Vanda Grubišic: a female pioneer in meteorology

Vanda Grubišic is a female pioneer. She is the first woman Full Professor of the Department of Meteorology and Geophysics at the University of Vienna: "That is a great honour and a great responsibility", she says. Grubišic's new position, which she has had since February 2009,  is a remarkable achievement for the female academic community, but it also points out how small the number of women scientists who climb the ladder still is. As far as the geosciences are concerned, "one of the reasons for this shortage of women is that the geosciences involve a large amount of fieldwork", Grubišic notes. "And as everyone who has done fieldwork knows well: it is hard to juggle fieldwork and family obligations, - doubly so for women scientists."

Meteorology at the University of Vienna
Being a female pioneer in the geosciences is not the only reason why Vanda Grubišic sees her new position as an exciting opportunity. She treasures the fact that the University of Vienna has a strong tradition in meteorology. "Ever since 1851, when the Department of Meteorology and Geophysics was established together with the "Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik" (ZAMG), Vienna has been an exciting place for meteorological research", she says. It was Vienna where the foundations of dynamic meteorology were laid. In the 1920s, the Austrian meteorologists Felix Exner and Max Margules made key contributions to the field of numerical weather predictions. To Grubišic, it is "an honour to hold the same chair that Felix Exner once held", and she wants to carry on the strong tradition at the department: it is her vision to a strong graduate programme that combines research and teaching.

Meteorology: a science with a social impact
Meteorology is a scientific discipline that does not happen in the laboratory. This is exactly one of the reasons why Vanda Grubišic finds it so fascinating: "Meteorology is such a visual field, and the one in which I do not need a microscope or a telescope to see the things I study", she says. "It also has a great social impact: What we do greatly affects and benefits society." Continuously, a large community of scientists works on improving the quality of forecasts while dealing with something that is inherently chaotic and not very predictable. However, forecasts are getting better. "The skill of a five-day forecast today is the same as the skill of a three-day forecast in the early 1990s", Grubišic says.

"I never stay too far away from mountains"
By becoming the first woman Full Professor of meteorology at the University of Vienna, Grubišic has 'moved mountains', as the saying goes. Mountains are also her speciality in her research: she focuses on mountainous areas, because the mountains are the one place where forecasts still show large errors. "The problem is particularly relevant for Alpine countries like Austria and other locations where I have lived in the last twenty years – the Colorado Rockies and the Sierra Nevada in the U.S. So you see, I never stay too far away from mountains."

Contact information:
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Vanda Grubišic
Department of Meteorology and Geophysics
1090 Vienna, Althanstrasse 14
T +43-1-4277-537 10
vanda.grubisic(at)univie.ac.at

Press contact:
Mag. Veronika Schallhart
Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Universität Wien
1010 Wien, Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Ring 1
T +43-1-4277-175 30
M +43-664-602 77-175 30
veronika.schallhart(at)univie.ac.at