Rate My Professor Anthony Kiem

Associate Professor Anthony Kiem is an Associate Professor in Hydroclimatology in the Faculty of Science at the University of Newcastle, Australia, and Director of the Centre for Water, Climate and Land. He obtained his PhD in Hydrology and Environmental Engineering from the University of Newcastle in 2003, a Bachelor of Mathematics, and a Diploma in Education from the same institution. Kiem's career includes a postdoctoral position as a researcher in Hydrology and Environmental Engineering at the University of Yamanashi, Japan (2003-2006), hydroclimatologist at Sinclair Knight Merz in Melbourne, Australia (2006-2008), and regional operations role at the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (2003). At the University of Newcastle, he advanced from PhD researcher (1999-2003) and Lecturer in the Environmental and Climate Change Research Group (2008-2012) to Senior Lecturer and Hydroclimatologist at the Centre for Water, Climate and Land (2012-2016), and his current role since 2016. He also holds positions as Program Advisor for Education and International Exchange at the Interdisciplinary Centre for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi (since 2015), and Visiting Professor at the College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University (since 2014).

Kiem's research centers on understanding the drivers and impacts of climate variability and change in the Asia-Pacific region, hydrological extremes including floods and droughts, water resources management, seasonal and interannual forecasting, extreme event risk analysis, hydrological modelling, stochastic modelling, and climate model interpretation. Key publications include 'Australia's 2019/20 Black Summer fire weather exceptionally rare over the last 2000 years' (2024), 'Pacific decadal variability over the last 2000 years and implications for climatic risk' (2022), 'Stochastic generation of future hydroclimate using temperature as a climate change covariate' (2021), 'Integrated Simulation of Surfacewater-Groundwater (SW-GW) Interactions Using SWAT-MODFLOW (Case study: Shiraz Basin, Iran)' (2022), and 'A synoptic bridge linking sea salt aerosol concentrations in East Antarctic snowfall to Australian rainfall' (2022). He has received the Institution of Engineers Australia GN Alexander Medal for best paper in hydrology (2016 and 2011), recognition as Outstanding Reviewer for the Journal of Hydrologic Engineering (2014), and fellowships such as the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship (2003) and Australia-China Science and Research Fund Young Scientists Exchange Program (2013). Recent grants led by Kiem include ARC Discovery Projects 'Australia's variable rainfall - how dry or wet can it really get?' (2024, $117,323) and 'Will rivers be smaller when the climate is hotter?' (2023, $118,755). Kiem has delivered keynote speeches at the 7th World Water Forum (2015) and 17th International Riversymposium (2014), and served as an expert speaker for Australian government departments and agencies.