Harriet Dudley

In July 2019 I graduated from UEA with a first-class BSc (Hons) in Environmental Geography and Climate Change with a Year in Industry. As part of my undergraduate degree I completed a 12-month internship in Network Rail's Environment and Sustainable Development team, where I collaborated to design and deliver environmental risk mitigation strategies that involved collecting, visualising and communicating national data using focus groups and GIS. I was awarded the Robin Bolton Memorial Prize for 'the best undergraduate dissertation on climate change'. My dissertation was supervised by Professor Andrew Lovett. I designed a GIS-based climate impact model analysing baseline causes of observed English sugar beet land-use patterns and projected future land-use suitability under climate change. I collaborated with the British Beet Research Organisation to assess the implications of projected climate impacts on national infrastructure, crop yields, and individual grower behaviour. 

In August 2020 I completed a Masters by Research (MRes) in Social Science Research Methods and graduated with a Distinction. In my Master’s dissertation I used mixed-methods, specifically longitudinal quantitative text analysis using RStudio and content analysis using NVivo, to analyse trends in the climate change policy recommendations put to UK Government between 2009 and 2020. I was awarded the MRes in Social Science Research Methods Prize for Achievement for being 'one of the top three performing students on the degree'.

I am now working to complete a PhD on UK climate change governance funded by the ESRC and supervised by Professors Andy Jordan and Irene Lorenzoni. My research is focussed on assessing the impact of the recommendations from the UK Climate Change Committee on UK climate policy. My PhD research will also examine the multiple roles of the CCC in monitoring, reporting, evaluating and advising on UK progress towards national and international climate change targets.    

In 2022 I completed a Research Fellowship at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. I wrote a policy briefing on palliative and end of life care for MPs and Peers.

I am interested in climate change governance, politics and policy making, particularly how best to communicate climate science to governments and policy makers for effective mitigation and adaptation action.