Professor Emily Shuckburgh has been appointed as the new Chief
Scientific Adviser (CSA) at the Department for
Energy Security and Net Zero.
Professor Shuckburgh, who is currently the Director of Cambridge
Zero, the University of Cambridge's major climate change
initiative, and Professor of Environmental Data Science at
the Department of Computer Science and Technology, will join the
department from 3 November 2025. She will succeed Professor Paul
Monks, who has concluded his 5-year term in the role.
Professor Shuckburgh was awarded an OBE in 2016 and a
CBE in
2025. Her professional fellowships include FRMetS,
HonFEI,
FRGS,
FRSA. In
addition to her academic awards, she co-authored A Ladybird Book
on Climate Change with HM King Charles III and Tony Juniper.
, Permanent Secretary,
said:
The role of the CSA
is so critical to our work and our mission, therefore I'm
delighted that Professor Shuckburgh is joining the Department.
She brings incredible experience as a world leading climate
scientist, and I know she'll add considerable value to the work
of our Department.
Professor Shuckburgh said:
It's a great honour to join the Department for Energy Security
and Net Zero 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.
The CSA delivers
independent and impartial science and engineering advice to
ministers and policymakers across the DESNZ policy
and delivery portfolio and Clean Energy Superpower Mission.
The CSA is also responsible
for ensuring the department has robust systems in place to access
science and engineering expertise, including as departmental Head
of the Government Science and Engineering Profession.
Professor Emily Shuckburgh Biography
- Professor Emily Shuckburgh is a mathematician and climate
scientist, a Fellow of Darwin College and alumna of Trinity
College, Cambridge. She is President-elect of the Royal
Meteorological Society, a Fellow of the Cambridge Institute for
Sustainability Leadership, a Fellow of the British Antarctic
Survey, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and an
Honorary Fellow of the Energy Institute.
- At the University of Cambridge she is Academic Director of
the Institute of Computing for Climate Science, and co-Director
of the Centre for Landscape Regeneration and of the UKRI Centre
for Doctoral Training on the Application of AI to the study of
Environmental Risks (AI4ER).
- Professor Shuckburgh worked for more than a decade at the
British Antarctic Survey where her work included leading a UK
national research programme on the Southern Ocean and its role in
climate. Prior to that she undertook research at École Normale
Supérieure in Paris and at MIT. She has
also acted as an adviser on climate to the UK Government in
various capacities, including as a Friend of COP26.
Notes to editors
- The CSA
delivers independent and impartial science and engineering advice
to ministers and policymakers across the DESNZ policy
and delivery portfolio and Clean Energy Superpower Mission. The
CSA is also
responsible for ensuring the department has robust systems in
place to access science and engineering expertise, including as
departmental Head of the Government Science and Engineering
Profession.
