Céline Cattoën-Gilbert
NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research),
New Zealand
Dr. Céline Cattoën-Gilbert is a hydrological forecasting scientist at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and a Principal Investigator at Te Pūnaha Matatini (TPM), a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence for complex systems and networks. She holds a doctoral degree (PhD) in mathematics (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand), an engineering degree (M.Sc.) in applied mathematics (Institut National des Sciences Appliquées, France), and masters’ degree (M.Sc.) from (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand).
Since 2016, she leads NIWA’s Floods and Hazards research, including the development of Aotearoa New Zealand’s first national flood awareness system proof of concept for ungauged catchments. Upon request, she joined the West Coast Flood risk assessment team and provided expert scientific advice during multiple Westport flood events in 2021 and 2022. Her research focuses on hydrometeorological ensemble forecasting systems, flood and inundation modelling, forecast communication and end-user decision-making.
For her flood forecasting research, she was awarded a NIWA Excellence Awards 2023 – Research (winner), 2023, Science New Zealand Awards – Team Award. NIWA Cyclone Response Team 2023, NIWA Excellence Awards – Team Award, (runner-up), a Science New Zealand 2021 Team Award (The Forecasting Team – NIWA), and in 2017, she received a runner-up NIWA Excellence Awards – Early Career.