainfall variability
Pariyar, S. K., Liguori, G., Jakob, C., Singh, M. S., Reeder, M. J. & Barnes, M. A., Jul 2024, In: Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society. 150, 763, p. 3511-3526 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access3 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus) -
Australian Summer Monsoon: Reanalyses Versus Climate Models in Moist Static Energy Budget Evolution
Mohanty, S., Singh, M. S. & Jakob, C., 28 Jun 2024, In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 129, 12, 20 p., e2023JD040162.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access6 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)
Prizes
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Fellow of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
Jakob, C. (Recipient), 2017
Prize: Election to learned society
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Morton Medal of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
Jakob, C. (Recipient), 2018
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)