Dr Joëlle Gergis is an award-winning climate scientist and writer.

She is an internationally recognised expert in Australian and Southern Hemisphere climate variability and change who has authored over 130 scientific publications. Between 2018 and 2021, Joëlle served as a lead author on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on the Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report – the global authority on climate change science.

Throughout her career, Joëlle has received prestigious Australian Research Council fellowships and numerous awards for her scientific research including the Eureka Prize for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Scientific Research – informally known as the ‘Oscars of Australian Science’ – and the University of Melbourne’s Dean’s Award for Research Excellence.

As a media ‘go to’ climate change spokesperson, Joëlle spends a lot of time translating science for the public. Her general audience writing has appeared in The Saturday Paper, The Monthly, The Guardian, Griffith Review, The Conversation and Harper’s Bazaar.

Joëlle is the author of three highly-acclaimed general audience books: Sunburnt Country: The History and Future of Climate Change in Australia; Humanity’s Moment: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope, and Highway to Hell: Climate Change and Australia’s Future. Her book Humanity’s Moment, was shortlisted for a 2023 Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) and the 2023 Queensland Literary Non-Fiction Award, and won the 2023 Scholarly Book of the Year. It was also shortlisted for the Penn Libraries 2024 Book Prize in Sustainability in the USA.

She has also contributed chapters to landmark climate literature anthologies including The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg, Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility, edited by Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua, and On This Ground: Best Australian Nature Writing edited by Dave Witty.

In recognition of her extensive public engagement, Joëlle received the AMOS Science Outreach Award, a national science communication prize awarded by the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS), Australia’s peak professional body for climate science.

Alongside her research and writing activities, Joëlle has also served a scientific advisor to various organisations, including the Climate Council of Australia, an independent body providing expert advice to the public on climate change and policy; Veolia, a global company that aims to set the business benchmark for ecological transformation; and CLIMARTE, a Melbourne-based arts organisation supporting the creative arts sector’s engagement with the topic of climate change.

Joëlle is currently focused on research consultancies, scientific advising, and communication work for government, business, cultural and community groups.

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