Biography
Professor Holbrook completed his PhD in physical oceanography/applied mathematics at the University of Sydney in 1995. Following a postdoctoral fellowship in the Climatic Impacts Centre at Macquarie University, he commenced a lectureship there in 1996. He moved to the University of Tasmania in 2008 and was promoted to Professor of Ocean and Climate Dynamics in the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in 2018. Holbrook’s interests and expertise are in the ocean's role in climate, ocean and climate variability, extremes, and climate change. Most recently, he has concentrated on developing process-based understanding and improved knowledge of the predictability of marine heatwaves (MHWs) – the ocean analogue of atmospheric heatwaves that can cause devastating impacts on life in the sea. Holbrook co-leads an international Working Group on MHWs and is a member of the international CLIVAR Research Focus on Marine Heatwaves in the Global Ocean. He is an elected Fellow of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science. He is a former President of the International Commission on Climate of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science/International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (2011-2019) and Associate Editor of the Journal of Climate (2006-2008). Holbrook previously led Australia’s National Climate Change Adaptation Research Network for Marine Biodiversity and Resources (2009-2013). Holbrook is recognised as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher (2021-2023) and identified on the Reuters list of 1000 most influential climate scientists (2021).
