MCF Academy
Melbourne Climate Futures (MCF) Academy and doctoral program
Climate change is a complex challenge and solutions cannot be found just in one or two disciplines. The MCF Academy will form a diverse intellectual and interdisciplinary community, drawing from all areas across the University to promote and innovate a rich exchange of ideas.
The MCF Academy offers strategic scholarships for MCF-supported PhD students recruited in priority areas.
Members of the MCF Academy
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Alister Self
Alister's research focus is on the financial mechanism of the UNFCCC and how this has evolved over time. Through close study of climate negotiations his PhD develops a historical account of how and why change has occurred in this institution. Climate negotiations Climate finance Institutional change
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Ceren Ayas
Ceren's research focuses on the role of resource-based conflicts in spurring a just transition away from coal. Just transition Coal transition
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Changlong Wang
Chang specialises in large-scale energy system transition optimisation, and renewable electricity export modelling in the forms of direct electricity, hydrogen and energy-embodied products such as green steel. Electricity markets Renewable exports
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Clare Walter
Clare's research focuses on closing the gap between research and policy related to the health and environmental impacts of air pollution in Australia. She is currently investigating the implications of continued car-centric city design and urban design practices to children's respiratory health (asthma) and examining policy responses. Air pollution Children's health Policy impact
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Felix Brown
Felix is passionate about all things energy and ensuring the energy transition is equitable. His work encompasses the household-level changes we're seeing with the installation of solar PV and battery energy storage systems, and transport electrification across public and private fleets. Electrification Transport Distributed energy resources
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Kelvin Say
Kelvin researches the decarbonisation and operational opportunities for end-users in a transitioning electricity market. He evaluates the potential of decentralised energy resources to create new market segments, operational roles, and business models. Energy transitions Energy policy Rooftop PV and batteries
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Lena Schlegel
Lena´s research is situated at the interface of global environmental governance, societal transformation and environmental ethics. In her PhD she explores the connections between human-nature relations and climate response, focussing on bushfire-affected communities in Victoria. Global Environmental governance Societal transformation Environmental ethics
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Malte Meinshausen
Professor Malte Meinshausen's research works on climate change scenarios, remaining carbon budgets, NDCs and the reduced-complexity climate model, MAGICC. He is a lead author on the IPCC Working Group I and Synthesis reports. Carbon budgets NDCs MAGICC
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Peter Rayner
Prof Rayner's main research activities focus on the estimation of surface sources and sinks of CO2. He uses satellite and in-situ measurements with models to quantify and understand the patterns and mechanisms of CO2 release and uptake with a focus on the tropics and Southern Hemisphere. Meteorology and atmospheric sciences Inverse problems CO2 surface sources and sinks
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Pia Treichel
Pia’s PhD research focuses on international climate finance for adaptation via the Green Climate Fund and the justice implications therein. Pia’s teaching and research activities focus on adaptation in practice, climate justice, and how to ensure the inclusion of the most vulnerable. Climate finance Adaptation Climate justice
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Win Chanvitt
Win's research conducts scenario analysis of demand response (DR) to the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM). With the increase of flexible demand, his simulation will provide for better-informed decisions by policy makers and indicate whether the integration of demand-response programs is more economical than the addition of new generation and network capacity builds, as well as whether the scheme can complement existing energy storage systems to some degree. Renewable energy modelling Energy modelling Demand response (DR)
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Xinyang Fang
Xinyang's research focuses on quantifying the impact of climate change and variability on the groundwater in Australia and Germany. Groundwater level and recharge Climate change Conceptual modeling
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Zebedee Nicholls
Zeb's research focuses on the global warming implications of past and future emissions. Alongside Malte Meinshausen and Jared Lewis he developed the MAGICC reduced complexity climate model. MAGICC is a world-leading tool for determining whether changes in emissions of different species (including CO2, methane, nitrous oxide and aerosol precursors) are sufficient to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement or not. Carbon budgets NDCs MAGICC