CLEX researchers and colleagues quantified the air quality impact of the Black Summer bushfires of 2019/20 and COVID-19 in the south-eastern states of Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) using a meteorological normalisation approach.
The cross-institutional, collaborative nature of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centres of Excellence has allowed a re-imagining of the Australian PhD experience. Here we outline the steps the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes has taken to support our graduate students during COVID.
Melissa Hart discusses how the Centre is doing its best to navigate the COVID crisis with virtual lunches, an online winter school, and the lines of support. Harry the cat also puts in an appearance, of course.
At the start of the Covid pandemic Stephen hypothesised that many people would go through three stages in our personal responses to remote working arrangements and isolation.
This is a tough and unique time for everyone in CLEX. I had anticipated the pandemic being over by now (note the predictive skill of a modeller) and it is confronting to be writing this while Victoria is in lockdown and world leaders are worried about shower pressure.
It goes without saying that we find ourselves in challenging and uncertain times. One silver lining is that CLEX enters this period of change as a centre with considerable experience in remote communication and developing supportive networks. This is a time to use those networks to support each other.
CLEX Director Andy Pitman acknowledges the "impossibly challenging" nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Centre's response. He also reviews some of the successes of our researchers and highlights remarkable results published over the past few months.