In this Q&A, we talk with Otago Geography alumna Professor Sue Grimmond, who was recently elected a Fellow of the prestigious Royal Society (UK), in recognition of her groundbreaking research on the climate of cities.
The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of the world's most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.
Otago alumna Professor Sue Grimmond
After graduating from Otago with a BSc (Hons) in physical geography in 1980, Sue moved to Vancouver and obtained her MSc and PhD from the University of British Columbia (UBC). Today, she is Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, at the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading, in the UK.
Through measurements and modelling in cities across the world – of heat, water and carbon dioxide - her research is helping to advance understanding of the fundamental meteorological processes that result in urban warming. This research is also enabling the development of higher-resolution weather forecasting for cities.
Working closely with the World Meteorological Organization and national meteorological and hydrological bodies, she has championed the development of forecasts, indices, and warning systems that enable the development of science-based services to support safe, healthy, resilient and climate-friendly cities.
Sue has received major prizes for her work on urban climates, including the International Association for Urban Climate’s Luke Howard Award in 2009, the Royal Meteorological Society’s Symons Gold Medal in 2020, and the European Meteorological Society’s Silver Medal in 2024. She was the President of the International Association for Urban Climate from 2003–06.
Sue says Otago has played an important part in her life, including the fact that her mother, Nicola Grimmond, graduated from Otago with a BSc in 1958, and went on to become a Senior Lecturer in Zoology at the University. Nicola, who passed away in 2003, was on the University Council for many years and was instrumental in the introduction of the Ethical Behaviour Policy.
“Although there weren’t many women in physical geography at Otago or UBC, I was strongly influenced by my mother. She inspired me, like many of her students. It was never a question that any of us could pursue an academic career.”
Q What was your reaction to being elected a Fellow, and what does this recognition mean to you and for your field of work?
I was both delighted and very surprised! It really is an honour for me and the team of students and researchers I have worked with. It’s also great affirmation of the field of urban climatology.
Today, urban climatology is a vibrant field, addressing pressing scientific issues with profound implications for human health and wellbeing and sustainable global futures. But this interest and attention is only fairly recent.
I also want to stress that my research, both in measurement and modelling, would not have been possible without all those I have had the privilege to work with – undergraduate and postgraduate students, post-docs, technicians, administrative support staff, academics, and research colleagues in multiple cities around the world. So this is recognition of them too.
Q Can you describe any pivotal moments in moving from studying at Otago to a distinguished career in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, and being at the forefront of climate change forecasting systems for cities?
Probably the most pivotal moment was going to the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada to work with Tim Oke for my MSc and PhD. I was encouraged to do this by one of my Otago lecturers, Blair Fitzharris, who had also studied at UBC. I was also surrounded by an amazing group of graduate students – including Helen Cleugh (who came from Otago, Geography), a year after me.
It was at UBC that I changed from studying snow and water to cities, drawing on the methods and approaches I’d first been exposed to at Otago.
Cities are quite complicated places to measure and model, with lots of research questions and challenges. That’s what I have been working on ever since – developing ways to make representative measurements and identifying the key elements of the urban surface and human behaviour to ensure we capture relevant processes in models.
When I finished at UBC, I moved to the United States, to Indiana University. At that time the US Forest Service and the energy sector were both starting to think about the climate of cities and how urban vegetation could reduce energy demand and sequester CO2. Now that thinking is commonplace, then it wasn’t. This opened-up lots of opportunities in North America and Europe to undertake field campaigns and to represent cities in a range of weather and climate models.
I’ve been really fortunate to work with lots of research groups across the world – in North America, Europe and Asia – and with lots of national meteorological bodies. That’s only been enhanced since I have been in the UK, with strong support from European funders and continued close work with the World Meteorological Organisation.
Q Do you have any particularly highlights or influences from your time at Otago?
At Otago, key lecturers were Dave Murray, Blair Fitzharris and Richard Morgan.
Otago really provided me with an excellent training. The structure of the degree enabled me to take a range of courses – maths, computer science, biology as well as physical geography. This provided me with a really strong foundation and allowed me to work out what really interested me.
The Honours programme, involving an extra paper each year, exposed me to a wide range of physical geography fields (and to interact with more senior students).
The multi-day field trips with research papers to be completed also gave us excellent early research training. The summer work opportunities, facilitated via lecturers, at places like the then Otago Catchment Board (for me), between academic years provided excellent field and modelling experience. That encouragement to do both fieldwork and modelling has underpinned my career since.
At that time, there was also a tradition of Otago Geography graduates going onto further study, Masters and PhDs, beyond New Zealand. That’s what I was expected to do then. That, with the really strong encouragement to apply to UBC and to work with Tim Oke, a world-leading expert on cities, set the trajectory for the rest of my career.
-Kōrero by Margie Clark, Communications Adviser, Alumni
Why study Geography?
Geography provides a bridge between the arts and the sciences, addressing issues at the local, regional, national and global scales. A Geography degree at Otago provides training through lectures and fieldwork in the environments in which we work.
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