Matthew Marshall credits his Science studies at UQ, specialising in mathematics, as the perfect path to his career in weather forecasting.
“My degree gave me a mathematical foundation for studying meteorology which has been really invaluable,” he said.
"There are some seriously big partial differential equations in atmospheric dynamics.”
Matt is one of two University of Queensland graduate meteorologists appointed by the Bureau of Meteorology this year.
He is completing the Bureau’s nine month graduate diploma program in meteorology in Melbourne, after which he will be posted to work at an Australian capital city as a forecaster.
“The main responsibilities of a weather forecaster are issuing forecasts for the public (seven day forecasts) and issuing routine forecasts for the aviation industry (these are more short-term and specialised),” he said.
“You also get to talk to the media a lot which is really neat.”
Matt, who completed his Honours program in 2014, chose to study at UQ because it is a highly regarded research university, with a beautiful campus.
“What I found most beneficial about my program was the structure of the staff/student interactions,” he said.
“It was really easy to make friends with older students and lecturers so it was always easy to get help and advice for those willing to learn.
Matt received a Dean’s Commendation for Academic Excellence. One of the highlights of his time at UQ was submitting his Honours thesis. He also loved the Maths Student Society’s social functions.
He already has plans mapped out for the future, and doesn’t need a crystal ball to know that they involve maths and meteorology.
“After I get forecasting experience I'd like to work on numerical weather modelling with the Bureau of Meteorology,” he said.
“I studied a lot of numerical methods in Python, C++ and MATLAB during my degree and really enjoyed it.
“My long term plan: slowly work on creating the world's best burrito recipe.”
Matt said the main advice he could offer to students wanting to study at UQ was:
“If you can help it, don’t skip lectures and tell yourself you’ll catch up on it later.
“It’s always worth getting out of bed to go, even to the early classes,” he said.
