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HOBART TAS 7001 AUSTRALIA
Biography
Dr. Xuebin Zhang is a Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO Environment and leads CSIRO’s sea-level rise research. He obtained his Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Washington (U.S.) and completed his postdoctoral training at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (U.S.). In 2010, he joined CSIRO as a sea-level scientist and has been actively working on sea-level rise, climate change and variability, ocean and climate modelling, and ocean–cryosphere interactions.
Sea-level rise, identified as a WCRP Grand Challenge, is an urgent issue for society, requiring both understanding and action for adaptation and mitigation. His research is strategically targeted to address this critical need by providing better and more reliable sea-level rise information. He has led CSIRO’s efforts to develop regional sea-level projections on both global and regional scales, positioning CSIRO as the sole entity in Australia with the expertise to produce process-based sea-level projections. The future sea-level projection products he has developed have been utilized by over 20 countries, including Australia, Southeast Asian countries, and Pacific Island nations. Within Australia, these projections have been adopted as the national benchmark dataset and are used by Commonwealth, state, and local governments and end-users in policy making, adaptation planning, and resilience building, resulting in tangible social, environmental, and economic benefits.
He also played a pioneering role in producing the first-ever high-resolution sea-level projections globally achieving a remarkable resolution of approximately 10 kilometers. This groundbreaking work involved dynamically downscaling global climate model simulations and producing high-resolution sea-level fingerprints from land ice melt using an unstructured global mesh grid. This new direction in sea-level rise research and application has since inspired international groups to follow.
Building on his global ocean downscaling experience, he then advanced into regional ocean downscaling by conceiving and leading the Australian Regional Ocean Downscaling (AUSROD) framework. This framework provides finer, more flexible, and cost-effective ocean climate products. AUSROD has been successfully tested over the Australian domain using two independent regional ocean models and is deliberately designed to be modular and portable, making it readily extendable to other regions (e.g., the tropical Pacific). Supported by the Australian Climate Service (ACS), this capability now underpins CSIRO’s leadership in regional ocean climate projections across the Indo-Pacific. Dr. Zhang is an active member of the WCRP Ocean-CORDEX Taskforce, coordinating best practices for ocean downscaling globally. Representing Ocean-CORDEX, he also engaged with Fish-MIP (a network of 100+ marine ecosystem modellers) to apply downscaled ocean fields to fisheries and ecosystem impact assessments - opening new opportunities for integrated climate–ecosystem–fisheries research.
Dr. Zhang’s expertise is also sought beyond the climate and ocean sectors, extending into engineering, legal, health, and insurance domains. As a trusted national advisor on sea-level rise, he has enhanced CSIRO’s reputation, advanced sea-level science, and most importantly helped strengthen climate resilience through informed action to sea-level rise across sectors and regions, both nationally and internationally.
He has published 66 articles in leading professional journals, including 12 in the Nature and Science publishing groups. His total citation count is * >5,600 (h-index: 37)* according to Google Scholar.
During his CSIRO tenure, he has secured over eight million dollars in research funding and led several large-scale projects, such as the Pacific–Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Planning (PACCSAP) Sea Level Project, CSIRO Ocean Downscaling Strategic Project, Centre for Southern Hemisphere Ocean Research (CSHOR) Sea Level Project, NESP Climate Systems Hub – Oceans and Coasts Project, and the CSIRO R+ CERC Postdoctoral Fellowship Project.
Representing the Climate Intelligence Program, he serves on the CSIRO Environment Research Unit Science Committee. He is also highly active in academic supervision, having supervised three postdoctoral fellows, seven Ph.D. students, and four Honours students during his time at CSIRO. Notably, his firt PhD student became a full professor in sea level science (2022). His also servers as the UTAS/CSIRO Quantitative Marine Science (QMS) Joint Ph.D. Program Coordinator, where he represents CSIRO’s interests and coordinates staff contributions to the QMS program.
His outstanding contributions to sea-level research have been recognized internally through a CSIRO Julius Career Award (2018–2023) and a Superior Performance Rating (2024), reflecting both his leadership and his sustained impact in delivering actionable sea-level rise information for adaptation and mitigation.
The international recognition of Dr. Zhang’s scientific contributions is evident through his nomination as an Ocean Science President Candidate of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS, ~6,700 members from ~50 countries), and his service on esteemed international advisory panels, such as the Pacific Panel of the Climate Variability, Predictability and Change (CLIVAR) Program (2017–2021). He was invited to deliver plenary talks at two leading international sea-level conferences:
1. WCRP/IOC Regional Sea Level Changes and Coastal Impacts Conference (New York, 2017), focusing on high-resolution sea-level projections; and
2. WCRP Sea Level Conference (Singapore, 2022), presenting a synthesis of progress and remaining gaps in regional sea-level projections.
He was also invited (with expenses covered) to participate in high-level international workshops, such as the WCRP Sea Level Grand Challenge Workshop hosted by the International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Switzerland. Moreover, he has actively convened ~10 sea-level–related sessions at national and international conferences, including the AOGS and the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS) annual meetings.
Furthermore, Dr. Zhang is regularly invited to review for leading journals (such as Nature and Science) and to provide expert advice to national and international government and funding bodies (such as DCCEEW, US National Academies). He has been sought out for interviews by major domestic and international media outlets, including The Washington Post, Agence France Presse, The Independent, Australian Associated Press, ABC, and The Sydney Morning Herald.
Professional Areas
Current Roles
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Project Leader
R+ CERC postdoctoral fellowship project - Producing reliable regional sea-level projections ready for adaptation planning (PDF24-1-1800) -
Project Leader
NESP Climate Systems Hub CS2.10 Project - oceans and coasts -
Project Leader
CSHOR Project: the role of the Southern Ocean in sea level change -
Project Leader
CSIRO Ocean Downscaling Strategic Project -
Project leader
NSW Environmental Trust: Regional 21st century sea level projections for the NSW coast -
Main investigator
Australian Climate Change Science Program -
Project Leader
Pacific-Australia Climate Change Science Adaptation Planning (PACCSAP) Program - Sea level understanding and projections for the Pacific Islands region -
Main investigator
Pacific Climate Change Science Program (PCCSP)
Academic Qualifications
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2008
PhD of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Professional Experiences
-
07/2019-current
Principal Research Scientist
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere -
07/2014-06/2019
Senior Research Scientist
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere -
08/2010-06/2014
Research Scientist
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research -
10/2008-08/2010
Postdoctoral Scholar
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Achievements and Awards
-
2024-2025
CSIRO Superior Performance Rating
CSIRO -
2024-2027
R+ CERC postdoctoral fellowship (PDF24-1-1800)
CSIRO -
2018-2021
Julius Career Award
CSIRO -
2017-2018
Capability Development Fund to support my secondment at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (US)
CSIRO O&A -
2017-2017
Corporate Citizen Award
CSIRO
Other highlights
-
2025-2025
Nomination by Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) as a candidate for Ocean Section President
-
2024-2026
Joint Taskforce on Regional Ocean Modelling and Climate Projections (aka Ocean-CORDEX) by WCRP CLIVAR – OMDP and RIfS – CORDEX
-
2022-2022
Plenary talk on synthesis of progress and gaps in sea-level projections at WCRP Sea Level Conference (Singapore, 2022)
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2021-2022
CLIVAR Working Group on Tropical Pacific Decadal Variability
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2017-2022
WCRP Flux-anomaly-forced model intercomparison project (FAFMIP)
-
2017-2021
CLIVAR Pacific Regional Panel
-
2017-2017
Plenary talk on high-resolution sea level projection at WCRP/IOC Regional Sea Level Changes and Coastal Impacts Conference (New York, 2017)
Grants
-
06/2024-06/2027
R+ CERC postdoctoral fellowship project (PDF24-1-1800) ($910K)
-
07/2022-12/2024
NESP Climate Systems Hub - oceans and coasts project ($2,750K)
-
07/2017-06/2022
CSHOR - The role of the Southern Ocean in sea level change ($2,750K)
-
2018-2023
CSIRO Julius Career Award ($75K)
-
02/2015-01/2017
NSW Environmental Trust - Regional 21st Century sea level projections for the NSW coast ($300K)
-
07/2014-06/2016
CSIRO Ocean Downscaling Strategic Project ($650K)
-
07/2011-12/2013
Pacific-Australia Climate Change Science Adaptation Planning (PACCSAP) Program - Sea level understanding and projections for the Pacific Islands region ($932K)
Community and Corporate Citizenship
-
2024-2026
CSIRO Environment Science Committe
-
2021-2025
CSIRO/UTAS Joint Quantitative Marine Science (QMS) PhD Program Committee
Related links
- National Environmental Science Program Climate Systems Hub - Oceans and Coasts project led by Xuebin Zhang
- DCCEEW workshop - Sea level rise science for adaptation and engineering needs (including a talk by Xuebin Zhang)
- Interview with ABC on accelerating sea-level rise
- Interview with ABC Radio on future sea-level rise in Tasmania
- Interview with Independent about WMO’s State of the Global Climate
- Conversation articiles published by Xuebin Zhang
- Plenary report on sea-level rise issue at CARe2018 Hong Kong Conference
- Interview with New Scientist about impact of rainfull in Australia on global mean sea level
- Interview with Sydney Morning Herald about Nature Climate Change Publication on increasing sea level rate during satellite altimetry era
- Media report about a co-authored Nature Geoscience publciation on climate driver behind Antarctic melt caused recent sea-level rise
- Interview with COSMOS Magazine about increasing sea level rate during satellite altimetry era
- Interview with phys.org about Nature Communcations publication on Sea level data confirms climate modeling projections
ORCID 0000-0003-1731-3524
We have publications by Dr Xuebin Zhang