Biography:

 

My expertise lies in the science of weather producing systems, with a particular focus on heat waves and drought.

 

I am currently working with Ailie Gallant on the occurrence of flash drought in Australia – evaluating a variety of methods for detection of these rapidly-evolving events; investigating the underlying atmospheric processes responsible for their development; and examining possible connections between flash droughts and heat waves in regional Australia. My research is funded under the National Environmental Science Programme (NESP) Earth Systems and Climate Change (ESCC) Hub.

 

Previous postdoctoral work at both Monash and the University of Oxford included investigations of extreme wind events using the Bureau of Meteorology high-resolution reanalysis; the precursors to high-latitude blocking in the Northern Hemisphere using probabilistic forecast ensembles; and predictive skill of the North Atlantic Oscillation from a jet stream perspective. Prior to this I completed my PhD at Monash on the structure and development of heat waves in Victoria, through the examination of the large-scale atmospheric conditions and processes underlying these events, and the connection to mechanisms such as tropical convection and modes of climate variability. I have continued to extend this research into heat waves to the Southern Hemisphere more generally.

 

Research Interests:

• Extreme weather, such as heat waves and droughts
• Rossby waves
• Atmospheric blocking
• Geophysical fluid dynamics