Hannah Christensen

Atmospheric Physicist

I actually first became interested in the science behind the weather during geography lessons at school. I thought it was really neat how we could explain, and therefore predict, how something so tangible as a cloud could come into being. I did some research, and to my delight found that in order to become a meteorologist, you needed to understand the physics and maths that describes the atmosphere – my other favourite subjects!

I did my undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at Cambridge, specialising in physics, before completing my PhD in the Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics department at Oxford.

My current focus is on improving the computer simulators we use to make weather predictions. In particular, I work on developing a simulator that can forecast the range of possible weather events for the coming week, instead of just making a single ‘best guess’ forecast. This can provide us with useful extra information, especially if an unlikely but high-impact weather event is on the way.

I enjoy communicating my science to the public through outreach events, podcasts and popular science articles.