World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

Senior Extreme Heat Advisor

Over a 40 year career John Nairn pursued customer facing deployments within the Australian Bureau of Meteorology in Antarctic operations, training, severe weather (severe thunderstorms, bushfires, flood, tsunami, wind storms and heatwaves), specialised airport operations (Sydney), Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games and multiple interstate bushfire emergencies apart from operational forecasting in the Northern Territory, Victoria, Western Australia, NSW and South Australia. Prior to joining the Bureau, John worked in the CSIRO (Cronulla) as a physical oceanographer on the East Australia Current project.

John has a particular expertise in extreme heat. He developed the Excess Heat Factor heatwave intensity/severity index used in the Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s national heatwave forecast and warning service and conducted a Churchill Fellowship on heatwaves, visiting the UK, Germany and USA in 2013. John directed the 2019/20 Reducing Illness and Lives Lost from Heatwaves project where the Bureau of Meteorology partnered with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Department of Health, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and Geoscience Australia to develop heatwave vulnerability assessments for Australia at post code resolution.

John has a PhD, MBA, Dip Ed and a BSc Hon in Meteorology and Oceanography. John is keen to put the user experience at the centre of policy and products where data custodians and other stakeholders co-design science based solutions to wicked problems.