Astrid Tomczak-Plewka
She competed in her first snowboardcross World Cup race in Saas-Fee at the age of 16. Just 20 years later, she now sits in an office at Stanford University in Northern California, where she has been researching climate and weather hazards since last August. When she made her debut in the World Cup in 2005, the native of Flims was still attending Chur Cantonal School, and when her professional sports career came to an end in 2018, she was in the middle of her master’s degree. These facts alone speak to Simona Meiler’s drive. “I want to push boundaries and follow my curiosity,” she says. “And I am intrinsically motivated.” Her interest in the environment runs in the family; her father ran a sustainable construction business and her mother is a special educational needs teacher.
Environmental awareness was always a priority in the Meiler household. “As far back as the 1990s, when it wasn’t at all fashionable, we were buying vegetables from a local organic farmer,” recalls the 35-year-old. Although she focused on snowboarding early on, she also wanted to nurture her intellectual curiosity. Physics, philosophy, languages – “I could have seen myself studying a range of different subjects,” she says, but she chose environmental system sciences. “The curriculum is designed to bridge the disciplines, and that fascinated me."
Advancing knowledge of tropical cyclone risks
In her doctoral thesis at ETH Zurich, Simona Meiler investigated the risks and impacts of tropical cyclones. The destruction such storms cause is likely to increase in the future. However, predictions about the extent of this destruction remain highly uncertain. To explore this uncertainty, Meiler combined various climate and tropical storm models, scenarios for greenhouse gas emissions, and assumptions about economic development and societal vulnerabilities. Her goal: to define the key factors that will influence future risk. The results show that increasing risk stems from more than just stronger storms. Population growth, expanding development in exposed coastal regions, and insufficient protective measures all contribute.
“An unparalleled understanding of uncertainty”
Risk assessments vary significantly depending on the tropical cyclone model used. Model choice is therefore a major source of uncertainty in the calculations. Understanding these uncertainties – and the factors that influence them – plays a crucial role in informing decisions, such as how to design coastal protection or plan urban development. Simona Meiler’s doctoral supervisor, David N. Bresch, emphasises that her work provides a “globally consistent quantification of future climate risks” and offers “an unparallelled understanding of uncertainties” in the modelling process. In recognition of this work, Simona Meiler has been awarded the Prix Schläfli for Geosciences. “I’m delighted to receive the award. Research is often a solitary process, the rewards don’t come right away.” That is something she knows well from her sporting career. “It was great school of life,” she says. “I’ve learnt to deal with long time horizons.” An Olympic cycle takes four years – about as long as a doctoral thesis.
Cautiously optimistic
With her research, Simona Meiler hopes to contribute to shaping the future. Yet for many young people, the future feels uncertain – even bleak at times. Does she ever struggle with a sense of hopelessness in light of the data? “Sometimes I really don’t know,” she says. She considers herself an optimist. “But I’m also realistic.” Still, she holds on to hope. “People have a remarkable capacity to adapt,” she states, citing the coronavirus pandemic as an example. “We were all suddenly faced with an unimaginable situation. Yet society adapted very quickly and took collective measures we would never have thought possible beforehand.”
Sport still plays an important role in Simona Meiler’s daily life, even if she no longer pursues competitive goals. “I need the physical activity to balance out the mental effort,” she says. These days, she explores the Pacific coast of her temporary home by mountain bike, or heads to CrossFit for a workout. Her snowboard, however, sees little use – the winter sports areas are too far away and too expensive. Her postdoc at Stanford runs through August 2026. After that, she hopes to return to Switzerland.“ To see if there’s a place for me in research back home.”
