Researcher Summary
I am a climatologist and a geographer working on socio-environmental systems. My research focuses on the interactions between climate and anthropogenic activities and on analysis and modelling of climate at fine scales in the climate change context. I model and integrate spatial climate variability at local scales into climate change scenarios using geostatistical downscaling methods. My research has demonstrated that this original approach allows reduction in the bias of climate models and achievement of a sufficiently fine spatial resolution to implement climate change adaptation strategies at the local scale. By testing scenarios for both local stakeholders and policy makers, my work aims to design smart practices for the agricultural sector, particularly for grape growing and the wine industry, in order to help farmers increase resilience in response to climate change. I have developed and applied this multiscalar modelling approach in agroclimatology and urban climatology in several successful international research projects. My main recent projects have focused on the impact of climate change at the vineyard scale, and I have taken a leadership role in demonstrating the great spatial variability of climate at fine scale within vineyard regions. I have applied new innovative approaches in most of the world's wine-growing. I have also established an International Research Project between France and New Zealand entitled "High-resolution scenarios for adapting agro-systems to climate change". This research, developed initially in relation to climate and viticulture, is now being applied to other agrosystems, particularly in the Pacific Islands with the recently approved Pacific Fund project "Scenarios for climate change adaptation of New Caledonian agrosystems".