Dr Esther Qinggaozi Zhu is a Research Officer with the Climate Branch in NSW Department of Primary Industries. Esther has a background in research on post-fire erosion and bushfire recovery under climate change. Her current work involves Climate Change Research Strategy Vulnerability Assessment project – Drought Node, Climate Smart-Pilot. Esther is responsible for the potential evapotranspiration and soil water balance modelling for drought monitoring in NSW to better understand future drought at farm level. Esther’s research interests include extreme weather, drought monitoring, digital agriculture, post-fire erosion and climate change.