The full bottle on climate change

Tasmania enjoys a growing reputation as a producer of stellar sparkling wine, a worthy rival to the famed Champagne region of France. But research by Dr Tom Remenyi, one of the University’s climate research fellow in Geography and Spatial Sciences, points to dramatic long-term changes in the state’s climate – changes that may present challenges to cool-climate viticulture.

On Tasmania’s white-sand east coast, for example, Remenyi’s 2019 study, Australia’s Wine Future: A Climate Atlas, predicts increasing rainfall, a higher number of extreme heat days, and fewer nights of extreme cold. A more pleasant climate, but not one conducive to the growing of the same grape varieties in the same locations. “Adaptation,” he says, “will be required”. In fact, his predictions for Australia’s classic shiraz and cabernet-growing regions of the Barossa, which gets hotter and drier under the team's modelling, spell long-term trouble for the wine industry.

The result of a three-year cross-disciplinary research program, led by the University with contributions from CSIRO and support from the wine industry, the Atlas is an example of top-tier science with meaningful impact for the Australian economy and, to some extent, Australia’s identity as a wine-producing nation.

“As well as being of great importance to wine lovers everywhere, the atlas has been well received by the wine industry, the funding body Wine Australia, and other Research Development Corporations across the country,” Remenyi says. “It is currently being used to underpin advice to the wine industry and guide large, long-term strategic investments and marketing efforts. Within the wine industry globally, the Atlas has been recognised as a new standard of climate data visualisation that others should aspire to. Representatives within the global wine community lament they do not have a similar product for their region.”

Tom grew up on the Victorian Surf Coast with a passion for science and surfing. Upon leaving school he enrolled in a double degree in Science and Commerce at Deakin University’s Warrnambool campus – mainly so he could keep surfing. He majored in analytical chemistry, economics and management; an unusual combination at the time, and one that flagged his interest in impactful science. “I felt there were so many scientists in the media who had little interest in how commerce worked,” he recalls. “I thought if I could understand commerce, I could make science look more appealing and exciting to the public by understanding economics and management.”

In 2004 he moved to Tasmania, immersed himself in Antarctic studies – including seven research trips to the continent – while working as a marine chemical laboratory technician.

In 2013 he completed a Doctor of Philosophy, in Biogeochemical Oceanography at the University of Tasmania. He also completed a Graduate Diploma of Quantitative Marine Science Data Analysis Methods – skills that have proved invaluable.

“It was during my PhD that I investigated how trace element biogeochemisty was contributing to climate change. A fairly niche topic, but I was able to identify a big demand – and a surprising gap – for experts able to translate climate science into usable tools for government and industry.”

Over the past eight years he has helped to build a “successful, vibrant, and nationally recognised research team”, known as the University of Tasmania’s Climate Futures Group, led by experienced researcher and the group’s Director, the late Dr Rebecca Harris and, later, Professor Nathan Bindoff.

For the past 5 years, Remenyi has also led the Federated Climate Data Initiative (FCDI). “This is a major piece of national research infrastructure that I am very proud to have conceptualised and guided through to reality,” he says. “Over the next few years, it will assist in the acceleration of climate science outputs from the Australia climate science sector. The result will be better and informed decisions that fully consider the impact of climate change on society and thus build a more resilient Australia.”

Public engagement – with industry, government, and community – has been a consistent driver of Remenyi’s work and practice. He’s a scientist who works from the ground up. “I’ve presented to boards and executive leadership teams across the country,” he says. “Politicians, executive leaders and members of the public who were climate deniers before I’ve spoken with them, have changed their minds.”

“I’m excited about the recent interest society has in climate science and how we can help transform and deliver this knowledge in ways that build a more resilient and more sustainable world.”

Tom Remenyi was part of the nationally recognised research team until early 2023.