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BAMOS April 2025
President’ s report
Martin Singh
I am writing this report as Tropical Cyclone Alfred bears down on Queensland, threatening some of Australia’ s most populated coastline. Extremes like these remind us of the importance of the AMOS sciences for our community, both in the immediate term, by providing forecasts and warnings to emergency managers and the public, and in the longer term, by explaining the behaviour and causes of such events and discussing their potential changes in a future warmer world. These events also highlight the need for ongoing collaboration and engagement— something AMOS actively supports through a range of events.
Late last year, AMOS hosted the panel discussion The Climate of the Future: Can we handle the heat? and supported the Australian Academy of Science Fenner Conference on Drought and the Australian Antarctic Research Conference. Unfortunately, the Cyclone Tracy 50th Anniversary event planned for December 2024 had to be postponed due to extreme heat. However, we remain committed to rescheduling this event soon. Earlier this year, AMOS also supported the Cloud and Precipitation Experiment at kennaook *( CAPE-k) student workshop, which focused on open science around observations from the Kennaook / Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station. You can read about the experiences of one of the attendees, PhD student Tahereh Alinejadtabrizi, on page 6 of this issue. We are also gearing up for a very special AMOS National Conference in June— rather than the usual February— in the‘ Wet Tropics’ of Cairns. It promises to be an enriching and impactful experience, and I look forward to seeing you there!
Since my last report, the winners of the 2024 AMOS awards have been announced. One of my favourite duties as President is congratulating colleagues recognised by their peers for their exceptional service to science and the AMOS community. The 2024 award recipients are as follows:
· The Uwe Radok Best PhD Thesis Award was awarded to Jordan Brook from the University of Queensland for his thesis titled ' Radar-based methods for quantifying hailfall across varied spatial scales in Australia '.
• The Gibbs Medal, recognising long and distinguished service to operational forecasting, was awarded to Mary Voice from the Bureau of Meteorology( BOM).
• The Meyers Medal, recognising high-quality and innovative contributions by early-career researchers to the sciences covered by AMOS, was awarded to Edward Doddridge from the University of Tasmania.
• The Morton Medal, recognising leadership in meteorology, oceanography, climate and related fields, particularly through education and the development of young scientists, was awarded to Helen Cleugh, formerly from CSIRO.
• The AMOS Science Outreach Award was awarded to Kimberley Reid from the University of Melbourne.
AMOS also recognizes outstanding contributions to the Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science( JSHESS)— AMOS’ s joint publication with the BOM, published by CSIRO Publishing. Congratulations to Anthony Rea, who received the JSHESS Outstanding Associate Editor Award 2024 for his sustained and exceptional level of service to the journal. We also congratulate Nahuel Bautista, who received the JSHESS Best Student Paper Award for his paper ' Biogenic CO2 flux uncertainty: numerical experiments and validation over south-eastern South America '.
The upcoming year promises to be exciting for AMOS, especially with the National Conference in June. We hope the June dates will make it more accessible to those who are typically unable to attend in February. It is also a chance to engage with our colleagues in the Pacific Islands, and I am happy to report that a delegation of scientists from around the Pacific will be attending, supported by the Australian Climate Service.
AMOS has a long history of engagement with the BOM, which has been a strong supporter of the AMOS conference and AMOS activities over the years. While the size of the contingent of BOM scientists attending the conference has varied, they have consistently played a vital role through their presentations as well as by proposing and chairing sessions. They have been an integral part of the AMOS organisation itself through their contributions to the National Council. The executive and AMOS council are actively working to advocate for a strong presence of the BOM at future conferences and AMOS events.
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the AMOS Council, particularly the chairs of our committees and the executive committee, for their dedication and hard work over the past year. As always, I must also express my deepest gratitude to Jeanette Dargaville, our Executive Officer, who does a brilliant job keeping everything running smoothly.
I look forward to another exciting year of AMOS events and continued progress in advancing meteorology, oceanography, and climate science in Australia.
* kennaook is lowercased in the project acronym’ s full name, and the k is lowercased in the acronym to honour and acknowledge aboriginal practices in lutruwita( Tasmania). Kennaook is capitalised when referring to the place name.