Penny Whetton
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Penny Whetton in 2017
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| Born | (1958-01-05)5 January 1958
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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| Died | 11 September 2019(2019-09-11) (aged 61)
Sisters Beach, Tasmania, Australia
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| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
| Occupation | Climatologist |
| Spouse |
(m. 1986) |
| Children | John Rice-Whetton Leon Rice-Whetton |
Penelope Whetton (5 January 1958 – 11 September 2019) was a climatologist and an expert in regional climate change projections due to global warming and in the impacts of those changes. Her primary scientific focus was Australia.[1]
Whetton was born in Melbourne, Victoria, on 5 January 1958. She held a Bachelor of Science (Honours), majoring in physics, and an honours year in meteorology, from the University of Melbourne. She received a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the same university in 1986.[2]
Whetton started her career in the late 1980s as a researcher in the Department of Geography at Monash UniversityinClayton, Victoria.[3]
In 1989, she joined the Atmospheric Research division of CSIRO (later becoming CMAR CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research). Whetton became a research leader in 1999 and a research program leader in 2009.[3] Whetton was a Lead Author on the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Assessment Reports of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).[4] The Fourth Assessment Report of which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.[5]
Whetton was an invited speaker at various climate change conferences such as the Aspen Global Change Institute,[6] Four Degrees Or More? Australia in a Hot World[7] at the University of Melbourne in 2011, and the Greenhouse 2011: The Science of Climate Change conference.[8]
Whetton published numerous scientific journal articles on climate change as well as a contribution to more popular publications.[9]
Whetton lived in Footscray, Victoria, with her wife Janet Rice, a Greens Senator and former Mayor of Maribyrnong, and their two sons. In 2003, Whetton underwent gender-affirming surgery.[10][11]
Whetton died on 11 September 2019 in Sisters Beach, Tasmania.[12]
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