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Sophie Lewis is a climate scientist and a Senior Lecturer at UNSW Canberra. Dr. Lewis was recognized as the 2019 ACT Scientist of the Year through her research on extreme weather in Australia. Currently, Lewis is funded to research Australia's extreme climate events and its connection to climate change.

Early life and education
Sophie Lewis was born in Melbourne, Australia. From the moment her parents took her stargazing at the age of four, she dreamed of becoming a scientist. Her interest grew as she explored and collected bones, feathers, and leaves throughout her childhood, later focusing on math and science in high school. A science camp led Lewis to pursue engineering at Monash University. After 18 months, she switched from engineering to science and earned a degree of Bachelor of Science in 2006. In addition she earned First Class Honours a few years later. In 2011, Lewis moved to Canberra to complete her PhD in paleoclimatology at the Australian National University.

Research and Career
Following her bachelor's degree, Lewis was a researcher at several Australian universities before completing her PhD. After earning her PhD, she was a postdoctoral research fellow with her mentor, David Karoly from 2011 to 2014 at the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science. Two years into Lewis's postdoctoral research fellow position, her personal life required a move back to Canberra, so she completed her research at the Australian National University. In 2016, she became a Senior lecturer at the Australian National University. Currently, Lewis is a Senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales Canberra.

Research
Lewis studies Australian weather, specifically recent climate extremes. She examines heatwaves, droughts, bushfires, temperature events, and extreme rainfall. Lewis's primary research is centered around the likelihood of extreme climate events occurring due to anthropogenic forces. She uses climate models, specifically proxy-model comparison, to understand the natural and anthropogenic influence on the Australian climate. The climate models use observations and paleoclimate records to illustrate how heatwave events in Australia are changing using a long-term perspective.

Selected Publications
Lewis's publications have appeared in climate journals, in addition to a few climate books. Her publications mostly examine the Australian climate, specifically recent extreme climate events.

Books

 * 1) Lewis SC, 2017, A changing climate for science, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54265-2

Book Chapters

 * 1) Lewis S; Karoly D; King A; Perkins-Kirkpatrick S; Donat M, 2017, 'Mechanisms Explaining Recent Changes in Australian Climate Extremes', in Climate Extremes: Patterns and Mechanisms, John Wiley & Sons, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781119068020.ch15

Journal Articles

 * 1) Dittus AJ; Karoly DJ; Lewis SC; Alexander LV; Donat MG, 2016, 'A multiregion model evaluation and attribution study of historical changes in the area affected by temperature and precipitation extremes', Journal of Climate, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0164.1
 * 2) Lewis SC; King AD; Perkins-Kirkpatrick SE; Mitchell DM, 2019, 'Regional hotspots of temperature extremes under 1.5 °C and 2 °C of global mean warming', Weather and Climate Extremes, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2019.100233
 * 3) Dey R; Lewis SC; Arblaster JM; Abram NJ, 2019, 'A review of past and projected changes in Australia's rainfall', Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, vol. 10, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wcc.577
 * 4) Harrington LJ; Lewis S; Perkins-Kirkpatrick SE; King AD; Otto FEL, 2019, 'Embracing the complexity of extreme weather events when quantifying their likelihood of recurrence in a warming world', Environmental Research Letters, http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaf2dc
 * 5) Lewis SC; Karoly DJ, 2013, 'Anthropogenic contributions to Australia's record summer temperatures of 2013' https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/grl.50673
 * 6) Lewis SC; Perkins-Kirkpatrick SE; King AD, 2019, 'Approaches to attribution of extreme temperature and precipitation events using multi-model and single-member ensembles of general circulation models', Advances in Statistical Climatology, Meteorology and Oceanography, http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/ascmo-5-133-2019
 * 7) Lewis SC; King AD; Perkins-Kirkpkpatrick SE, 2017, 'Defining a new normal for extremes in a warming world', Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0183.1

To see more publications go to google scholar

Awards and Honors
In 2019, Sophie Lewis was recognized as the ACT Scientist of the year. This award celebrates Canberra's local scientists and comes with a $30,000 grant to continue her work. Part of her role is to help to understand the impact of climate change on the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) by preparing for local, national and international efforts as the planet's temperature increases.

In addition, Lewis serves as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). She is one of 721 climate scientists from 90 countries who are producing the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC, which is used to inform policy makers and international climate negotiators.

Public Engagement
As ACT Scientist of the Year, Lewis is a science ambassador for Canberra. Her goal is to help empower and motivate young scientists. In order to do this, she used this award to work with school and college-aged children to create future leaders in climate action. In addition, Lewis is using the prize to establish a youth climate network. She wants young people to have mentorship and access to scientific information.