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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

Nicolas' research interests are in all aspects of meteorology and climatology. The study of the atmosphere inevitably involves an understanding of other components of the global environment, which for Nicolas has been primarily the cryosphere. Much of his research has focused on the interactions of the atmosphere with snow and ice surfaces in the high and mid-latitudes, as well as on a number of high mountains in the tropics (e.g. Kilimanjaro). Nicolas is also interested in the impacts of atmospheric processes on human behaviour, in particular air pollution meteorology, utilizing wind for energy through turbine development and issues related to climate change on local to global scales. The research that Nicolas undertakes is dependent on a combination of field data, remote sensing observations and modelling.

Current postgraduate supervision

  • Morgan Bennet (PhD), Development of an extreme hydrometeorological event index (Primary Supervisor: Daniel Kingston, co-supervisor: Nicolas Cullen).
  • Felix Cook (PhD), Marine heatwaves around New Zealand: identification and causes (Primary Supervisor: Rob Smith, co-supervisors: Nicolas Cullen, Moninya Roughan).
  • Marte Gé Hofsteenge (PhD), Assessing the impacts of climate forcing on glacier surface mass balance and meltwater production in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (Primary Supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisors: Marwan Katurji, Jono Conway).
  • 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).
  • Tamara Pletzer (PhD), The impacts of meteorological and climate forcing on glacier surface mass balance and meltwater production in the McMurdo Dry Valleys and other glaciated landscapes within the RSR of Antarctica (Primary Supervisor: Nicolas Cullen, co-supervisors: Marwan Katurji, Jono Conway).
  • Anita Bentley (MSc), The impacts of climate change on seasonal snow in the Southern Alps (Primary Supervisor: Nicolas Cullen).

Completed postgraduate supervision

  • 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

Abrahim, B. N., Cullen, N. J., Conway, J. P., & Sirguey, P. (2023). Applying a distributed mass-balance model to identify uncertainties in glaciological mass balance on Brewster Glacier, New Zealand. Journal of Glaciology, 69(276), 1030-1046. doi: 10.1017/jog.2022.123 Journal - Research Article

Pohl, B., Prince, H. D., Wille, J., Kingston, D. G., Cullen, N. J., & Fauchereau, N. (2023). Atmospheric rivers and weather types in Aotearoa New Zealand: A two‐way story. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 128, e2022JD037209. doi: 10.1029/2022JD037209 Journal - Research Article

Miller, A. D., Redpath, T. A. N., Sirguey, P., Cox, S. C., Bartelt, P., Bogie, D., Conway, J. P., Cullen, N. J., & Bühler, Y. (2023). Unprecedented winter rainfall initiates large snow avalanche and mass movement cycle in New Zealand's Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana. Geophysical Research Letters, 50, e2022GL102105. doi: 10.1029/2022GL102105 Journal - Research Article

Abrahim, B. N., Cullen, N. J., & Conway, J. P. (2022). A decade of surface meteorology and radiation exchanges at Brewster Glacier in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. International Journal of Climatology, 4(2), 1612-1631. doi: 10.1002/joc.7323 Journal - Research Article

Conway, J. P., Abermann, J., Andreassen, L. M., Azam, M. F., Cullen, N. J., Fitzpatrick, N., … Sicart, J.-E. (2022). Cloud forcing of surface energy balance from in situ measurements in diverse mountain glacier environments. Cryosphere, 16, 3331-3356. doi: 10.5194/tc-16-3331-2022 Journal - Research Article

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