Andrew Watkins

Climate Science

Dr. Andrew Watkins is an Adjunct Professor (Practice) in Climate Science at Monash University's School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, a Climate Councillor with the Climate Council, and a Fellow of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society. He has served on several United Nations expert teams on climate matters.

His passion is building people's climate knowledge and understanding, promoting the urgent need for climate change mitigation, and lifting Australia's climate resilience. Andrew’s PhD studied Antarctic sea ice and its importance in global weather and climate, but he has since focused on Australian, South Pacific and Global climate variability and change.

He joined the Bureau of Meteorology in 1999 and was the Bureau's Head of Climate Prediction for over a decade, before stepping up as a Lead Author of the Australian Government's first National Climate Risk Assessment, released in late 2025. He is widely published in peer reviewed journals on climate risk issues, writes regularly for The Conversation, and often appears in the press speaking about climate science, real world impacts of climate change, and future climate risk.

Andrew skis, windsurfs, mountain bikes, surfs and hikes in nature whenever possible. Andrew volunteers time with Protect Our Winters to help preserve our beautiful high country, which he says he is borrowing from his children.