I am an atmospheric scientist with a PhD from the University of British Columbia in Canada, on urban climate processes. I was a Lecturer in Physical Geography at Macquarie University in Sydney, NSW from 1987 to 1994 before joining CSIRO as a Research Scientist in 1994 where I remained until my retirement in late 2020. I am now an Honorary Professor at ANU.

I was inaugural Director of CSIRO's Climate Science Centre from 2017 to 2020 and, for over a decade prior, was a senior leader of CSIRO's climate and atmospheric research. I built collaborations within CSIRO and nationally, including national research infrastructure for terrestrial observations (NCRIS TERN) and Earth System Models (ACCESS-NRI).

My research explores the influence of land-air interactions on climate, carbon uptake and water availability, and how this affects carbon and water resource management, environmental outcomes, and climate - at local to global scales and in cities, agricultural and forested landscapes. This research has provided data, information and knowledge for resource managers, urban planners, and decision and policymakers.

I am a Fellow of both the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) and the Australian Meteorological Society (AMOS) and a member of the World Climate Research Programme's Joint Scientific Committee since 2015 and I am currently the Vice Chair.