Associate Professor Savin Chand
Associate Professor, Applied Mathematics and Statistics
Campus
Biography
Dr Savin Chand is an associate professor of applied mathematics and statistics in the Institute of Innovation, Science and Sustainability at Federation University Australia. His research focuses on severe weather events and climate extremes, with particular expertise in tropical cyclones, their variability, and their response to climate change. He is internationally recognised for advancing understanding of cyclone behaviour, including changes in intensity, size, track patterns, and associated coastal risks under a warming climate.
Savin’s work integrates statistical modelling, climate data analysis, and observational datasets to improve risk assessment and evidence-based decision-making. His research supports government agencies, industry stakeholders, and communities in strengthening preparedness and resilience to high-impact weather. He has led and contributed to nationally and internationally significant projects, collaborating with meteorological agencies and research institutions across the Asia–Pacific region.
He has received multiple awards for research excellence, including the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence in 2017 and 2022. Prior to joining Federation University Australia, Savin was a Research Scientist at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, where he worked on major research initiatives focused on climate extremes and their societal impacts.
Fields of research
- Adverse weather events
- Climate change processes
- Statistical data science
Available for
HDR Supervision
Professional Comment
HDR Examiner
More about Savin
Qualifications
- PhD, University of Melbourne (Australia)
- Graduate Certificate Tertiary Teaching, University of the South Pacific (Fiji)
- Master of Science, University of the South Pacific (Fiji)
- Bachelor of Science (Mathematics and Physics), University of the South Pacific (Fiji)
Areas of interest
- Modelling impacts of weather and climate extremes on agriculture and human health
- Indigenous knowledge for environmental prediction applications
Areas of expertise
Tropical cyclones and rainfall:
- Dynamics of tropical cyclone formation and intensification
- Impact of natural climate variability and climate change on tropical cyclones
- Risk assessment modelling associated with tropical cyclones associated hazards
Modelling Australian bushfire conditions:
- Seasonal prediction models
- Evaluation of uncertainties in existing methods
Grants
- Chand 2024–2026. ‘Assessment of tropical cyclones and associated rainfall over Australia and the Asia-Pacific regions.’ Gallagher Reinsurance ($200,000)
- Chand 2024–2026. ‘Climate Hazard Assessment and associated Impacts and Vulnerability/Risk’. CSIRO ($100,000)
- Chand 2022–2024. ‘Regional climate change guidance for local action extension.’ National Environmental Science Program ($214,198)
- ’Chand 2022–2023. ‘Climate Information Services for Resilient Development in Vanuatu’. CSIRO ($175,000)
- Chand 2022. ‘Regional knowledge for local action: Modelling Projections of Climate Extremes in Australia.’ National Environmental Science Program ($53,540)
- Chand 2019–2022. ‘Next Generation Climate Projection for the Pacific’. CSIRO ($100,000)
- Chand 2022. ‘Climate Innovation Hub: Historical Fire Weather Dataset for Australia.’ CSIRO ($16,000)
- Chand 2019–2020. ‘Extreme Weather Hazard in Changing Climate’. National Environmental Science Program ($120,000)
- Chand 2016–2019. ‘Extreme Weather Projection’. National Environmental Science Program ($183,211)
Awards
- 2024: Excellence in Cross Disciplinary Collaboration on Learning, Teaching and Engagement, Institute of Innovation, Science and Sustainability, Federation University Australia.
- 2022: Vice Chancellor's Award for Research Excellence, Federation University's annual award given in recognition for outstanding achievements in research.
- 2017: Vice Chancellor's Award for Research Excellence, Federation University's annual award given in recognition for outstanding achievements in research.
- 2011: Uwe Radok Award, The Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS) award for the best PhD thesis in Australia in the field of Meteorology, Oceanography and Climatology.
- 2010: Research Excellence Award, The University of Melbourne's Faculty of Science Award, formally known as John and Allan Gilmore Award, given in recognition of outstanding achievement in scientific research.
Current
- PhD student, ‘Australian tropical cyclone characteristics’, principal supervisor.
- PhD student, ‘A Mixture-of-Encoders Framework for Interpretable Representation Learning’, associate supervisor.
- PhD student, ‘Drought and multidecadal variability in the context of a drier climate in south-eastern Australia since Little Ice Age’, associate supervisor.
Past
- PhD student, ‘Tropical Cyclone Tracks in CMIP5 models: Statistical Assessment and Future Projections’, principal supervisor.
- PhD student, ‘Predictability of the Australian Bushfire conditions’, principal supervisor.
- PhD student, ‘Tropical cyclone impact analysis, vulnerability and risk assessment for the Australian and Southwest Pacific regions’, principal supervisor.
- PhD student, ‘Risk impact modelling of landfalling tropical cyclones in the Pacific island countries’, principal supervisor.
- Statistics
- Mathematics
- Data science
Specialist roles
- Theme leader, Net Zero Initiative, Centre for New Energy Transition Research
- Industry & Government Engagement: Active collaborations with national and international partners (e.g., meteorological agencies, research organisations, and industry stakeholders), supporting co-designed research aligned with real-world risk, resilience, and climate adaptation needs.
- Interdisciplinary Research Integration: cross-disciplinary initiatives linking climate science with risk assessment, engineering applications, and decision-support systems, particularly in areas such as tropical cyclones, bushfires and compound hazards.
- Translation to Decision Support & Policy Contexts: Contributions to national risk assessments and climate services frameworks, with a focus on producing actionable climate intelligence for emergency management, infrastructure planning, and community resilience.
- Community & Stakeholder Co-Design: Leading development of community-centred climate intelligence platforms, engaging local governments, emergency services, and community groups to co-produce usable climate risk information.
- Supervision, Mentoring & Capacity Building: Training of postdoctoral researchers and HDR students, including supervision of PhDs and mentoring of early-career researchers in advanced climate science, modelling, and interdisciplinary applications.
- International Scientific Leadership: Active roles in international scientific coordination (e.g., WMO-linked activities), including rapporteur responsibilities, workshop coordination, and synthesis of global research efforts.
- Emerging Research & Innovation Initiatives: Development of new research directions, including AI-enabled hazard prediction, event attribution methods, and exploration of novel sensing technologies (e.g., satellite-based and neuromorphic approaches).
Centre for New Energy Transition Research (CfNETR)
Future Regions Research Centre (FRRC)
Centre for Smart Analytics (CSA)
- Publications
Climate impacts of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation on Australia
- Journals
- DOI reference: 10.1038/s43017-025-00747-x
Assessment of tropical cyclones in the Bureau of Meteorology's atmospheric high-resolution regional reanalysis for Australia
- Journals
- DOI reference: 10.1071/ES25053
Recent Increasing Trend in October-November Caribbean Tropical Cyclone Activity
- Journals
- DOI reference: 10.1029/2025GL120183