SAEF Chief Investigator Dr Ariaan Purich has been awarded a Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) by the Australian Research Council (ARC).
The DECRA scheme provides funding to outstanding early-career researchers, supporting them to build research independence and advance their careers. It backs excellent and innovative research that fills critical knowledge gaps and generates new insights to address economic, environmental, social, and cultural challenges for the benefit of Australians.
Dr Purich, a climate scientist at Monash University, specialises in coupled ocean–atmosphere–sea ice interactions across the Southern Hemisphere. Her recent research has examined Antarctica’s record low sea-ice conditions, identifying emerging evidence of a regime shift and the cascading impacts such changes may trigger.
Her DECRA project, Antarctica is changing – how will this affect Australian climate?, will examine how reduced sea ice coverage, increased ice sheet and ice shelf meltwater, and the combined impact of these processes are influencing Australian climate.
Using a range of coupled climate model simulations, the project aims to advance our understanding of sea ice and glacial meltwater processes around the Antarctic margins, and assess how changes in these processes will impact Australian climate.
The research is expected to fill major gaps in Antarctic–Australian climate research and reduce uncertainty in future climate projections. In doing so, it will support Australia to build climate resilience and adapt to a warming world.
Congratulations Ariaan!
