Students

Si Cheng completed her BEng and MPhil in Electrical Engineering and Automation at Wuhan University in 2019 and 2022. Her master's research was to detect total lighting flashes and track severe thunderstorms, which aroused her great interest in extreme precipitation. Her current research focuses on uncertainties in precipitation observations over the ocean and global climate model simulations of extremes. Out of study, she likes basketball, hiking, riding, and movies.

Field of research: Oceanography

Contact details:
Phone: 9385 9766
Email: hannah.dawson@unsw.edu.au

Hannah completed her BSc in Geology at the University of Western Australia in 2013 before graduating with a Master’s of Professional Engineering (Environmental) in 2016. Hannah’s master’s research was completed with the Institute for Marine and Antarctic studies in Hobart and focussed on the physical and biological characteristics of Southern Ocean mesoscale eddies. Hannah started her PhD with UNSW in March 2020 after working as a consultant environmental engineer for three years. Her research interests include physical and biological oceanography, climate-ocean interactions, Antarctic coastal circulation and ice shelf melting. Her research is currently focused on Antarctic shelf circulation and connectivity using Lagrangian particle tracking techniques.

Anand holds a bachelor's degree in Physics followed by a master's degree in Environmental Science and Technology from Banaras Hindu University, India. His master's thesis focuses on the rainfall rate estimation over India using Hybrid Machine Learning algorithms. Just after finishing his master’s degree, he joined a bilateral project between India and Russia at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal to investigate the impacts of climate change on the South Asia extremes, where he studied Marine heatwaves/cold spells and compound extremes. At UNSW he aims to understand the interaction and interchange between the precipitation and ocean extremes in the warming climate.

After spending many years as an Actuary in consultancies and general insurance corporates both in Australia and in the UK, a career about-face led me to complete a Master of Philosophy at UNSW in 2020 in ocean dynamics associated with El Niño teleconnections in the south Indian Ocean. My PhD interests include tropical-to-higher latitude teleconnections and their influences on large-scale atmospheric/ocean/sea-ice variability.

Having completed a BSc in Maths at the University of Glasgow, I then went on to study an MSc in Mathematical Modelling (Climate Science) at the University of Exeter. Following this, I worked at the UK Met Office in climate and weather science for 18 months before starting my PhD at UNSW in September 2023. 

After completing high-school in rural New South Wales in 2007, Nick completed a bachelor of science, majoring in Atmosphere and Ocean science, at the University of Melbourne, and then an honours year at UNSW. Nick’s research interest lies at the intersection of synoptic meteorology and climate dynamics, and in improving the prediction of rainfall. Nick will continue his research on the nature and variability of rain-bearing cyclones across the Southern Hemisphere midlatitudes in a PhD at UNSW.

Contact details:
Phone: 9385 9766
Email: r.isphording@unsw.edu.au

Rachael completed her B.Sc. in Applied Meteorology at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and her M.Sc. in Geological Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin, both in the U.S. Her master's thesis focused on identifying drivers of long-term changes in large-scale tropical circulation patterns (i.e. the Hadley and Walker Circulations), specifically over the Amazon and Congo Rainforests. In 2019, Rachael was awarded the prestigious Scientia PhD. Scholarship at UNSW to study flooding rains, droughts, and human security in a changing climate. For her PhD research, Rachael hopes to address current climate modelling limitations for understanding magnified drought-flood cycles to improve adaptation and risk management strategies. In addition to furthering her research, Rachael is interested in science communication and outreach. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, kayaking, sailing, yoga, paddle boarding and exploring new places.

Ying-Lung started his PhD in May 2022. His research focuses on investigating the contribution of ENSO and IOD to Australian rainfall and projecting its changes under a warmer climate. He completed his BSc degree in Earth System Science and MPhil in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is interested in large-scale climate drivers, climate dynamics, and future climate projection.

Xiancheng received her Master's in Geography and Bachelor's in Economics from Taiwan and mainland China. After that, she worked on NGO and university projects, thus bearing comprehensive thinking between society and academia regarding environmental issues. Her research focus was the forest carbon cycle. At the CCRC and CLEX, they aim to integrate the knowledge of vegetation into the land surface model to see the divergent impact of underlying plant and soil types on hydrology, thus better predicting the drought in Australia. Xiancheng has an interdisciplinary and open mind and thus loves meeting people with diverse backgrounds besides hiking, games, and whatever.

Sebastian graduated with a Bachelor of Advanced Science (Honours) in 2019 from UNSW, majoring in Climate Systems Science. His honours project was focused on understanding the representation of Indo-Pacific Climate variability, and related model biases in CMIP5. After graduating, he joined Weatherzone in the forecast systems team. Sebastian has now returned to UNSW to pursue a PhD.

Camille completed her BSc in Communications and Arts at the University of Queensland in 2015. During her BSc, she went on a year-long exchange in the United States, falling in love with the unique California nature at the University of California, Santa Barbara and igniting her interest in environmental economics at the University of Madison, Wisconsin. Her experience in the US led her to move to the small ocean community called Ocean Beach in San Diego upon graduating with her BSc. After several miscellaneous jobs, she started her career as a digital project manager, working across various clients and agencies. In 2019 she moved back to Australia, with her fiancée (now husband) joining her just before the pandemic shut down the world. After working for a brief stint at OzHarvest, she returned to university to do a Master of Sustainability at the University of Sydney in 2021. Throughout her Masters, Camille worked as a research assistant within the Integrated Sustainability Analysis Lab at USyd, where she used economic models to quantify how environmental and social impacts cascade through national and global supply chains She was drawn to do a PhD following her Masters research project exploring evidentiary opportunities in climate litigation. Camille started her PhD in March 2023 at the University of Sydney but is part of CCRC through her UNSW supervisor Professor Lisa Alexander. Camille’s research interests include supply chain impact modelling, disaster impact analysis, event attribution, and climate change litigation. Her PhD aims to integrate supply chain impact modelling and event attribution to provide new evidentiary opportunities for loss and damage claims.

I completed my Master’s degree in 2020 in China, and started my PhD at CCRC in 2024. My research during master was about moisture sources and precipitation change in Tibet Plateau. My research interest now is to better understand the moisture transport in atmosphere, and its influence on precipitation, especially on extreme precipitation. In my spare time, I like hiking and tennis.

Contact details:
Phone: 9385 9766
Email: m.naserikia@unsw.edu.au

Marzie received her Master of Science in Urban Planning from Tarbiat Modares University of Tehran, Iran. She has started her PhD in April 2020 at the Climate Change Research Centre at UNSW. Her research has focused on urban heat island adaptation and mitigation, land use/ land cover planning, and investigating the effects of green infrastructures on citizens’ thermal comfort. Marzie is also interested in the application of Geographic Information Systems, remote sensing, and satellite imagery in spatial analysis of urban areas.

Thesis: The influence of urban planning indicators on the urban heat island in Sydney

Field of research: Oceanography

Contact details:
Phone: 02 9385 9766
Email: ellie.ong@unsw.edu.au

I completed my Masters degree in Physics in the UK and am now at the CCRC, using idealised models to study ocean dynamics at the Antarctic continental margin with Prof. Matt England. I'm originally from Malaysia, but grew up in Hong Kong, and I am glad to have finally made it to Sydney!

Field of research: Atmospheric Climate Dynamics

Contact details:
Phone: 02 9385 9766
Email: v.ortiz@unsw.edu.au

Valentina completed her Bachelor's degree in Physics at the Faculty of Science of Universidad de Chile, and then a Masters Degree in Physics at Heidelberg University. In 2019, she joined the Center for Scientific Studies (CECs) based in Valdivia, south of Chile. There, she started to get involved in Climate and Atmospheric Sciences and worked in dynamic models. Since 2021, she is a PhD student of the Climate Change Research Centre (CCRC), University of New South Wales (UNSW), where she works in Atmospheric Climate Dynamics under the supervision of Dr Martin Jucker and Prof. Steven Sherwood.

Contact details:
Phone: 9385 9766
Email: jon.page@unsw.edu.au

Jon completed his BA in Mathematics at Pembroke College, University of Oxford, before spending some time working in the IT sector. After spending three months hiking in the USA on sabbatical, he returned to the UK where he earned a Distinction in a MSc in Hydrology and Water Resource Management at Imperial College London. Focusing on environmental hydrology, his dissertation modelled the impact of elevated atmospheric CO2 on hydrological processes in a mature oak forest. His PhD research at UNSW will be similar, this time investigating the response of grasslands to climate change.

Thesis: Lags and legacies: understanding the role of antecedent effects on grassland biomass responses to rising CO2

Grasslands are estimated to cover ~20% of the terrestrial land surface and store ~25% of the world’s soil carbon. Whether grasslands will be substantial carbon sources or sinks in the future is highly uncertain. In order to predict future responses to climate extremes, we need to resolve how strong (or not) the terrestrial carbon sink will be, as this will affect the rate of warming and, so, climate extremes. This PhD will set out to understand the complicated role of water availability in limiting grassland growth (and so carbon sink potential) in response to climate change

Field of research: Renewable energy, First Nations, Traditional fire management

Contact details:
Phone: 02 9385 9766
Email: k.quail@unsw.edu.au

Katie graduated with a BSc (Adv) from the University of Sydney in 2014, after which she completed a Master of Teaching (Secondary) at the University of Melbourne in 2015. She spent three years working full time as a mathematics teacher in both Melbourne and the UK before returning to the field of science to pursue her PhD at UNSW.

Thesis: Maximising benefits for First Nations communities from the transition to net-zero emissions

To explore this topic I am considering two case study opportunities from which First Nations communities can derive benefits as we transition to net-zero emissions. The first is large-scale renewable energy developments on the Indigenous Estate, for which I am exploring the barriers preventing First Nations peoples from receiving benefits and what needs to be done to overcome these barriers. The second is savanna burning projects in Arnhem land, for which I have partnered with an Indigenous ranger group to try to quantify the impact that climate change is having on their traditional burning practices so that they can plan and adapt these practices for the future.

Field of research: Climate & health

Contact details:
Phone: 02 9385 9766
Email: e.reycosta@unsw.edu.au

My name is Elona. I am from the South Coast of Sydney. I am a PhD candidate with the CCRC and I am working on a project that involves forecasting air pollution in Australia under various climate change scenarios with Donna Green.

Neelesh commenced his PhD in February 2023. His research focuses on using AI to downscale climate projections - where he is affiliated to the research organization, NIWA.

Researche project title: Combining physics and artificial intelligence - A hybrid model for actionable climate projections

Honours student working with Professor Steven Sherwood.

Field of research: Oceanography

Contact details:
Phone: 02 9385 9766
Email: christina.schmidt@unsw.edu.au

I'm a physical oceanographer and completed my Masters at GEOMAR in Kiel, Germany. I am currently completing my PhD with Prof Matt England using ocean models to analyse Antarctic Bottom Water formation and dynamics in a changing climate.

Sharma completed his masters in Atmospheric Physics and Atmospheric Environment from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. His master research focused on the performance of different Reanalysis and Satellite precipitation products in Himalayan regions. In 2020, Sharma joined Tribhuvan University as a Research Associate and worked on climate extremes, precipitation, and temperature variability in South Asia, particularly in the Himalayan region, Nepal. Sharma started Ph.D. in 2023 at the Climate Change Research Centre (CCRC), UNSW, Australia. He will be researching future changes in precipitation extremes, urban expansion, and their impact on the water supply system.

Field of research: Climate and Health

Contact details:
Phone: 9385 976
Email: tanya.singh@unsw.edu.au

After conducting her first MSc in International Development Studies (specialisation in health behaviour change and climate change adaptation in developing countries) at Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands, Tanya worked as a researcher at the climate change department of Wageningen Environmental Research. Here she focused, among others, on environmental health risk factors in South Asia. One of her latest projects was to lead an extensive heat exposure measurement campaign in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan in a low socio-economic urban setting with the goal to give advice on heat adaptation measures. Parallel to her research work in the Netherlands, Tanya started in 2018 her second Masters in Public Health (specialisation environmental health) at the renowned London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. In 2019 she was awarded the prestigious Scientia PhD Scholarship at UNSW, where she is undertaking research on temperature extremes, air pollution and child health. One of her PhD projects will be analysing the impacts of the “black summer” bushfires in Australia on birth outcomes.

Thesis: Impacts of pre- and postnatal environmental risk factors on children’s health

Greeshma completed her Masters degree from the University of Hyderabad, India in Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (2021) and her bachelor's degree in Physics from Calicut University (2019), India. She joined CCRC UNSW in 2022 as a Ph.D. student working on a project which aims in understanding extreme wind gusts and associated present and future risks in New South Wales, under the supervision of Prof. Steven Sherwood and Prof. Jason Evans.

Field of research: Climate and Health

Contact details:
Phone: 9385 9766
Email: c.m.waudby@student.unsw.edu.au

After graduating from the University of Hull with a Masters Degree in Physics with Medical Technology, Charlotte worked for the National Health Service as a Research Associate helping to optimise the delivery of cancer therapies and improve the efficiency of nebuliser delivered medication to cystic fibrosis patients for which she was awarded a Technology Transfer and Innovation prize for excellence. After completing work in Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, Charlotte went on to conduct research at Leeds University using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging to examine biomarker linkages between cardiovascular disease and insulin resistance. In 2011, Charlotte moved to Manchester and worked as a specialist radiation dosimetrist at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, one of the largest cancer centres in Europe. Recently awarded a prestigious Scientia Scholarship from UNSW, she is currently undertaking multi-disciplinary research involving the School of Public Health and Community Medicine and the Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes.

Thesis: Thunderstorm asthma, physics and climate change

High pollen counts combined with severe thunderstorms have the potential to cause catastrophic epidemics of acute asthma attacks. The research will focus on improving our understanding of thunderstorm asthma events by examining thunderstorm dynamics and their interaction with asthma-causing pollen. Further, to estimate how the population risk is influenced by geographic distribution of pollen-generating plant species and its association with climate factors. Using statistical and meteorological modelling, examine in detail the links between acute asthma, weather patterns, flora distribution and the environment. Of particular interest is the role of water vapour within thunderstorms and its influence on pollen aerodynamics and fragmentation. The aims of the project are to produce a predictive tool to forecast thunderstorm asthma events, improve knowledge-transfer between climate and health scientists and advise government on implementing an early warning system for the provision of targeted health care.

Lingfei graduated with her master’s degree in China in 2021 and started her phd at CCRC in 2022. Her master’ thesis mainly focused on the simulation of shrub encroachment in arid and semi-arid grassland.  Now she is doing research about the development and application of soil carbon model, and the effect of climate changes on soil carbon dynamics.

Field of research: Soil Carbon Model

Field of research: Climate Dynamics

Contact details:
Phone: 9385 9766

Nicholas completed his Advanced Science degree in climate dynamics and physics in the University of New South Wales. In his honours year in the Climate Change Research Centre, he focused on paleoceanography and ran transient climate simulations with prognostic oxygen isotopes (UVic ESCM) to constrain the spatial origin of Meltwater Pulse-1A (14.5 ka) -- an episode during which sea levels rose by 15 metres in less than 400 years. In 2019 he began his PhD, running an Australian coupled model, ACCESS-ESM, to better understand past carbon cycles and hydroclimate in the Last Interglacial (LIG, 127 ka).

Chang Xu finished her master’s degree in Sun Yat-sen University and started her PhD at CCRC in 2023. Her research interest is water cycle. She mainly focused on water vapor transport and extreme precipitation. The main topic of her PhD study is simulating water vapor transport during extreme events and improving precipitation prediction.

Xinyue Zhang completed her master's in China in 2019 and started her PhD through the Climate Change Research Centre at UNSW in Oct 2021. During her maser period she mainly engaged in predict the geographic location of soil samples by VIS-NIR spectrum. And now she focus on remotely identifying dryland degradation at scales.