Dr Joëlle Gergis is a Senior Lecturer in climate science at the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society.

She is an award-winning climate scientist and writer, and an internationally recognised expert in Australian and southern hemisphere climate variability and change who has authored more than 100 scientific publications. Between 2018 and 2021, Joëlle served as a lead author on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on the Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report – a global, state-of-the art review of climate change science.

As a media ‘go to’ climate change spokesperson, Joëlle spends a lot of time translating science for the public. Her general audience writing has appeared in The Monthly, The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Griffith Review, The Conversation and Harper’s Bazaar. She is also a scientific adviser to the Climate Council of Australia; an independent body providing expert advice to the public on climate change and policy.

In recognition of her extensive public engagement, Joëlle received the 2019 AMOS Science Outreach Award, a national science communication prize awarded by the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS), Australia’s peak professional body for climate science.

Joëlle is the author of Sunburnt Country: The future and history of climate change in Australia. Her latest book is Humanity’s Moment: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope.


Fields of expertise



Articles

article-image

Climate scientist Dr Joëlle Gergis still has hope for the planet

Since the age of nine, Dr Joëlle Gergis has kept a journal as a way of making sense…


article-image

‘I feel my heart breaking today’ – a climate scientist’s path through grief towards hope

I have spent hundreds of hours trawling through countless UN reports and scientific papers until my eyes sting…


article-image

Scientists look to “hot spot” to create longest weather record

Scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) are looking for volunteers to help create Australia’s longest daily weather…


article-image

Historical records reveal new trends in Australian temperature extremes

Researchers have developed Australia’s longest daily temperature record, identifying a decrease in cold extremes and an increase in…


Subscribe to ANU Reporter