Biography:Hannah Ritchie

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Short description: British data scientist and researcher (born 1993)
Hannah Ritchie
Born1993 (age 30–31)
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh (BSc, MSc, PhD)
Known forOur World in Data
Scientific career
FieldsClimate change
Global development
Food systems
Energy
Malnutrition[1]
InstitutionsUniversity of Oxford
ThesisGlobal food systems: addressing malnutrition through sustainable system pathways (2018)
Doctoral advisorDavid Reay
Pete Higgins[2]
Website{{{1}}}

Hannah Ritchie (born 1993) is a Scottish data scientist, senior researcher at the University of Oxford in the Oxford Martin School, and deputy editor at Our World in Data.[3][1][4]

Her work focuses on sustainability, in relation to climate change, energy, food and agriculture, biodiversity, air pollution, deforestation, and public health.

Her first book, Not the End of the World, was published in 2024 by Chatto & Windus.[5][6]

Education

Ritchie trained in environmental science at the University of Edinburgh. She earned her undergraduate degree in environmental geoscience and a master's degree in carbon management.[7]

She remained in Scotland for her Ph.D., researching malnutrition and global food systems. She created a scalable framework to understand food system pathways and identify losses, allocations and conversions.[2] In particular, she looked to understand whether it was possible to feed a growing population without damaging the environment.[8]

Research

Ritchie started her career as a lecturer in sustainability at the University of Edinburgh. She developed teaching programs focused on sustainability.[9] She left Edinburgh to start a research position at the University of Oxford, where she developed data visualizations to communicate information.[8]

Ritchie's early work considered food systems and how it was essential to adapt to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.[10] For example, she has argued that for most foods, the carbon footprint is barely impacted by transport.[11]

In 2017 Ritchie joined Our World in Data as Head of Research. Her work focuses on environmental sustainability, including topics such as climate change, energy, food and agriculture, biodiversity, air pollution, and deforestation.[12] During the COVID-19 pandemic, she built the Our World in Data COVID-19 information dashboard.[13] In 2023 she became Deputy Editor and Lead Researcher.[14]

In 2024 Chatto & Windus published Ritchie's first book, Not the End of the World,[5] which explores her optimism for large-scale problem-solving and ending climate change.[15][16]

Recognition

In 2022 Ritchie was named Scotland's Youth Climate Champion at the Holyrood Green Giant Awards in recognition of her contributions to the climate-change movement.[17]

Bibliography

Book

  • "Not the End of the World," Chatto & Windus, 2024, ISBN 9781784745004.[18]

Select papers

  • Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)[19]
  • A global database of COVID-19 vaccination[20]
  • CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions[21]
  • World Population Growth[22]
  • Hannah Ritchie, "What We Learned from Acid Rain: By working together, the nations of the world can solve climate change", Scientific American, vol. 330, no. 1 (January 2024), pp. 75–76. "[C]ountries will act only if they know others are willing to do the same. With acid rain, they did act collectively.... We did something similar to restore Earth's protective ozone layer.... [T]he cost of technology really matters.... In the past decade the price of solar energy has fallen by more than 90 percent and that of wind energy by more than 70 percent. Battery costs have tumbled by 98 percent since 1990, bringing the price of electric cars down with them....[T]he stance of elected officials matters more than their party affiliation.... Change can happen – but not on its own. We need to drive it." (p. 76.)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 {{Google Scholar id}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Ritchie, Hannah (2018-11-29). Global food systems : addressing malnutrition through sustainable system pathways. ed.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Edinburgh. hdl:1842/33270. OCLC 1085199475. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.764079. open access
  3. {{Twitter}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.
  4. Hannah Ritchie publications from Europe PubMed Central
  5. 5.0 5.1 Bayley, Sian (2022-03-01). "Chatto & Windus snaps up 'radically hopeful' look at future of planet Earth by scientist Ritchie" (in En). The Bookseller. https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/chatto--windus-snaps-up-radically-hopeful-look-at-future-of-planet-earth-by-scientist-ritchie. 
  6. {{{1}}}
  7. Hannah Ritchie's Entry at ORCID
  8. 8.0 8.1 "Hannah Ritchie" (in en). The University of Edinburgh. https://www.ed.ac.uk/e4-dtp/people/dtp-alumni/hannah-ritchie. 
  9. "Hannah Ritchie". https://www.edx.org/bio/hannah-ritchie-0. 
  10. "Healing the planet with our food choices with Dr Hannah Ritchie" (in en-US). 2021-03-16. https://theproof.com/healing-the-planet-with-our-food-choices-with-dr-hannah-ritchie/. 
  11. Puckett, Susan (2022-09-14). "Eating seasonally and locally has many benefits. Is fighting the climate crisis one of them?" (in en). CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/14/health/seasonal-food-produce-lbg-wellness/index.html. 
  12. "Our Team". https://ourworldindata.org/team. 
  13. Vaughan, Adam (2021-05-28). "Hannah Ritchie interview: The woman giving covid-19 data to the world" (in en-US). New Scientist. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2278673-hannah-ritchie-interview-the-woman-giving-covid-19-data-to-the-world/. 
  14. "Our Team". https://ourworldindata.org/team. 
  15. Chivers, Tom (2022-10-09). "Everything you thought you knew about how to fix the climate is probably wrong" (in en). https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/climate-crisis-how-fix-everything-you-knew-wrong-1895515. 
  16. Ritchie, Hannah (2021-11-01). "Stop Telling Kids They'll Die From Climate Change" (in en-GB). https://www.wired.co.uk/article/climate-crisis-doom. 
  17. "Holyrood Green Giant Awards 2022". Holyrood Events. https://events.holyrood.com/event/holyrood-green-giant-awards-2022/. 
  18. Ritchie, Hannah (2024). Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet. Chatto & Windus. ISBN 9781784745004. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/453652/not-the-end-of-the-world-by-ritchie-hannah/9781784745004. 
  19.  , Wikidata Q113387718
  20.  , Wikidata Q107202624
  21. Ritchie, Hannah; Roser, Max; Rosado, Pablo (2020-05-11). "CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions". Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions. 
  22. Roser, Max; Ritchie, Hannah; Ortiz-Ospina, Esteban; Rodés-Guirao, Lucas (2013-05-09). "World Population Growth". Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth.