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BAMOS Sept 2017
We also heard an insider perspective into the process of putting together the IPCC Assessment Reports from a leading author , Professor Nathan Bindoff , after which Professor Matt England spoke about his experiences ( both good and not-so-good ) in communicating climate science to the broader community .
Tutorial
The tutorial for the Winter School was led by Dr Dietmar Dommenget from Monash , introducing us to the Monash Simple Climate Model . Using the model , we tested our knowledge of the climate system piece by piece , learning how each component interacts . Some students then made use of the model later in the week to inform their answers to the superproblems ( for example , modelling how the climate changes when there are no oceans ).
Survive your PhD
The importance of maintaining good mental health during the postgraduate research experience was also discussed in a Survive Your PhD workshop , run by recent UNSW graduate Dr Willem Huiskamp . In the workshop , Willem talked about his own PhD experience , after which we received advice from a UNSW psychologist and a panel of academics from the ARCCSS who spoke about how they ’ ve managed the particular stresses of academic work .
Finally , on Friday afternoon , it was time for students to present our answers to the super-problems . Not every problem was solved , but some groups got very creative , with IPCC and Star Wars themes appearing in their presentations . Overall , the Winter School was a great week , with interesting seminars and plenty of opportunities to meet and catch up with other postgraduate students from the ARCCSS .
On behalf of all of the students who attended , I ’ d like to thank ARCCSS ’ s Graduate Director , Dr Melissa Hart and Ms Swa Rath for organising the Winter School , and all of the academics for their great lectures .
Article adapted from Sarah ’ s ARCCSS blog .
Top : Stephanie Jacobs leads a class of the greenhouse gas dance Middle and bottom : The winners of the group projects Images : Alvin Stone / Willem Huiskamp