An anthropologist by training, I have spent over a decade and a half researching attitudes and behaviours towards sustainability. I began my research career at specialist agency Brook Lyndhurst in 2009, then joined the Energy and Environment team at Ipsos UK in 2013. In 2021 I moved to the Environment and Society Centre at renowned international affairs think tank, Chatham House.
My research on the role the public can play in climate action cuts across academic, think-tank, industry and government contexts, including studies for the UK government, devolved administrations, and the European Commission. Novel studies include those on the potential for global food waste reduction through behaviour change (Oxfam, 2012); public attitudes to meat and dairy consumption (Chatham House, 2014), and attitudes towards the global commons and planetary stewardship (Global Commons Alliance, 2021).
At Brook Lyndhurst and Ipsos, I led and contributed to evaluations of public policy interventions, from the grass-roots initiatives of the Scottish Climate Challenge Fund (Scottish Government, 2011) and Big Green Challenge (Nesta, 2010); to local government schemes such as the Reward and Recognition fund (Defra, 2016); to the top-down Warm Front (UK government, 2014) and an early assessment of the roll-out of smart metering across the UK (HM Government, 2015). This built my understanding of the challenges and opportunities of public policy interventions of different shapes and scales.
At Chatham House, I focused on climate risk and diplomacy, furthering my understanding of the international challenges of climate action. I led the development and delivery of recommendations for the Horizon 2020 CASCADES EU project (CASCADES 2023), coordinating across the 12-member consortium of think-tanks and academic institutions to short-list, define, develop and test policy recommendations with policy, industry and civil society stakeholders.
In the lead-up to Azerbaijan’s presidency of the UNFCCC COP29, I led a report on the country’s domestic and foreign policy climate change-related issues, coordinating academic, think-tank and journalistic contributions. The resulting publication, Azerbaijan’s climate leadership challenge – what’s at stake at COP29 and beyond (Chatham House, 2024) and subsequent track two and three diplomacy, have informed the Azerbaijani and Brazilian COP presidencies, civil society and diplomatic support and push-back.
My publications include official government reports and evaluations (usually uncredited); international public opinion research (including Ipsos’s Earth Day publications, and the Perils of Perception on sustainability); and opinion pieces and explainers online and in the media. A clear and engaging speaker, I have chaired and participated in panels at the COPs, London and New York Climate Weeks, and been a keynote speaker at the BISA climate negotiations simulation. My analysis and commentary has appeared in news outlets including CNN, the BBC, Sky News, the Guardian, the Financial Times, and many others. At Chatham House I hosted the Climate Briefing podcast, interviewing guests including COP30 CEO Ana Toni and former US Climate Envoy Todd Stern. I have appeared on Chatham House’s Independent Thinking, Ipsos’s Politics and Society, and the Wicked Problems podcasts.
As an affiliate of the Tyndall Centre and Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformation, I will be focusing on politically feasible pathways to public climate empowerment. I will look at the specific political barriers which hinder governments from fulfilling their commitments under Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to “Promote and facilitate …Public participation in addressing climate change and its effects and developing adequate responses.”
The political barriers to public climate action are of importance and interest to many across academia and society, so collaboration will be a vital part of my approach. If this work is of interest to you, please do get in touch.
