Dr John Finnigan, Director CSIRO Centre for Complex Systems Science

Dr John Finnigan: modelling complex systems

Dr John Finnigan's research focuses on measuring and modeling complex physical and social-ecological systems.

• 22 October 2007 | Updated 14 October 2011

Overview

• Current activities
• Background
• Academic qualifications
• Achievements

Current activities

Dr Finnigan is the Director of the CSIRO Centre for Complex Systems Science.

His research focuses on:

• complex systems science, network theory and agent based modelling in relation to earth system dynamics and global change
• atmospheric boundary layer flow over vegetation canopies and complex topography, theory, measurement and applications.

Background

Prior to joining CSIRO in 1972, Dr Finnigan was employed by Hawker-Siddeley Aviation in the United Kingdom from 1968.

From 1989-95, Dr Finnigan served as head of the CSIRO Centre for Environmental Mechanics.

From 1995 to date, he has been Chief Research Scientist, with CSIRO Divisions of Land and Water, Atmospheric Research, and Marine and Atmospheric Research.

He has served as Director of the CSIRO Centre for Complex Systems Science since 2001.

Dr Finnigan was a co-investigator in European and US programs on measuring the global carbon cycle and a member of the Scientific Steering Committee for the international science program: Interactions between Land Ecosystems and Atmospheric Processes (iLEAPS), an initiative of the IGBP (International Geosphere-Biosphere Program).

Academic qualifications

Dr Finnigan was awarded a:

• Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom in 1968
• Doctor of Philosophy in Micrometeorology from the Australian National University, Australian Capital Territory, in 1978.

Achievements

Dr Finnigan's achievements include:

• elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, 2006
• Visiting Fellow of the Geophysical Turbulence and TIIMES Programs at NCAR, Boulder, Colorado, USA, 2006
• appointed Honorary Professor at the School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK 2005
• NERC (UK) Research Grant, Atmosphere-canopy interaction over complex terrain, 2005-08
• NERC (UK) Research Grant, Correcting measurements of surface-atmosphere exchange in complex topography and stable stratification, 2003-06
• NERC (UK) Research Grant, Improved understanding of turbulent flow to interpret long-term carbon and energy fluxes in non-ideal condtions, 1999-2001
• Visiting Fellow, NCAR Boulder Colorado, USA. Mesoscale and Microscale Meteorology Program/ Geophysical Turbulence Program, 1999
• University of Reading, Department of Meteorology UK Meteorological Office, Visiting Research Fellow, 1999
• University of Edinburgh, Institute of Ecology and Resource Management, Scotland, UK, Visiting Fellow, 1999
• numerous visiting Fellowship positions and grants at NOAA, ERL, NCAR (Boulder Colorado) and the Dept of Atmospheric Science, Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Georgia, USA), 1981-98
• Visiting Research Fellowship, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado,  Boulder, Colorado, USA, 1978
• CSIRO Postdoctoral Studentship, concurrent with CIRES Fellowship, 1978
• TM Cherry Prize of Australian Mathematical Society, 1977.

Find out more about CSIRO's work in Complex Systems Science.