Dr Clare Stephens
Lecturer
PhD in Civil/Environmental Engineering
University of New South Wales (with research exchange at Columbia University NY), 2020
Chartered Professional Engineer and Member, Institute of Engineers Australia
Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental) (Hons I)
University of Queensland (with exchange at Technische Universität Berlin, Germany), 2011
Science
School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences
I am an ecohydrologist focussed on understanding plant-water interactions under variable and changing climatic conditions. My research has covered the development and application of hydrologic, ecohydrologic, and dynamic vegetation models, as well as environmental data analysis with a focus on drought impact. My PhD at 91É«ÇéƬ investigated the robustness of hydrologic models under climate change in the face of changing landscape processes, and I later joined the DAVE team (Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment) working to develop a vegetation demography model tailored to Australian ecosystems. I joined BEES in 2026.
E-mail
Location
G14C Samuels Building
91É«ÇéƬ Kensington Campus
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
- 2025 MSSANZ Early Career Research Excellence Prize
- 2023 Water Resources Research Editor’s Choice Award
- 2021/22 Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholarship
- 2020 Shortlisted for the Allianz Climate Risk Research Award
- 2019 Engineering Faculty Postdoctoral Writing Fellowship, 91É«ÇéƬ
- 2019 National Council of Women NSW Australia Day Award
- 2018 Best Presentation by a Young Professional, Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium
- 2017 Engineers Without Borders NSW Region Mentorship award
- 2016/17 OzEWEX Summer Institute Scholarship
- 2016 Westpac Future Leaders Scholarship
- 2015 Young Environmental Engineer of the Year (Engineers Australia)
Publications:
- Stephens, C., Medlyn, B., Williams, L., Knauer, J., Inbar, A., Pendall, E., Arndt, S. K., Beringer, J., Ewenz, C. M., Hinko-Najera, N., Hutley, L. B., Isaac, P., Liddell, M., Meyer, W., Moore, C. E., Cranko Page, J., Silberstein, R., & Woodgate, W. (2025). The Response and Recovery of Carbon and Water Fluxes in Australian Ecosystems Exposed to Severe Drought. Global Change Biology, 31(7), e70361.
- Wasko, C., Stephens, C. M., Peterson T. J., Nathan, R., Pepler, A., Hettiarachchi, S., Vogel, E., Johnson, F. M., Westra, S. (in press). Understanding the implications of climate change for Australia’s water resources: Challenges and future directions. Journal of Hydrology, NA, 132221. doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.132221
- Johnson, F. M., Stephens, C., Krogh, M. (2024). Considerations in designing climate change assessments for complex, non-linear hydrological systems. Journal of Hydrology, 645, 132182. doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.132182
- Zou, H., Marshall, L. M., Sharma, A., Jian, J., Stephens, C. M., & Higgins, P. (2024). Modelling vegetation dynamics for future climates in Australian catchments: Comparison of a conceptual eco-hydrological modelling approach with a deep learning alternative. Environmental Modelling & Software, 181, 106179. doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2024.106179
- Stephens, C. M., and Ngaria, A. (2024), , The Water, Energy, and Food Security Nexus in Asia and the Pacific: The Pacific, 109-128, Springer International Publishing
- [Editor’s Choice Award] Stephens, C. M., Band, L. E., Johnson, F. M., Marshall, L. A., Medlyn, B. E., De Kauwe, M. G., & Ukkola, A. M. (2023). Changes in Blue/Green Water Partitioning Under Severe Drought. Water Resources Research, 59(11), e2022WR033449. doi.org/10.1029/2022WR033449
- Stephens, C. M., Ho, M., Schmeidl, S., Pham, H. T., Dansie, A. P., Leslie, G. L., & Marshall, L. A. (2023). International capacity building to achieve SDG6: insights from longitudinal analysis of five water operator partnerships. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 39(4), 557-575. doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2022.2109604
- Stephens, C. M., Pham, H. T., Marshall, L. A., & Johnson, F. M. (2022). Which Rainfall Errors Can Hydrologic Models Handle? Implications for Using Satellite-Derived Products in Sparsely Gauged Catchments. Water Resources Research, 58(8), e2020WR029331. doi.org/10.1029/2020WR029331
- Stephens, C. M., Marshall, L. A., Johnson, F. M., Ajami, H., Lin, L., & Band, L. E. (2022). Spatial Variation in Catchment Response to Climate Change Depends on Lateral Moisture Transport and Nutrient Dynamics. Water Resources Research, 58(10), e2021WR030577. doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030577
- Fowler, K., Peel M., Saft M., Peterson, T. J., Western, A., Band, L. E., Petheram, C., Dharmadi, S., Tan, K. S., Zhang, L., Lane, P., Kiem, A., Marshall, L., Griebel, A., Medlyn, B. E., Ryu, D., Bonotto, G., Wasko, C., Ukkola, A., Stephens, C.M., Frost, A., Weligamage, H. G., Saco, P., Zheng, H., Chiew, F., Daly, E., Walker, G., Vervoort, R. W., Hughes, J., Trotter, L., Neal, B., Cartwright, I., & Nathan, R. (2022). Explaining Changes in Rainfall–Runoff Relationships during and after Australia’s Millennium Drought: A Community Perspective, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 26(23):6073–6120. doi.org/
- Stephens, C. M., Lall, U., Johnson, F. M. & Marshall, L. A. (2021). Landscape changes and their hydrologic effects: Interactions and feedbacks across scales, Earth-Science Reviews, 212, 103466, doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103466
- Johnson, F. M., Higgins, P., & Stephens, C. M. (2021). Climate change and hydrological risk in the Pacific: a Humanitarian Engineering perspective, Journal of Water and Climate Change, 12 (3): 647–678. doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2021.277
- Stephens, C. M., Marshall, L. A., Johnson, F. M., Lin, L., Band, L. & Ajami, H. (2020). Is Past Variability a Suitable Proxy for Future Change? A Virtual Catchment Experiment, Water Resources Research, 56(2), 10.1029/2019WR026275
- Stephens, C. M., Marshall, L. A. & Johnson, F. M. (2019), Investigating strategies to improve hydrologic model performance in a changing climate, Journal of Hydrology, 579, 124219, doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.124219
- Stephens, C. M., McVicar, T., Johnson, F. M. & Marshall, L. A. (2018), Revisiting Pan Evaporation Trends in Australia a Decade on, Geophysical Research Letters, 45(20), 10.1029/2018GL079332
- Stephens, C. M., Johnson, F. M. & Marshall, L. A. (2018), Implications of future climate change for event-based hydrologic models, Advances in Water Resources, 119, 95-110, doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2018.07.004