Donner, Simon

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Research Interests

• Climate Change Science
• Marine Science
• Climate Policy

Current Research Projects

• Drivers and Trends in Marine Climate Extremes: Building on past work on ocean warming and El Niño, our recent research has quantified changes in the frequency and structure of warm-season marine heatwaves and the implications for coastal ecosystems. Ongoing research is focusing on extreme heat and sea-level in the tropical Pacific and on the atmospheric drivers of ocean extremes.
• Natural Laboratories in the Ocean: The Republic of Kiribati, subject to frequent El Niño-driven marine heatwaves, is a natural laboratory for evaluating how coral reefs cope with climate warming. Since 2005, I have worked with the Kiribati government to track how their reefs respond to climate and local disturbances using SCUBA-based surveys and oceanographic data collection. My group has recently expanded this concept of natural laboratories to the tropical kelp forests of the Galápagos Islands, which may be a relic of a cooler past, or a refuge on a warming planet.
• Climate Change Risk and Adaptation in the Small Island Developing States: Building on experience working in Kiribati, Fiji and other Pacific island countries, my students and I continue examine to assess climate risks and identify obstacles to adaptation to sea-level rise and other climate hazards. We have looked at the challenges of using science to inform decision-making, international financing for adaptation, and the factors that influence adaptation decisions on the ground. Planned research will examine the emergence of blue carbon projects and the continued challenges in providing sufficient international finance for climate change adaptation and climate change damages.