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BAMOS February 2026
President’ s report
Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick
Dear AMOS community,
I am writing this as AMOS 2026 wraps up in Nipaluna / Hobart, and what a week it has been! From the icebreaker to the conference dinner and days packed with exciting developments across all AMOS sciences, our 32nd Annual Conference was a great success!
Highlights for me included the strategic panel with Tony Haymet( Australian Chief Scientist), Nerilie Abram( Chief Scientist, Australian Antarctic Division), Stuart Minchin( CEO and Director, Bureau of Meteorology), Christian Jakob( Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather), and Leanne Haupt( Director, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water( DCCEEW)), and moderated by Sophie Lewis( Chief Scientist, Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility). The panel discussed how we can shape Australia’ s future in ocean, weather and climate science, and offered diverse perspectives on how we, both individually and as a community, can ensure AMOS sciences are impactful and world-class.
The National First Peoples Platform on Climate Change was also incredibly insightful. The grassroots panel, consisting of Bianca McNeair, Hilda Mosby, Jason Wilson, Damian Morgan-Bulled, Glen Wingfield, Lance Syme and Sonia Cooper, discussed how Indigenous leadership drives sustainability and climate action, bringing Indigenous perspectives from across our country. We learned about the history of the panel, going back to the first climate conference on Country over a decade ago, and Lance urged all AMOS scientists to engage with the Platform to ensure respectful co-design so that Indigenous perspectives are properly heard and incorporated. When I looked around the plenary hall, it was wonderful to see the audience listening so intently to the panel. A heartfelt thank you to the National First Peoples Platform on Climate Change for joining us at AMOS 2026, and I hope to see you again at future AMOS conferences.
Another personal highlight was chatting to all of you— the smiling faces, waves, friendly“ hellos” and warm conversations. It was such a pleasure to be immersed in our community again!
During the conference, we also welcomed five new fellows. Once again, I extend my congratulations to Nerilie Abram( Chief Scientist of the Australian Antarctic Division), Mike Coughlan( formerly of the Bureau of Meteorology), Dr Angela Maharaj( past AMOS president and Assistant Director in the Climate Science Strategy and Partnerships Section at DCCEEW), Associate Professor Andrea Taschetto( expert in the El Niño- Southern Oscillation phenomenon at UNSW) and Dr Andrew Watkins( formerly from the Bureau of Meteorology, now an adjunct Professor at Monash University). Five scientists also received awards. The Zillman Medal was awarded to Professor Trevor McDougall, an Emeritus Scientia Professor of Ocean Physics at UNSW and the world’ s foremost authority on ocean thermodynamics. The Priestley Medal was awarded to Jan Zika, an Associate Professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at UNSW Sydney, where he leads the Climate Data Dynamics Research Group. The Uwe Radok Award went to Dr Xihan Zhang for her thesis titled“ Equilibration and Wind Sensitivity of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current by Barotropic and Baroclinic Dynamics,” and the AMOS Science Outreach Award was given to Dr Kial Stewart, a lecturer and laboratory manager at the ANU Climate and Fluid Physics Laboratory, whose YouTube channel fluidsin4K has acquired over 70,000 views. The Christopher Taylor Award was awarded to Dr Robert Greenwood, the Tsunami Technical Lead at the Bureau of Meteorology, where he oversees the systems supporting the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre.
Other than the conference, it’ s been quite a busy period. Former president Martin Singh led a government submission on the cuts to CSIRO. Thank you to Marty and those who contributed in support of our CSIRO colleagues during such an uncertain time. Early this month, I headed to Melbourne with Christian Jakob( 21st Century Weather) and Andy Hogg( ACCESS-NRI) to welcome Stuart Minchin to his new role as CEO and Director of the Bureau of Meteorology. I discussed with Stuart how valued our colleagues from the Bureau are to the AMOS community and the challenges they faced in engaging with AMOS in the past. It was a positive meeting, and Stuart mentioned his attendance at AMOS 2026 was, in part, to encourage Bureau employees to engage with our community.
I also represented AMOS at the Climate Change Authority’ s roundtable on Climate Science and Modelling, where I advocated for the AMOS sciences and the resources required to undertake our research, as well as mechanisms to foster collaborations among scientists and avoid duplication of outputs.
To wrap up, I’ d like to give a special shout-out to Danielle Udy of the Bureau of Meteorology and the conference committee for all their hard work and dedication in delivering such a great AMOS 2026 conference. Of course, Jeanette Dargaville deserves special thanks for all the logistics surrounding the conference, as does the rest of the Executive, including Ben Hague, David Hoffmann and Marty Singh. Lastly, I’ d like to welcome our new AMOS vice president, Andrew King! Welcome, Andrew, and I look forward to working with you more closely over the coming years. Well, that’ s it from me, folks! If you have any feedback on the conference or any activities, please feel free to reach out.