Professional Development Policy Workshop for researchers in the natural sciences

A one-day workshop offering early-career researchers an insight into how evidence and expertise in the natural sciences informs decisions in government.

9 March 2017, Wolfson College, Cambridge

This workshop, organised for the NERC Doctoral Training Partnership at Cambridge, consists of a series of panel discussions and worked examples covering topics such as earthquakes, volcanic hazards, climate, ecology, conservation and biodiversity.

Speakers from academia and government will discuss their own experiences of gathering and presenting expert advice and evidence for policy, and give an overview of how the process works and the types of policy issues which require evidence.

Attendees will work in groups to come up with recommendations on Arctic Ice Management which will be reported back to a panel of 'decision-makers'.

Confirmed speakers and chairs

• Professor Graeme Reid, Professor of Science and Research Policy, University College London
• Dr Rob Doubleday, CSaP Executive Director
• Professor William Sutherland, Miriam Rothschild Professor in Conservation Biology, Dept of Zoology, University of Cambridge
• Dr Emily Shuckburgh, Head of the Open Oceans Research Group, British Antarctic Survey
• Dr Emily So, Director, Cambridge University Centre for Risk in the Built Environment
• Professor Charles Kennel, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD
• Dr Miles Parker, former Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser, Defra
• Dr Emma Hennessey, Head of Science and Innovation Team and Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser, Foreign & Commonwealth Office
• Jane Rumble, Head of Polar Regions Department, Foreign & Commonwealth Office

Attendees at the workshop will receive an invitation to attend an evening seminar with Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Distinguished Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who will give a talk on Climate Change - Morphing into an Existential Threat.