Dr Melissa Hart

Graduate Director

ARCCSS UNSW

Climate Change Research Centre
UNSW

Phone:
Email:
Researcher ID: D-4885-2009

 

 

BSc (Hons) (2001)  Macquarie University, Australia

PhD (2006)  Macquarie University, Australia

 

 

Biography

Dr Melissa Hart completed her Bachelor of Science (Hons) in 2001 and her PhD in Atmospheric Science in 2006, at Macquarie University. During her PhD studies she worked part-time at the well-respected air quality consultancy Holmes Air Sciences (now Pacific Environment).

She then spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher at Portland State University, Oregon, working on the National Science Foundation-funded FUSE (Feedback between Urban Systems and the Environment) project. This was followed by five years in a faculty position in the Department of Geography, the University of Hong Kong, China.

Dr Hart’s main research focus is in the area of urban climate, in particular the impact of land-use, surface characteristics and anthropogenic activities on the climate of cities, and quantification of the magnitude of the Urban Heat Island. She is also working in the area of air pollution meteorology, in particular air pollution impacts from hazards reduction burns.

Dr Hart holds an honorary position in the Department of Geography, the University of Hong Kong, and is a member of the Science Advisory Panel for ClimateWatch Hong Kong and China, and of the Bureau of Meteorology’s Course Advisory Committee.

Dr Hart has extensive international experience in tertiary education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. She is currently supervising one two PhD students and one postdoctoral researcher.