I am a psychology PhD candidate at the University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia. Prior to commencing my PhD, I worked as a weather observer in Australian and Antarctica. As a weather observer I had the opportunity to work and live in the amazing environment that is Antarctica, completing winter (year-long) deployments to the Australian Antarctic and sub-Antarctic stations of Casey, Davis, Mawson, and Macquarie Island. My interests in weather information use, human behaviour and decision-making, in different situations and environments, developed from these experiences.
My PhD project focuses on how, when, and why people use weather, climate and other environmental information, their weather hazard risk perception, and protective decisions in Antarctica and Australia. My research contributes evidence-based knowledge of Antarctic weather information sources, uses, interpretation, and related decision-making. It enhances our understanding of Antarctic operating contexts, weather services, and user needs. Findings can help develop tailored forecasting products and services, best practice, tools, and education to reduce risks relating to human health and the environment in Antarctica.
My project contributes to the Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP) part of the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) World Weather Research Programme (WWRP).
I am actively involved with the Oceania branch of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), the Polar Prediction Project’s Societal and Economic Research Applications (PPP-SERA) task team and the SCAR Standing Committee on the Humanities and Social Sciences (SC-HASS).
I am always happy to discuss my research and work, please get in touch if you would like to know more:
Email: vicki.heinrich@utas.edu.au
Facebook: Researching weather and climate information use in Antarctica @UWCIAntarctica / www.facebook.com/UWCIAntarctica/
Twitter: @VictoriaHeinri5
Webpage (1): www.utas.edu.au/health/research/groups/psychological-sciences/the-risk-and-resilience-r-and-r-group
Webpage (2): http://www.tascl.org/vicki-heinrich.html
Publications and Speaking Engagements (Select List):
The IcePod (2020) https://theicepodcast.home.blog/2020/10/12/live-episode-paid-to-look-at-the-clouds-and-play-with-balloons/.
Polar Prediction Matters. (2020). “In Antarctica, the Weather Comes First.” Victoria Heinrich interviews Graham Oakley. Helmholtz Blogs. https://blogs.helmholtz.de/polarpredictionmatters/2020/10/in-antarctica-the-weather-comes-first/.
Bromwich, D. H., Werner, K., Casati, B., Powers, J. G., Gorodetskaya, I. V., Massonnet, F., Vitale, V., Heinrich, V.J., . . . Zou, X. (2020). The year of polar prediction in the southern hemisphere (yopp-sh). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 101(10), E1653-E1676. doi: 10.1175/bams-d-19-0255.1.
Women in the Arctic and Antarctic 