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Climate History PhD Scholarship

South-eastern Australian Climate History, 1788-1860

At a time when most Australian capital cities and agricultural irrigators are facing a major water crisis, community concerns about adapting to climate change are at an all-time high. Extremely dry conditions have now persisted for eleven years across much of southern and eastern Australia, prompting renewed interest in the long-term variability of Australian climate.

Currently our description of Australian climate variability is largely confined to the 20th century. Surprisingly, Australia's documentary archives remain virtually unexplored for climate information. An excellent opportunity exists to use historical archives to develop a seminal understanding of Australia's climate history and its impact on past societies.

For example, we still do not have a good long-term history of cycles of Australian droughts, floods, bushfires, dust storms and cyclones, our society's response to past climate variability. Colonial government records, personal diaries and newspaper accounts held in a variety of Australian archives and libraries can provide detailed information about significant weather events since first European settlement in 1788.

A group of climate scientists and an historian, mainly based at the University of Melbourne, are undertaking a project to establish a weather and climate history of Australia prior to 1901. It is an exciting opportunity to consolidate and expand our understanding Australia's pre-20th century climate and social history.

We are looking for a highly self-motivated PhD candidate to research an analytical climate history of south-eastern Australia from 1788 to 1860. Ideally you should have:

• First class honours degree (or equivalent) in Australian history, geography, environmental science or meteorology
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience using historical sources
• Ability to work independently while contributing to team objectives
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills
• Demonstrated ability (or clear potential) to liaise, collaborate and interact with a range of historians, scientists and industry professionals
• Flexibility and willingness to spend periods of time working inter-state
• Skills using a range of computer packages eg. Office, Photoshop, Access, online content management systems and/or specialised scientific software

Contact for further information:

Prior to 30 August and after 20 Sept: Assoc Prof Don Garden - d.garden@unimelb.edu.au
31 Aug to 20 Sept: Prof David Karoly - dkaroly@unimelb.edu.au