Meet a Member
Luke Osburn Where does this find you? At my desk on an overcast Wednesday in Melbourne. What do you do? I’m studying the development and persistence of supercooled liquid water (SLW) over the Snowy Mountains and compared to other mountain ranges in the world we really do get quite a lot of it here. I’ve been using data from satellites and comparing it to ground observations to try and develop a coherent picture of SLW over the past 3 years. I am also using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) to model some case studies in order to understand the mechanisms involved in SLW genesis and persistence. Why did you get into it? I graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Cape Town and my first job was working for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria, South Africa. I was tasked with researching sustainable building construction and operation, particularly from an energy efficiency perspective. At that time, my knowledge of climate change was very basic but because of the nature of the work I was doing I was becoming increasingly interested in it and particularly the science behind it. I was also becoming increasingly frustrated with the business as usual attitude within the construction industry. After I emigrated to Australia, the opportunity to do a PhD in atmospheric science was just too good to turn down. What is the best thing about what you do? The idea of working on a problem or rather developing the skills to work on a problem that is really relevant I find very inspiring. I also still get excited about using data that’s coming from satellites orbiting our planet! What did you want to be when you were 10? A Fireman. Actually, in many ways its still very appealing!
Bulletin of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society Vol. 27 page 34
Luke Osburn. Image: Anna Haley.: