Lisa Alexander
PhD (2006 - present)
Supervisor Panel members
Professor Amanda Lynch
Professor Nigel Tapper
Professor Neville Nicholls
Research Focus
My research mostly focuses on how climate extremes on both regional and global scales are changing and how well climate models are able to simulate these changes.
Current Research
My current research aims to understand the mechanisms which drive changes in climate extremes over Australia and what impacts these changes might have on vulnerable regions and ecosystems. Changes in the frequency and/or severity of extreme climate events have the potential to have profound societal and ecological impacts and observations suggest that these changes are already occurring. The primary objective of my work is to identify and analyse the mechanisms which are driving changes in climate extremes in Australia in order to be better prepared for future changes which may occur. Multiple research tools, methods and data are being employed including station observations, re-analyses data, satellite data and model output to help answer fundamental questions about how climate extremes have changed in Australia during the observational record, whether interactions between and changes in large-scale mechanisms are driving observed trends and if changes are related to anthropogenic factors.
Outputs
Alexander, L.V. and J.M. Arblaster (2007). Assessing trends in observed and modelled climate extremes over Australia in relation to future projections. Int. J. Climatol. (in review)
Alexander, L.V., P. Hope, D. Collins, B. Trewin, A. Lynch and N. Nicholls (2007), Trends in Australia's climate means and extremes: a global context. Aust. Met. Mag., 56, 1-18.
Alexander, L.V., X. Zhang, T. C. Peterson, J. Caesar, B. Gleason, A.M.G. Klein Tank, M. Haylock, D. Collins, B. Trewin, F. Rahim, A. Tagipour, R. Kumar Kolli, J.V. Revadekar, G. Griffiths, L. Vincent, D. B. Stephenson, J. Burn, E. Aguilar, M. Brunet, M. Taylor, M. New, P. Zhai, M. Rusticucci, J. Luis Vazquez Aguirre (2006), Global observed changes in daily climate extremes of temperature and precipitation. J. Geophys. Res.- Atmospheres, 111, D05109, doi:10.1029/2005JD006290
Allan, R, Tett, S. and Alexander, L.V. (2007), Fluctuations in autumn-winter severe storms over the British Isles: 1920 to present. To be submitted to Int. J. Climatol.
Caesar J., L. Alexander and R. Vose, (2006), Large-scale changes in observed daily maximum and minimum temperatures: Creation and analysis of a new gridded data set. J. Geophys. Res.- Atmospheres, 111, D05101, doi:10.1029/2005JD006280
Kiktev, D., Caesar, J., Alexander, L.V., Shiogama, H. and Collier, M., (2007): Comparison of observed and modeled trends in annual extremes of temperature and precipitation using the results of several climate models. GRL, 34, L10702
Moberg, A., P.D. Jones, D. Lister, A. Walther, M. Brunet, J. Jacobeit, L.V. Alexander, P.M. Della-Marta, J. Luterbacher, P. Yiou, D. Chen, A.M.G. Klein Tank, O. Saladie, J. Sigro, E. Aguilar, H. Alexandersson, C. Almarza, I. Auer, M. Barriendos, M. Bergert, H. Bergstrom, R. Bohm, J. Butler, J. Caesar, A. Drebs, D. Founda, F-W. Gerstengarbe, G. Micela, M. Maugeri, H. Osterle, K. Panzic, M. Petrakis, L. Srnec, R. Tolasz, H. Tuomenvirta, P.C. Werner, H. Linderholm, A. Philipp, H. Wanner and E. Xoplaki (2006), Indices for daily temperature and precipitation extremes in Europe analysed for the period 1901-2000, J. Geophys. Res – Atmospheres 111, D22106, doi:10.1029/2006JD007103
Nicholls, N. and L. Alexander (2007), Has the climate become more variable or extreme? Progress 1992-2006. Progress in Physical Geography, 31, pp 1-11.
Sensoy, S. Peterson, T.C., Alexander, L.V. and Zhang, X., 2007 “Meeting summary: Enhancing Middle East climate change monitoring and indexes”. Bulletin of Am. Met. Soc., 88, 1249-1254
Scaife, A.A., Folland, C.K., Alexander, L.V., Moberg, A. and Knight J.R., 2007. European climate extremes and the North Atlantic Oscillation. Journal of Climate, 21 (1), 72-83
Why Monash?
I chose Monash because of the good reputation the supervisors have and because my research interests fitted in well with those of the research group. I most enjoy lunchtimes and the Friday night drinks.