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ProfessorNicolas Cullen 2020 image

MSc(Cant)
PhD(Colorado)

Richardson Building room 4C12a
Office Hours: email to make an appointment
Tel +64 3 479 3069
Email nicolas.cullen@otago.ac.nz


Teaching

Research interests

Professor Nicolas Cullen is a climate scientist whose research investigates how weather and climate shape mountain and polar environments. His research combines long-term field observations, satellite remote sensing, process-based numerical modelling, high-performance computing and data science to understand how atmospheric processes influence glaciers, seasonal snow and water resources. Through internationally recognised observational programmes in the Southern Alps of New Zealand and collaborative research spanning Antarctica, Greenland and tropical mountain regions, his research addresses questions ranging from climate variability and environmental change to water resources and natural hazards.

While much of his research focuses on climate and the cryosphere, Nicolas has broad interests across the atmospheric sciences, including extreme weather, atmospheric rivers, mountain hydrology, air pollution meteorology, renewable energy and climate change. A central aim of his research programme is to train the next generation of climate scientists by providing students with a strong foundation in field observations, quantitative analysis, process-based numerical modelling, high-performance computing and data science. These interdisciplinary skills prepare graduates for careers in research, environmental management, government agencies, consultancy and the wider atmospheric sciences.

Current postgraduate supervision

  • Maya Berg (PhD), Advancing snow and glacier modelling in mountain and polar environments (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisors: Marwan Katurji, Jono Conway)
  • Philip Elder (PhD), Keeping people safe in our mountains: A new avalanche hazard mapping system (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisor: Ralf Ohlemüller)
  • Kate Hodgson (PhD), Understanding sediment loads of high relief alpine catchments in response to climate change (Primary supervisor: Sarah Mager, co-supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • Aubrey Miller (PhD), Snow avalanche hazards in Aotearoa New Zealand: Using extreme events from the past to plan for the future (Primary supervisor: Pascal Sirguey, co-supervisors: Nicolas Cullen, Yves Bühler)

Completed postgraduate supervision

  • 2025, Maya Berg (MSc), Ka Mua, Ka Muri: Simulating past and future snowpack dynamics on the Craigieburn Range in Aotearoa New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisor: Jono Conway)
  • 2025, Felix Cook (PhD), Marine heatwaves in Aotearoa New Zealand’s coastal and shelf seas: Identification, characteristics and drivers (Primary supervisor: Rob Smith, co-supervisors: Nicolas Cullen, Moninya Roughan)
  • 2024, Morgan Bennet (PhD), A multivariate perspective of extreme hydrometeorological events in New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Daniel Kingston, co-supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2024, Zoe Barbenel (BSc(Hons)), Assessing the role of climate forcing on seasonal snow in the Southern Alps (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisors: Todd Redpath, Jono Conway)
  • 2024, Anita Bentley (MSc), A skier’s dilemma: The response of seasonal snow to climate variability and change in the Craigieburn Range, New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisor: Todd Redpath)
  • 2024, Marte Gé Hofsteenge (PhD), Meteorological controls on the mass balance of glaciers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisors: Marwan Katurji, Jono Conway)
  • 2024, Tamara Pletzer (PhD), Hydrometeorological modelling of glacial melt and streamflow in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisors: Marwan Katurji, Jono Conway)
  • 2022, Nariefa Abrahim (PhD), Determining the atmospheric controls on the mass balance of Brewster Glacier, Southern Alps, Aotearoa New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisor: Ralf Ohlemüller)
  • 2021, Matthew Wright (MAppSc), The potential impact of climate change on seasonal snow in the Clutha/Mata-Au Catchment, New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2020, Hamish Prince (MSc), A climatology of New Zealand atmospheric rivers (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2019, Todd Redpath (PhD), A multi-scale approach to assessing the spatio-temporal variability of seasonal snow in the Clutha Catchment, New Zealand (Primary supervisors: Pascal Sirguey and Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisor: Sean Fitzsimons)
  • 2019, Lucy Just (MSc), Snow distribution and melt of a seasonal snowpack, Central Otago, New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisor: Pascal Sirguey)
  • 2019, Mitch Rawlyk (MSc), A synoptic scale meteorological investigation of springtime frost incidence in Cromwell (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2018, Angus Dowson (MSc), Glacier surface albedo from MODIS data and links to annual mass balance for the Gardens of Eden and Allah, New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisor: Pascal Sirguey)
  • 2018, Kerryn Little (MSc), Climate controls on the mass balance of Brewster Glacier, Southern Alps (Primary supervisor: Daniel Kingston, co-supervisors: Nicolas Cullen, Pascal Sirguey)
  • 2018, Florence Mills (MSc), Hydrologic implications of woody vegetation change in indigenous snow tussock grasslands: A case study at Glendhu (Primary supervisor: Sarah Mager, co-supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2018, Inka Koch (PhD), Marine ice formation and deformation at the Southern McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica (Primary supervisor: Sean Fitzsimons, co-supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2017, Xiaolin Wu (PhD), Understanding the past, current and future transport and fate of semi-volatile organic compounds in remote alpine glacier-fed lakes in New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Kimberly Hageman, co-supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2016, Andreas Jobst (PhD), The potential impacts of climate change on the hydro-climate of the Clutha/Mata-Au catchment (Primary supervisor: Daniel Kingston, co-supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2015, Jeremy Bell (MSc), Avalanche awareness and decision making in backcountry terrain, Craigieburn Valley Ski Area, New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2014, Peter Gibson (MSc), Multi-scale atmospheric and climate phenomena in the context of the wind resource assessment: A case study in complex, coastal terrain (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen). Received the New Zealand Geographical Society's President's award for Best Master's thesis in Geography in 2014
  • 2014, Nick Price (MSc), A multi-scale assessment of the air pollution climatology of Alexandra, New Zealand using a combination of field observations and statistical and physical based modelling (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2013, Nicolle Britland (MSc), Surface climatology and ablation on the floating section of the Petermann Glacier, Greenland (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2013, Jono Conway (PhD), Constraining cloud and airmass controls on the surface energy and mass balance of Brewster Glacier, Southern Alps of New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisors: Sean Fitzsimons, Rachel Spronken-Smith)
  • 2012, Gregor Macara (MSc), Spatial and temporal variability of snowpack stability in the Craigieburn Valley, New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2012, Seth Gorrie (MSc), The scientific and cultural aspects of renewable energy development success in Samoa (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisor: Jenny Bryant-Tokalau)
  • 2011, Michael Winkler (PhD), Kilimanjaro ice cliffs morphology, recession, micro-climate, and how they determine glacier area loss (Primary supervisor: Georg Kaser University of Innsbruck, Austria, co-supervisors: Nicolas Cullen and Thomas Mölg)
  • 2011, Dorothea Stumm (PhD), The mass balance of selected glaciers of the Southern Alps in New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Sean Fitzsimons, co-supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2010, Alice Bowden (MSc), Wind resource assessment in Waitati, Otago, New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisor: Rachel Spronken-Smith)
  • 2010, Ashley Broadbent (MSc), Measurements and modelling of wintertime PM10 air pollution, Milton, Otago (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2010, Amber Tate (MSc), Wintertime PM10 measurement and modelling in Alexandra and Mosgiel, Otago (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisor: Rachel Spronken-Smith)
  • 2009, Andrea Barrueto (MSc), Accumulation on the Brewster Glacier in New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Martin Hoelzle, co-supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)
  • 2008, Sarah Gillett (MSc), Modelling summer ablation on the Brewster Glacier, New Zealand (Primary supervisor: Nicolas Cullen)

Publications

The WGMS Network, including Cullen, N. (2026). Global glacier mass change in 2025: Climate chronicles [Year in review]. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 7, 213-215. doi: 10.1038/s43017-026-00777-z Journal - Research Other

Kropač, E., Mölg, T., & Cullen, N. J. (2025). From sea to summit: Investigating the explicit role of SST increase for regional and high-altitude climates in New Zealand. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130, e2025JD043572. doi: 10.1029/2025JD043572 Journal - Research Article

Nielsen, E. B., Katurji, M., Zawar-Reza, P., & Cullen, N. (2025). Air temperature trends and extreme warning events across regions of Antarctica for the period 2003–2021. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130, e2024JD043042. doi: 10.1029/2024JD043042 Journal - Research Article

Hofsteenge, M. G., Cullen, N. J., Sodemann, H., & Katurji, M. (2025). Synoptic drivers and moisture sources of snowfall in coastal Victoria Land, Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130, e2024JD042021. doi: 10.1029/2024JD042021 Journal - Research Article

Kropač, E., Mölg, T., & Cullen, N. J. (2024). A new, high-resolution atmospheric dataset for southern New Zealand, 2005-2020. Geoscience Data Journal, 11, 873-895. doi: 10.1002/gdj3.263 Journal - Research Article

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