Group history
The Climate & Fluid Physics Group began as the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (GFD) Group in 1975 under the leadership of Prof. Stewart Turner. Prof. Turner was recruited from Cambridge University, shortly after the foundation of the current RSES, and built a laboratory to study the fluid mechanics of the Earth.
Prof. Ross Griffiths assumed leadership of GFD in 1995, constructing a new modern facility, the current Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in the Jaeger 7 building, in 2001. Prof. Griffiths retired at the end of 2014, and was succeeded by Prof. Andy Hogg.
Over the last 40 years, our research portfolio has included ocean circulation and modeling, stratified turbulence and mixing, volcanoes, lava flows, mantle dynamics, magma chambers and ice-ocean interaction.
The GFD group changed its name to Climate & Fluid Physics in 2017. See the alumni page for past group members.
Continuing Academic Staff
Stewart Turner (1975-1994)
Ross Griffiths (1978-2014)
Ross Kerr (1989-2017)
Geoff Davies (1992-2009)
Andy Hogg (2004 - present)
Michael Roderick (2006 - 2020)
Callum Shakespeare (2018 - present)
Adele Morrison (2023-present)
PhD Students
| Student | Year | PhD Topic | Career |
|---|---|---|---|
| R. W. Griffiths | 1976-78 | Transport through double-diffusive interfaces in thermohaline convection | Cambridge University, University of Grenoble, ANU |
| A.M. Leitch | 1981-85 | Laboratory models of magma chambers evolving due to side-wall crystallization | Cambridge University, ANU, Old Dominion University |
| J.R. Taylor | 1983-85 | Double-diffusive layers and intrusions | University of Western Australia, UNSW - Australian Defence Force Academy |
| M.C. Gurnis | 1985-87 | Stirring of heterogeneities in the Earth’s mantle | University of Michigan, California Institute of Technology |
| S.A. Condie | 1986-88 | Convection in a rotating cavity | Old Dominion University, University of Washington, CSIRO |
| Daniel Martin | 1986-88 | Fractional crystallization in convecting magma chambers | McMillan publishers |
| A.P. Stamp | 1990-93 | Wave-convection coupling in double-diffusive systems | University of Washington, McKinsey & Co |
| P.A. Hutchinson | 1991-94 | The effects of wind waves on stirring of micro-organisms in lakes and billabongs | CSIRO |
| T.K.P. Gregg | 1992-95 | Modelling of lava flows on sloping topography | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
| A.B.D. Wong | 1995-98 | Stratification produced by turbulent plumes from multiple sources of buoyancy, with applications to oceanic thermohaline circulation | Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (deceased) |
| A.M. Jellinek | 1995-99 | Mixing by natural convection including the effects of viscosity differences | University of California, Berkeley, University of British Columbia |
| Damien Bright | 1995-00 | Modelling of fully nonlinear atmospheric waves with internal gravity wave damping | University of Adelaide |
| A.E. Kiss | 1995-00 | Dynamics of laboratory models of wind-driven ocean circulation | UNSW - Australian Defence Force Academy, ANU |
| Lynn Bloomfield | 1996-00 | Turbulent mixing in stratified fluids | IP Australia |
| M.G. Wells | 1997-01 | Internal mixing due to intermittent turbulence and salt-fingers | Yale, University of Toronto |
| David Osmond | 1997-02 | Ocean convection due to Ekman layer transport across fronts | WindLab Systems |
| Julia Mullarney | 2001-04 | Convection models for the meridional overturning circulation | Dalhousie University, University of Waikato |
| Aaron Lyman | 2002-06 | Effects of rheology on channel flows | Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, NZ |
| Tjipto Prastowo | 2004-08 | Mixing in buoyancy-driven exchange flows | University of Surabaya |
| Melissa Coman | 2004-08 | Convection driven by lateral temperature differences | University of Toronto, IP Australia |
| Melanie O’Byrne | 2005-09 | Wake flows with incident disturbances | IP Australia |
| Jesse Robertson | 2008-12 | Rheological controls on the dynamics of channeled lava flows | CSIRO |
| Kial Stewart | 2008-11 | Effects of topographic sills on convective overturning circulation | John Hopkins, UNSW, ANU |
| Adele Morrison | 2009-13 | Response of the Southern Ocean circulation to changes in global climate | Princeton University, ANU |
| Chris Chapman | 2010-13 | The Interaction of Jets and Eddies with Topography in the Southern Ocean | IPSL, CSIRO |
| Isa Rosso | 2011-14 | Sub-mesoscale Dynamics in the Southern Ocean | Scripps Institute of Oceanography |
| Kate Snow | 2012-15 | Antarctic Bottom Water response to Varying Surface Fluxes | University of Edinburgh, National Computational Infrastructure |
| Catherine Vreugdenhil | 2013-17 | Interactions of convection and geostrophic circulation | University of Cambridge, University of Melbourne |
| Craig McConnochie | 2013-16 | Experiments on the interaction of ice sheets with the polar oceans | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University of Canterbury |
| Alice Barthel | 2013-17 | Southern Ocean jet-topography interactions and their impact on eddy fluxes | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| Mainak Mondal | 2015-18 | Melting of ice sheets | UTas, NYU Abu Dhabi |
| Angus Gibson | 2015-19 | Numerical methods for ocean models | Australian National University |
| Taimoor Sohail | 2016-19 | Turbulence and convection in Southern Ocean circulation | University of New South Wales |
| Josué Martínez Moreno | 2017-21 | Global changes in mesoscale currents and coherent eddies from satellite altimetry | IFREMER |
| Jemima Rama | 2018-2023 | The impact of mesoscale flows on the identification, energy partitioning and propagation of near-inertial internal waves | Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology |