Lisa Alexander

PhD student, Faculty of Arts

When the opportunity arose for Lisa Alexander to work with some of the most internationally renowned climate scientists she jumped at the chance.

"I worked for many years as a research scientist, first for the UK's Hadley Centre for Climate Change and then for the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. While my job prospects were good and I enjoyed working at the forefront of climate change research, I somehow felt I had missed out by not pursuing a PhD."

Now Lisa is enjoying the rewards of researching the mechanisms driving changes in climate extremes in Australia, working with some of the most internationally recognised researchers in her field.

"My main supervisor is a Federation Fellow and internationally renowned climate impact scientist and my second supervisor has been a lead author for several of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. The IPCC won the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Al Gore in 2007 for their work."

Monash has also provided Lisa the opportunity to extend her professional networks. "I have been able to attend both national and international conferences to present my work. In 2007 I was fortunate enough to go conferences in Adelaide and Sydney, Italy, Vietnam and the USA." While Lisa admits attending conferences can be stressful and tiring they are well worth it. "It's a very rewarding experience to be able to interact with your peers and the most respected scientists in the field. Usually you come away having lots of ideas for further research and it's a good way to make contacts and build up collaborations."