Scott Power

Senior Principal Research Scientist / International Development Officer

Current work and responsibilities

Scott conducts research on global warming, El Niño, decade-to-decade climate variability, Pacific climate, and historical changes in severe weather. He is the Climate Science Advisor to the Climate Change Authority, the Bureau representative on the National Environmental Science Program's Earth System and Climate Change Hub, and an associate investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes. He is the former head of climate research and operational climate monitoring and prediction in the Bureau, and the former acting head of Australia’s National Climate Centre. He previously coordinated the Bureau's participation in the Australian Climate Change Science.

Scott has spent many years assisting Small Pacific Island Countries strengthen their National Meteorological Services, and to improve management of threats posed by climate change, climate variability and severe weather. He instigated and now co-leads a DFAT-funded project with World Vision and the Solomon Island Meteorological Service to increase community benefits from Early Warning and Response Systems. He previously led the development of a project to enhance climate prediction services in numerous Pacific Island countries, and he co-led the development of the Pacific Climate Change Science Program that assisted 15 vulnerable countries adapt to climate change.

Further details: The Conversation.

Career background

Education:

• 1981: Monash University, BSc
• 1983: Monash University, Diploma in Education
• 1985: Monash University, BSc (Hons, first class)
• 1990: UNSW, PhD
• 1991: McGill University, Canada, Postdoctoral Fellowship

Professional Positions

• 2011-present: Senior Principal Research Scientist
• 2016-2017: International Development Manager, Bureau of Meteorology
• 2016-2017: Head of Climate Research, Bureau of Meteorology
• 2018-: Climate Science Advisor to the Climate Change Authority

Selected Publications

• Power, S.B., and F. Delage, 2019: Setting and smashing extreme temperature records over the coming century. Nature Climate Change, 9, 529-534, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0498-5.
• Power, S.B., F.P.D. Delage, C.T.Y. Chung, H. Ye, B.F. Murphy, 2017: Humans have already increased the risk of major disruptions to Pacific rainfall. Nature Communications, doi:10.1038/ncomms14368.
• Power, S., and F. Delage, 2018: El Nino-Southern Oscillation and associated climatic conditions around the world during the latter half of the twenty-first century. J. Climate, 31, 6189-6207. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0138.1.
• Colman, R., and S. B. Power, 2018: What can decadal variability tell us about climate feedbacks and sensitivity? Climate Dynamics, 51: 3815. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-018-4113-7.
• Power, S.B. and J. Callaghan, 2016: Variability in Severe Coastal Flooding, Associated Storms, and Death Tolls in southeastern Australia since the Mid-Nineteenth Century. J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol., 55, 1139-1149. doi:10.1007/s00382-015-2902-9.
• Kociuba, G. and S. B. Power, 2015: Inability of CMIP5 models to simulate recent strengthening of the Walker Circulation: implications for projections. J. Climate, 28, 20-35, doi: 10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00752.1.