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Nigel Tapper

Photo of Nigel Tapper

Interim Director Monash Sustainability Institute Joint Coordinator, Monash Atmospheric Science Program

Education

Ph.D. (1982), M.A. Hons. (1977), B.A. (1975) University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Research Interests

My current research interests in environmental climatology can be classified into five basic areas with some degree of overlap

There has been a developing interest in the Australian tropics, Southeast Asia and the Arctic.

More of the flavour of this activity can be gained by looking at the publications listed below.

Some Examples of Current Research

  1. Fire-climate-vegetation interactions - Alterations in savanna energy exchange with the atmosphere following fire have important local-to regional scale impacts on atmospheric circulation and water balance, including potential impacts on the Australian monsoon. Future climate change will alter the north Australian fire regime, with consequent feedbacks to vegetation and climate. We will use contemporary theoretical understanding, observations, and modeling to investigate how current burning practices impact the surface energy and water balance and the regional atmosphere. Hence we will develop a scientific understanding of the impact of savanna fire on local to regional scale climate, and to explore the long-term consequences of alternative management strategies on climate and vegetation in this critical biome. Such understanding is essential for predicting the impact of land-use change on climate, and will be an essential part of the management of tropical savanna lands within Australia and around the world into the future. This project has been funded by the Australian Research Council ($230,000 over three years). Additional funding for the modeling aspects of the project has been requested from the National Science Foundation (WEAVE) program ($ 606,000). Collaborators include Tapper, Beringer, Siems (Monash University, Australia), Hutley (Northern Territory University, Australia), Lynch, Wu (University of Colorado, USA).
  2. Savannas and the Australian summer paleo-monsoon - The overarching aim of this proposed research is to improve our understanding of the changes in the Australian summer monsoon and the underlying forcing mechanisms responsible for such changes. We propose to use a data/model synthetic approach, using a suite of models, contemporary observations, paleontological data, and existing paleoenvironmental information. Funding has been requested from the National Science Foundation - ESH program ($ 976,000). Collaborators include Tapper, Beringer, Kershaw (Monash University, Australia), Miller, Lynch, Wu (University of Colorado, USA).
  3. Managing fire - We have been successful in obtaining funding to improve forecast communication and use between indigenous and governmental groups in Australia through managing fire in Arid and Semi-arid Lands under conditions of interannual climate variability. One of the major foci is to develop local and indigenous knowledge. Funding has been approved from the NOAA Climate and Global Change Program ($562,000 over three years from 2003). Collaborators include Tapper (Monash University, Australia) and Orlove (University of California at Davis, USA )

Current Teaching Subjects

Recent Research Output - Published, or Accepted and in Press

*standard copyright applies to PDF files.

Books

Contributions to Books, Encyclopedias, etc.

Articles

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