AMOS Fellows 2021

Congratulations to Dr Greg Ayers, Dr Diana Greenslade and Associate Professor Jochen Kaempf who have been elected to AMOS Fellow in 2021 based on their outstanding achievements. Brief summaries of their careers and contributions are given below.

Dr Greg Ayers

Dr Greg Ayers has been a national and international research leader and organisational director in CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology for more than four decades. His research on atmospheric chemistry, air pollution, sulphate aerosols over the Southern Ocean, cloud water acidity in tropical atmospheres, dimethyl sulfide, aerosols and cloud concentration nuclei, and other topics have resulted in around 150 peer reviewed scientific papers and led to leading roles in international scientific teams such as the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Executive Council Panel of Experts on Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Pollution. He became Chief of Division in CSIRO Atmospheric Research (2002-2005) and Marine and Atmospheric Research (2005-2009), then went on to become the Director of Meteorology and CEO of the Bureau of Meteorology (2009-2012) and the Permanent Representative for Australia, WMO (2009-2012). Greg chaired several important Australian initiatives including the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research (CAWCR), the Water Information Research And Development Alliance (WIRADA), the Advisory Board for the Monash University School of Biological Sciences, the NESP Earth Systems and Climate Change hub, and currently chairs the board of the National Computational Infrastructure. Some years ago, Greg was seconded into the Department of Climate Change to lead a national conversation to develop our National Framework for Climate Change Science. More recently he led the successful proposal and funding in 2020 for the ACCESS National Research Infrastructure facility, positioning Australia for many years of future capability in weather and climate modelling. Greg was an Editorial Board Member of the Australia Meteorological Magazine for six years and has been the Chief Editor of the Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science (JSHESS) since 2017.

Dr Diana Greenslade

Dr Diana Greenslade is a Principal Research Scientist at the Bureau of Meteorology and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the UNSW School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Since 1997 she has led research and development of operational marine forecasting systems, including the Bureau’s operational wave model, the Australian Tsunami Warning System (joint with Geoscience Australia and the Attorney General’s Department), and storm surge prediction systems. Diana also played an active role in Bluelink, the national collaboration between the Royal Australian Navy, BoM and CSIRO that developed Australia’s operational ocean modelling capability. Her work has profoundly improved the Bureau’s marine forecast and warning services. Diana led the Ocean Prediction Group within CAWCR and and now leads the Bureau’s Applications Science group. She has served on numerous committees and advisory groups for national and international ocean-related activities including Bluelink, Marine National Facility, Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM), GEO Disasters Societal Benefit Area, and International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) Commission on Geophysical Risk and Sustainability. She is currently vice-chair

A/Professor Jochen Kaempf

Jochen Kaempf is Associate Professor of Physical Oceanography at Flinders University where he has taught subjects on marine and climate sciences since 1999. His work has significantly advanced the understanding of the functioning of coastal upwelling systems, particularly on the southern shelf of Australia, and the circulation of large inverse estuaries. He led the discovery of the Great South Australian Coastal Upwelling System that is the key driver of the large stocks of Australian sardine and southern bluefin tuna, for which he was a Eureka Prize finalist in 2011. His research uncovered the processes that create substantial phytoplankton blooms in the northwestern Arafura Sea, and the interaction of oceanic currents with submarine canyons leading to nutrient-rich shelf-bottom water. He was the first scientist to link coastal downwelling events to extreme bed shear stresses, seabed erosion and the release of nutrients as ammonification. Jochen has published two textbooks on ocean modelling using open-source software as a contribution to classroom teaching of oceanography, a monograph on upwelling systems of the world (co-authored with Piers Chapman), numerous book chapters, and more than 40 peer-reviewed publications. He has been an active member of AMOS since 2003, chairing the Adelaide Centre in 2005-2006 and again at present. He also chaired the local organising committee for the 2007 AMOS National Conference in Adelaide.