Dr Ruth Morgan from Monash University is the recipient of the Academy's 2020 Moran Award for History of Science Research.
She receives the award for her proposal entitled "A History of Australian Climate Science, 1970-2000".
Dr Morgan will examine the role of Australian climatologists and meteorologists in advancing the state of scientific knowledge about the causes and mechanisms of climate change and variability in the Southern Hemisphere over this time period.
Dr Morgan will pursue her pilot study using the holdings of the Australian Academy of Science Basser Library, the National Library of Australia and the National Archives of Australia.
Compared to the Northern Hemisphere, the large ocean mass in the Southern Hemisphere means that few regions south of the equator develop continental climates and instrumental and paleoclimatic data is relatively limited.
Dr Morgan said that Australia's geopolitical position and environmental sensitivity to climatic change encouraged Australian scientists and policymakers to take a leading role in the study of global environmental change.
"I'm delighted to have the opportunity to study Australia's contributions to climate science, which have been vital to understanding climate change in our region and the Southern Hemisphere," Dr Morgan said.
