Dr Negin Nazarian

Dr Negin Nazarian Profile Photo

Urban Climatologist

Dr. Negin Nazarian, Scientia Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), is a recognised leader in urban climate, advancing knowledge on city-climate interactions. She is Deputy Director (Science Partnership) at the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century, chairs the Board on Urban Environment at the American Meteorological Society, and is a Lead Author of the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities in the 7th Assessment Report (AR7).

Negin’s expertise as an urban climatologist focuses on understanding the complex interactions between the built environment and climate, with a keen interest in how these dynamics impact people. Her notable accolades include the prestigious 2023 Timothy Oke Award for Original Research in urban overheating, the 2024 NSW Young Tall Poppy award, and the 2025 AGU Global Environmental Change award, highlighting her pioneering contributions to the field.

Negin leads the Climate-Resilient Cities (CRC) research lab at UNSW, a multidisciplinary team dedicated to addressing pressing challenges of urban climate, particularly focusing on urban heat exposure and wind hazards. The CRC’s mission is dedicated to advancing high-resolution urban climate modelling, refining urban canopy parameterisations (through physical or AI modelling), and employing urban climate informatics to enhance our understanding of human exposure to urban climate challenges. Prior to her tenure at UNSW, Dr. Nazarian served as the SMART Scholar at the Singapore-MIT Alliance following her graduation from the University of California, San Diego.

Profile image courtesy: ARC Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather

July 7, 2026

Where Are We At With Urban Microclimates?

The global climate is changing faster than ever due to the actions of humans. But your local climate is too. Simple decisions like the colour of your roof, the location of a tree on a footpath or the material used in a children's playground can all have cascading effects on small-scale weather patterns. Perhaps it just raises the temperature a few degrees, or maybe it creates a hail storm where there wouldn't have been one, or flash-flooding that should never have happened. Dr Negin Nazarian from UNSW explains Where Are We At With Urban Microclimates?