The Cambridge Zero Policy Forum is a multidisciplinary community of senior academics contributing evidence and expertise to public policies for the transition to a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient net zero society.

The Forum is Co-Chaired by Prof Emily Shuckburgh (Director, Cambridge Zero), Dr Rob Doubleday (Executive Director, CSaP), and Emily Farnworth (Director, Centre for Climate Engagement, Hughes Hall). The secretariat to the Policy Forum is provided by CSaP.


Policy Forum - people


Forum members are a multidisciplinary community of senior academics contributing evidence and expertise to public policies for the transition to a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient net zero society.


Professor Emily Shuckburgh is Director of the Cambridge Zero initiative and Professor of Environmental Data Science at the Department of Computer Science and Technology. She is a mathematician and climate scientist and a Fellow of Darwin College, a Fellow of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, an Associate Fellow of the Centre for Science and Policy and a Fellow of the British Antarctic Survey. She leads the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training on the Application of AI to the study of Environmental Risks (AI4ER).


Dr Rob Doubleday has been Executive Director of CSaP since September 2012. His research interests include the role of science, evidence and expertise in contemporary societies, in particular the relationship between scientific advice, public policy and democracy. His research develops collaborative methods of working with scientists and engineers on the public policy dimensions of their research.


Emily Farnworth is the Director of the Centre for Climate Engagement at Hughes Hall. Emily has over 25 years of experience working with businesses, government and non-profit organisations to support the transition to a low-carbon economy. Emily was the Head of Climate Initiatives at the World Economic Forum where she was involved in setting up the Climate Governance Initiative, the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders and the Mission Possible Platform.


Harriet Hunnable is Strategy Adviser at the Cambridge Zero Policy Forum. Harriet’s background is in wholesale financial markets and prior to working with Cambridge Zero she worked on financial benchmark reform with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, Bank of England, European Securities and Markets Authority and The Financial Stability Board.


Lauren Milden is a Policy Adviser at the Centre for Science and Policy and at Cambridge Zero. Lauren previously spent three years as the Policy Coordinator at the Cambridge Institute of Public Health.


Carmen Smith is Engagement Coordinator at the Centre for Science and Policy and at Cambridge Zero. Carmen has worked at the University of Cambridge since 2018 and has a PhD in sustainability from the University of Bath.


Cambridge Zero Darwin College David MacKay Research Associates 2023

The Cambridge Zero Policy Forum and Darwin College appoint up to three David MacKay Research Associates each year. These one-year posts are open to postdoctoral researchers from the University of Cambridge working on a topic related to Cambridge Zero’s research agenda. As part of their role, the 2023/2024 cohort will run a public event and work together to deliver a project or event with Meg Groom (Projct Manager - Sustainablity) at Darwin College.

Hear from the current cohort of Cambridge Zero Darwin College David MacKay Research Associates

Dr Catherine Waite is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Zoology. She is a quantitative ecologist with an interest in integrating remote sensing and field-based data collection techniques to examine ecosystem functioning. Her current research focuses on land-use scenario modelling to identify management regimes and interventions to meet human and biodiversity needs. She also has an interest in tropical forest functioning, in particular the role that lianas play in tropical forest recovery pathways and carbon storage. She is working on developing dynamic global vegetation models to include liana data in order to investigate global carbon storage and forest recovery from climate and anthropogenic disturbance.

Dr Jinying Xu has been a Marie Skłodowska–Curie Fellow in the Department of Engineering since October 2022. Her research interests include data science for construction sustainability, smart construction and facility management, construction digital transformation, human-organisation-technology fit, and human-machine augmentation in engineering. Her research project is entitled “Data science and digital technologies for intelligent carbon management in the whole life of highway assets”. The project aims to develop a standardised model for the digitalisation and automation of carbon data measurement and reporting to collect trustworthy data that facilitates informed carbon management decision-making in highway assets. This project is a part of the Future Roads Fellowship Programme. Dr Xu works closely with industry collaborators including National Highways, Costain and SAP.

David MacKay Research Associates alumni

Angie Burnett

Luke Kemp

James Smith

Alexander Bradley

Si Chen

Monika Kreitmair

How to get involved


Please email lauren.milden@csap.cam.ac.uk to learn more about the Cambridge Zero Policy Forum and to get involved. We welcome nominations and self-nominations to become members from senior academics across the University of Cambridge working in a relevant discipline.