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Graduation occasional address

I was honoured to give the Occasional Address at a Faculty of Science Graduation ceremony earlier this month. Big robes, big chair, the whole thing.

Given the ceremony occurred on Census night, I thought it only fitting to lean into the data theme. Here’s my speech, if you’re interested in seeing how I can weave population statistics into (hopefully) useful advice for our next generation.

Good evening, everyone. Chancellor, Academic Board Officer, Dean, and most importantly, our new graduates, and their friends and family. It is an honour to be with you tonight.

I would also like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respect to elders, past, present and emerging, and extend my respect to all First Nations people here today, particularly our First Nations graduates.

Indigenous Australians are our first educators, scientists, and keepers of ceremony. We are so lucky to live and learn in a place that has been cared for for hundreds of generations, by a people with such powerful methods of educating that Australia is home to the oldest living culture on Earth.

Tonight is a celebration of hard work and achievements — not only of our amazing graduates, but their loyal and patient support crew.

What a testament to your dedication that you are all here, instead of at home, revelling in the wild celebration that is Australian Census night!

For 111 years, climate change has been in the news. Are we finally ready to listen?

I wrote this article one year ago today, but I’m republishing it here because, well, it’s still relevant.

On August 14 1912, a small New Zealand newspaper published a short article announcing global coal usage was affecting our planet’s temperature.

This piece from 111 years ago is now famous, shared across the internet this time every year as one of the first pieces of climate science in the media (even though it was actually a reprint of a piece published in a New South Wales mining journal a month earlier).

Paper summary: the world’s longest known series of parallel temperature data: Adelaide, 1887–1947

Parallel weather observations are crucial for combining historical weather observations with modern records, so we can accurately see what our climate was like back in time.

Most datasets go for two or three years, but in Adelaide, Australia, Government Astronomer and Meteorologist Charles Todd and his team took measurements in two thermometer stands for almost 60 years! This makes the Adelaide dataset the longest known record of its kind in the world.

The monthly mean values of these records were found and analysed in the 1990s, but the daily observations remained lost to modern research until recently, when they were unearthed by volunteers in the South Australian Bureau of Meteorology office. This remarkable team imaged and digitised the data, turning the chicken scratchings into a dataset we could explore.

The power of instability, and stories

This post — a return after several years away — is not a deep musing on how the last year has destabilised us all.

It’s not an angry argument for why we need to challenge the boring, stale and stable ideas of what power looks like (although I’d like to write one).

It’s not even an inspiring listicle about how my life has changed since it lost all stability (i.e. since I became a mum).

It’s about thunderstorms.

Paper summary: historical extreme rainfall events in southeastern Australia

Most instrumental weather data that we use to study rainfall in Australia only extend back to 1900, which makes it hard to capture the full range of our highly variable climate.

In a new study we have used historical rainfall observations in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney to add an extra 60 years of information to our climate record.

Visualising climate change

Recently I was invited to talk to the computer science students at John Monash Science School by their wonderful teacher and all round superstar, Dr Linda McIver. The students had been working on different ways to show climate change data, Linda told me. Could we talk about that?

A chance to look at visualisations of climate data? How exciting! In five minutes I had a page full of examples to think of to share with the students. The presentation pretty much made itself.Continue reading “Visualising climate change”

When helpful is unhelpful

Question.

Tell me what you think about me.

No, I’m serious! Please, tell me what you think about this scenario.

A while ago I spoke at a small research meeting. I gave a 20 minute talk on my science. I engaged with my audience, answered general and specific questions, and hopefully came across as knowledgable and measured.

I also arrived early on the day of the meeting as the organisers had mentioned they would like some support. I carried piles of papers to the meeting room, helped to fill up water jugs, and dispensed snacks. When the meeting was over, I helped clean up.

None of the other meeting attendees did this. They’re all nice guys who work hard, respect their colleagues, and have all been in the team much longer than I.

The thing about wind

I’ve written before about my frustration/hatred of wind in daily life, but today I wanted to raise another complaint: using wind data in past climate research.

Wind direction is easy and cheap to monitor. All you really need is a damp finger and a decent sense of which way is north.

The strength of wind has also been observed for a long time, for its vital role in turning windmills and pushing ships.

But the thing about local wind information, is that it’s just not great for climate research.

How’s about that weather then? 26 and 28 March 1844

People love talking about the weather. Whether it’s on Twitter in 2017, or in letters to the Editor in 1841, we are never short of a meteorological-based conversation starter, particularly in Australia.

The aim of these posts is to share some of the events that piqued people’s interest back in the day. Not always the hottest, driest, coldest or wettest day, but some days that got people whinging.

During this week in 1844, Sydney experienced a swing of temperatures which was echoed across the colony of New South Wales.

Continue reading “How’s about that weather then? 26 and 28 March 1844”

It’s the little things

It’s been over four months since we said goodbye to the sunshine and summer of Catalonia and returned to the changeable grey of Melbourne. It’s incredible how fast things disappear into the past, and already our flat in Tortosa seems like years ago.

We will always have a home in Catalonia, as it will always sit in my heart. At the same time, it’s nice to be back among the wide streets and wide accent under the big Australian sky.

As H and I have plowed on with work and friend reconnecting and getting married (!), it’s hard to find time to miss the big life things that we had in Spain. The freedom, the castles, the late nights and the history. It’s more the little things, the subtle ways that I have changed since we flew out of Tullamarine on the first day of summer in 2014.

Seeing as its 12 days until Christmas, here are the 12 little things I’ve noticed since coming back home: