Interests and Research:

My current research aims to better understand the the weather and climate affecting south west Western Australia as part of the Indian Ocean Climate Iniative (IOCI).

This region experienced a marked downturn in rainfall during the mid-1970s that has since persisted. This strong shift in the climate is associated with a large-scale shift in the circulation. Local factors may also have played a role in this region's dramatic response. My interests cover how the large-scale changes are expressed at both a hemispheric and regional scale, how the rainfall signature has changed and how local surface changes may have influenced the rainfall.

Specifically, I have created a set of synoptic types over the region in winter and assessed how their frequency and the rainfall amount linked to each type has changed over time. I have also roughly described the shifts in the rainfall spectra, and this work is continuing with a closer examination of the extremes in the region with Lisa Alexander.

There are many more questions to be answered relevant to Southern Hemisphere large-scale circulation and surface interaction.

I continue to have an interest in past climates, and believe that we need to have a strong link between potential proxy evidence of the past climate and the people who are expert in understanding climate processes at present.