University of Melbourne
Research Field: Climate Science
Australia’s climate is characterised by drama. Droughts, floods, heatwaves and storms are a part of living here, but it is difficult to accurately know how much they have changed and will change in the future because most of our weather records are less than 100 years old.
Linden’s work addresses this problem by using historical weather observations. She has uncovered weather diaries from all over southern and eastern Australia, using these ‘old numbers’—and the stories behind how they were recorded—to extend our climate history back to colonisation.
Linden’s passion for science and stories also makes her a keen science communicator. She is a regular on community radio, gives public talks including Pint of Science, Scifight, and to regional community groups, and her writing was featured in the 2019 Best Australian Science Writing Anthology. She was a 2019–2020 Science and Technology Australia Superstar of STEM and received the 2020 Australian and Meteorological Society Science Outreach award.
Linden completed her PhD in 2014 and is a Lecturer in Climate Science and Science Communication at The University of Melbourne.