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Faculty Profile

Highlights
These highlights are AI-generated using the faculty's CV and Google Scholar profile
15
H-Index (All Time)
758
Citations (All Time)
Fiona Williamson is an internationally recognized environmental historian whose pioneering research on climate, weather, and society in colonial and modern Asia has shaped interdisciplinary approaches to environmental history and climate science.

Combines rigorous archival scholarship with interdisciplinary climate science, advancing understanding of climate-society interactions in Asia; recognized for leadership in international research collaborations, data recovery initiatives, and public engagement; her work informs both academic debates and policy on climate resilience, disaster risk, and environmental governance.

Focused research areas include Williamson’s research explores the intersections of climate, weather, and society, with a focus on the history of meteorology, climate extremes, disaster governance, and environmental change in colonial and modern Southeast Asia; she also investigates the role of scientific knowledge, technology, and policy in shaping human-environment interactions.
Areas of Expertise
HistoryClimateHistory of scienceUrban historyExtreme weather

Fiona Williamson joined SMU in 2018. She is an environmental historian with a particular interest in the history of the climate, meteorology and extreme weather in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Qualifications

  • PhD, University of East Anglia, 2009
  • MA (Higher Education), University of East Anglia, 2011
  • MA (History), University of East Anglia, 2003

Research Interests

  • Environmental History of Singapore, British Malaya, and Hong Kong
  • History of the Climate, Climate Change and Extreme Weather
  • Climate and Its Impact on Colonial Cities, Especially How the Weather Shaped Culture and Society
  • Inter-disciplinary Projects with Scientists and Geographers on the Urban Heat Island (UHI) Effect, the Recovery of Historical Observational Weather Data for Climate Modelling, and the History of Nature-induced Disasters in Asia

Course(s) Taught in SMU

  • Science, Environment & Empire
  • Climate, History & Society