The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has appointed “world leading” climate scientist Professor Emily Shuckburgh as its new chief scientific adviser.
Shuckburgh, who is the director of Cambridge Zero, the University of Cambridge’s initative to respond to climate change, will join the department on 3 November, succeeding Professor Paul Monks, who has finished his five-year term in the role.
As well as leading Cambridge Zero, Shuckburgh holds a number of other roles at Cambridge University, including professor of environmental data science the Department of Computer Science and Technology, academic director of the Institute of Computing for Climate Science, and co-director of the Centre for Landscape Regeneration.
She has also been leading the United Kingdom Research and Innovation Centre for Doctoral Training on the Application of AI to the Study of Environmental Risks.
A mathematician and climate scientist, Shuckburgh is president-elect of the Royal Meteorological Society, and has fellowships at several organisations, including the Royal Geographical Society and the British Antarctic Survey. She worked for more than a decade at the latter organisation, where her work included leading a UK national research programme on the Southern Ocean and its role in climate.
Shuckburgh has acted as an adviser on climate to the UK government in various capacities, including as a friend of COP26. She also co-authored A Ladybird Book on Climate Change with King Charles III and environmentalist Tony Juniper.
She was awarded a CBE in this year's Birthday Honours for "services to climate science and to the public communication of climate science". Top communication skills was one of the key attributes the department sought during the recruitment process.
DESNZ launched its recruitment campaign for the role in May, offering up to £149,000.
DESNZ permanent secretary Jeremy Pocklington said he is “delighted” at Shuckburgh's appointment, to a role that is “so critical to our work and our mission”.
“She brings incredible experience as a world leading climate scientist, and I know she’ll add considerable value to the work of our department,” he added.
Shuckburgh said it is “a great honour” to join the DESNZ as chief scientific adviser “at a time when scientific evidence is so crucial to informing the UK’s response to the twin challenges of climate change and energy security”.
What does the chief scientific adviser do?
The chief scientific adviser delivers independent and impartial science and engineering advice to ministers and policymakers across DESNZ's policy and delivery portfolio and for its clean energy superpower mission.
They are also responsible for ensuring the department has robust systems in place to access science and engineering expertise, and are departmental head of the government science and engineering profession.