Climate & data scientist
Alex Borowiak
Climate scientist focused on the time of emergence of climate change signals and the dynamics of a post-net-zero world. Recently completed a PhD at the University of Melbourne.
Latest paper
Revised estimates of temperature changes under net zero CO₂ emissions
npj Climate and Atmospheric Science · 2025
About
Climate scientist working on detection, net zero, and the limits of what we can know about a changing climate
I recently completed my PhD in Climate Science at the University of Melbourne, supervised by A/Prof. Andrew King, A/Prof. Josephine Brown, and Prof. Ed Hawkins (University of Reading). My thesis focused on the time of emergence of climate change signals — how, when, and with what confidence we can detect human-caused climate change against the backdrop of natural variability.
My recent work has applied detection methods to post-net-zero CO₂ scenarios to assess what global and regional temperature changes might look like once emissions cease. I have three published lead-author papers from my PhD and a fourth in review at Nature Reviews Earth and Environment.
Alongside research, I work as a scientific software developer — most recently building the data pipeline, backend, and front-end for the University of Melbourne's weather station. You can view the live site here. Previously, I worked as a Climate Data Scientist at Jane's Weather.
Approach
Curious, rigorous, and grounded in code that other people can run.
Currently
Available for
Climate science research collaborations, data science consulting, scientific software development, and science communication.
Resume
Alex Borowiak
aborowiak@student.unimelb.edu.au
+61 416 128 601
Melbourne, Australia
GitHub
LinkedIn
ORCID
Weather Station
Climate scientist with a PhD from the University of Melbourne and several years of professional experience in scientific software, data engineering, and weather data delivery. I work across the full research stack — from instrument deployment and data ingestion through to statistical analysis, scientific computing on HPC and cloud, and publication.
Education
PhD, Climate Science
University of Melbourne / 2021–2025
- Thesis: Emergence and Detection of Climate Change Signals.
- Supervisors: A/Prof. Andrew King, A/Prof. Josephine Brown, Prof. Ed Hawkins (University of Reading, UK).
- Three accepted lead-author papers and a fourth in review at Nature Reviews Earth and Environment.
Master of Climate Science
University of Melbourne / 2019–2020 · GPA 89
- Thesis: The Madden–Julian Oscillation and Rainfall in Northern Australia.
- Supervisors: A/Prof Andrew King and Prof Todd Lane.
- Published in Geophysical Research Letters.
Bachelor of Science (Atmospheric Science)
University of Melbourne / 2014–2018
Relevant Work Experience
Research Infrastructure & Technical Lead
University of Melbourne Weather Station Project / Aug 2025–present
- Installed and configured a Campbell Scientific weather station, two pyranometers, and a tipping-bucket rain gauge connected to a data logger.
- Programmed the Campbell Scientific data logger to receive and send data via HTTP, and set up secure cross-network data transfer.
- Converted the backend from JavaScript to Python; built live weather services with data processing, API endpoints, and HTTP POST ingestion.
- Implemented automated web scraping of weather forecasts, maps, and satellite imagery; redesigned the front-end; containerised services with Docker.
Climate Data Scientist
Jane's Weather / 2019–2023
- Built weather forecast delivery systems for agriculture and energy customers, focusing on backend engineering in Python and shell.
- Automated workflows using Argo, built forecast visualisations, and supported AWS deployments and version control via GitHub.
Tutor
University of Melbourne / 2018–2025
- Tutored across first-, second-, and third-year climate and atmospheric science (ATOC30001, ATOC10001, SCIE10005, ATOC30004, ATOC30006).
- Lead tutor for multiple subjects, coordinating tutors and leading practicals.
- Redesigned tutorials for a large first-year subject (~120 students), improving subject feedback ratings.
- Led curriculum-level updates including transitioning multiple subjects from Matlab to Python.
Awards & Grants
Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship
UoM Centre for Data Science Scholarship
2024
UoM Travel Abroad Scholarship
2024
SGEAS Exemplary Service Award
2024 and 2025
UoM Research Impetus Grant
Contributor to successful application, 2025
UoM Thesis Write-Up Scholarship
Technical Skills
Scientific Programming & Data Analysis
- Python for climate and Earth system analysis (xarray, NumPy, pandas, SciPy).
- Parallel and distributed workflows (dask, multiprocessing).
- Performance optimisation (Numba, Cython).
- Scientific visualisation (matplotlib, Seaborn).
- Command-line climate data processing (CDO).
- Web APIs and async HTTP services (FastAPI, httpx, Uvicorn).
Statistical Methods
- Trend estimation and signal extraction (CEEMDAN, LOWESS).
- Large-ensemble analysis.
- Hypothesis testing (KS tests, t-tests).
- Bootstrapping and permutation methods.
Software Engineering & Reproducibility
- Git, GitHub, automated testing with pytest.
- Workflow automation and Bash scripting.
- Containerisation with Docker for reproducible deployment.
Computing Infrastructure
- High-performance computing environments.
- Cloud computing on AWS (S3, EC2).
Invited Talks & Seminars
Workshop on Transient Response to Cumulative Emissions and Zero Emissions Commitment
Invited presentation, 2025 — "Significance of ZEC and Measuring Temperature at the Branch Point"
ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Research-visit seminar, 2024 — "Time of Emergence in Climate Science"
ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes Annual Workshop
Plenary talk, 2024 — "The Climate Science Behind Net Zero"
Australian Climate Council
Invited talk, 2024 — "Climate Modelling and the Paris Agreement"
University of Exeter, UK
Research-visit seminar, 2023 — "Climate Stabilisation Under Net Zero CO₂ Emissions"
Bureau of Meteorology, Australia
Invited talk, 2023 — "The Link Between the MJO and Rainfall Trends in Northwest Australia"
University of Reading & Met Office, UK
Research-visit seminars, 2022 — "Defining a Stable Climate at the Global and Regional Scales"
References
A/Prof Andrew King
Master's and Principal PhD Supervisor, University of Melbourne
Projects
Software, tools, and public-facing climate work
Alongside papers, I like building things that people can use: weather data systems, analysis code, research tooling, and public-facing climate communication projects. A few examples:
Live Infrastructure
University of Melbourne Weather Station
Built the data pipeline, backend services, API, and front-end for the McCoy Building weather station, from logger ingestion through to the public website and live visual delivery.
Python
APIs
Weather data
Open Research Code
Climate analysis on GitHub
I keep a growing set of repositories for ZECMIP, time of emergence, and rainfall-climate analysis, including the code behind published papers and ongoing methods work.
Jupyter
xarray
Reproducibility
Forecast Delivery
Scientific software & pipelines
My software work spans backend engineering, automated data workflows, forecast delivery, containerised services, and research computing for climate and weather applications.
Docker
Automation
Cloud & HPC
Interdisciplinary Work
Climate communication, art, and collaboration
I enjoy projects that connect rigorous climate science with wider audiences, whether that is through public writing, invited talks, interdisciplinary art, or tools that make climate data more accessible.
Science communication
Climate art
Teaching
Public engagement
Co-author publications
Selected papers as a contributing author
Additional publications where I contributed as a co-author. Click through for full text.
Beyond Research
Art, science communication, and community
Outside of papers and code, my work spans climate art, science communication, equity and inclusion advocacy, and community organising. A few of the projects I'm most proud of:
Climate Art
Plastisphere
An immersive climate-change art installation (2019–2020) that I co-created with theatre-maker Laura Collins, alongside composer Louis Stevens and film-maker Conor Jamieson. Presented at Adelaide Fringe (Treasury 1860), Melbourne Fringe (Coburg Library), and the Zero Waste Festival (St Kilda Town Hall).
I managed production and marketing, ran communications around climate change and plastic pollution, and facilitated recycling workshops with children.
Theatre Q&A
Cave of Spleen
Answered audience questions on climate science following the public theatre performance and provided dramaturgical advice (2025).
Science Communication
Writing, briefings, and broadcast
- Lead author on a University of Melbourne Pursuit article on the MJO and rainfall trends in northwest Australia.
- Research featured in Cosmos Magazine.
- Invited radio guest, including ABC Radio National.
- Contributor to the ARC CoE CLEX net zero briefing note for policymakers.
- Co-author of a net zero policy note submitted to Australian Parliament.
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
DEI seminars and committee work
- Member, AMOS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (2024–).
- Delivered DEI seminars for CLEX, the SGEAS Department, and the Veterinary School — on inclusive research and supporting LGBTQIA+ researchers.
Community & Service
Building research community
- Founded and led the ARC CLEX & Weather of the 21st Century Postgrad Statistics Club (2023–2025).
- Co-supervised an Honours student (2024–2025), providing Python support and research guidance.
- Member, ARC CLEX Early Career Research Committee (2023).
- Member, SGEAS Graduate Researcher Committee (2023–).
- Reviewed for Geophysical Research Letters (×2), npj Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, and iScience.
Hackathons
Cross-disciplinary collaboration
- Fire Weather Hackathon — School of Forestry and Ecosystems, UoM (2024).
- UN Datathon (2024).
- High-Resolution Modelling Hackathon (2023).
Get in touch