8
BAMOS
Sep 2019
Obituary
Vale Penny Whetton—Climate guru,
mentor and friend
Prepared by Penny Whetton’s colleagues and collated by Chris Gerbing
Our deeply respected colleague, mentor and friend Dr Penny
Whetton unexpectedly died on 11 September 2019. She was at
her holiday home in Sisters Beach, Tasmania, where she often
rejoiced in post‑retirement pursuits like painting, carpentry and
photography. Her work was recognised internationally and she made
significant contributions as a lead author of three IPCC
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports including
the Fourth Assessment Report which was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize.
Penny will be remembered in Australia and internationally as
one of Australia’s leading and most innovative climate scientists
who made significant and influential contributions to climate
projection science, impact assessment and outreach. She retired from CSIRO in 2014 but had remained active as an
Honorary Research Fellow in CSIRO and at the University of
Melbourne.
Penny was a Group Leader and Program Leader for much of her
distinguished 25‑year career at CSIRO, and she managed many
large collaborative projects with colleagues in CSIRO and the
Bureau of Meteorology.
After completing a Ph.D. at Melbourne University in 1986, she
started work at CSIRO in 1990 in the Climate Impacts Group. Over
the following years, she drove innovation in regional climate
projections methods, delivering new projections products in
response to the need of many stakeholders she engaged with,
alongside raising broad awareness about climate change.
Dr Penny Whetton. Source: CSIRO.
Alongside her science, Penny was deeply involved in community
life, sharing the story of her own life and career journey and
supporting others through theirs.
Penny was a much loved and admired colleague whose lust
for life and pursuit of knowledge, whether scientific, historic or
artistic, will leave a lasting note on the many people who had
the privilege to work and connect with her.
Penny will be a sadly missed member of the scientific
community. Our deepest sympathies and condolences are
extended to Penny’s wife Janet and their sons, John and Leon.