ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app

April 8, 2025

Noel Cressie awarded 2025 Hannan Medal

Distinguished Professor of Statistics lauded for contributions to environmental science, climate research, and planetary protection

The University of ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app (ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app) congratulates Distinguished Professor on being awarded the prestigious 2025 Hannan Medal by the .

The Hannan Medal is a career award that recognises outstanding research in statistical science, pure mathematics, applied mathematics and computational mathematics, awarded in rotation across these fields every two years. The medal honours the legacy of the late Professor E.J. Hannan, a pioneering figure in time series analysis.

The award recognises Professor Cressie’s exceptional contributions to spatial statistics and his extensive interdisciplinary collaborations that have advanced environmental science, climate research, and planetary protection.

“It's a great honour to be given the Hannan Medal. It's only given once every six years to statisticians, and I think it is recognition that I have a role to play to make this world a better place,” Professor Cressie said in a .

“I am passionate about our planet. I believe we have a responsibility – personally and collectively – and we are not collectively taking up that responsibility.”

A Distinguished Professor of Statistics in ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app’s School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics, and Director of the Centre for Environmental Informatics within the National Institute for Applied Statistics Research Australia, Professor Cressie's research focuses on developing statistical methodologies to address environmental challenges facing our planet.

His expertise in spatial statistics has led to collaborations with researchers worldwide on diverse projects, including Antarctic research with Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future, soil carbon cycling with CSIRO, and collaborations with NASA.

“My science … is the science of uncertainty or imperfection, and there is a lot of imperfection in the world. It is somewhat curious that my concentration is to take the things that are uncertain and try to make sense of them – to turn them into a way of being more certain about the things we do know in science,” Professor Cressie said.

His collaborations with NASA include contributing to the development of risk assessment protocols for samples that will come back from Mars around 2040.

Additionally, his work with NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 satellite has been crucial in measuring and mapping carbon dioxide (CO₂) fluxes in the atmosphere.

His team at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app developed a sophisticated statistical framework known as WOMBAT – ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½app Methodology for Bayesian Assimilation of Trace-gases. “Our work has been critical in understanding flux, the sources and sinks of CO₂ on a global scale,” Professor Cressie said.

“If you measure, monitor, and map, then you have a chance to mitigate.”