Professor Gideon Henderson
Professor Gideon Henderson is a Senior Research Fellow in Earth Sciences at Univ. For the last ten months Gideon has been the Chief Scientific Advisor at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), tasked with offering advice on the environmental consequences of the Coronavirus pandemic, the continuation of food supply, and planning for a green recovery.

The panel speakers were:

Dr Arunabha Ghosh
Dr Arunabha Ghosh, a former Global Leaders Fellow at GEG, is Founder-CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water and a member of the UN’s Committee for Development Policy. As policy adviser, author (of four books), columnist and institution builder, he has led CEEW to the top ranks as one of South Asia’s leading policy research institutions (seven years in a row); and among the world’s 20 best climate think-tanks in 2013, 2014 and 2016.

Dr Samantha Burgess
Dr Samantha Burgess, a former research scholar at Univ, is Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), working at the science-policy interface to improve understanding of climate related risks. C3S provides open access to climate data globally and works with partners across Europe to enable better decisions for industry, society and government.

Sam Swire
Sam Swire (1999, History) is an executive director of John Swire and Sons Ltd in London. He is chairman of The China Navigation Company, a shipping line based in Singapore; and is a non-executive director of Cathay Pacific Airways, a Hong Kong airline.

Sam Cornish
Sam Cornish (2012, DPhil Geology) is a DPhil student at Univ investigating the physical dynamics of the changing Arctic Ocean. Sam took part in the MOSAiC Expedition to the central Arctic last year. Coupled with an academic interest in climate change, Sam co-founded Positive Investment Oxford, and has worked with several college bursars and student groups on investment practices fit for the just transition to a zero-carbon economy.

Dr Tara Shirvani
Dr Tara Shirvani (2009, DPhil Chemistry) is an Iranian-Austrian thought leader, speaker, scientific advisor and international activist on climate change, disruptive technologies and digital innovation. She is currently working for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and was previously at the World Bank in Washington DC. She was named an Aviva Woman of the Future and a Forbes 30 under 30 Awardee.