Rate My Professor Andrew King

Associate Professor Andrew King is a leading climate scientist at the University of Melbourne, holding the position of Associate Professor in Climate Science in the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Faculty of Science. He is also an ARC Future Fellow and serves as a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather. King completed his PhD in Climate Science at the University of New South Wales in 2015, after which he joined the University of Melbourne. His career progression includes an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellowship, promotion to Senior Lecturer, and recently to Associate Professor effective 2025. In addition to his research, he acts as Deputy Head of School and coordinates the Master of Climate Science course, contributing significantly to education in the field.

King's research interests center on the impacts of climate change and variability on extreme weather events, improving climate projections particularly under net-zero and net-negative emissions scenarios, and understanding how current emissions choices affect future climates. He investigates climate change projections under the Paris Agreement, the effects of the rate of global warming on regional climates, and seasonal prediction of climate extremes. His ARC Future Fellowship project, funded with over AU$1 million for four years, titled ‘Understanding climate change beyond net-zero’, uses advanced earth system models to assess regional climate evolution and extreme event risks post-decarbonisation. King has received prestigious awards including the 2024 Anton Hales Medal from the Australian Academy of Science for outstanding contributions to research in Earth sciences, particularly on climate extremes and risk; the inaugural Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS) Science Outreach Award in 2018; and previous ARC DECRA Fellowship. His influential publications include "Australian climate extremes at 1.5 °C and 2 °C of global warming" (2017), "The drivers of nonlinear local temperature change under global warming" (2019), "On the Linearity of Local and Regional Temperature Changes from 1.5 °C to 2 °C of Global Warming" (2018), "Attributing Changing Rates of Temperature Record Breaking to Anthropogenic Forcing" (2017), and "Emergence of multivariate climate change signals" (2024). Through media appearances, opinion pieces, and contributions to national reports such as the Australian Academy of Science’s ‘The risks to Australia of a 3°C warmer world’ (2021), King has substantial impact on public understanding and policy discourse on climate change.