From Antarctica to Cambridge: Dr Emily Shuckburgh, OBE, MBE, on science, solutions, and the power of collaboration

As the world gathers in Brazil for COP30, this week’s podcast The Decarbonisation Dialogue, features one of the UK’s most respected climate scientists, Dr Emily Shuckburgh.

She talks about life on the Antarctic ice, her work on climate solutions, and what it was like to co-author a book with His Majesty King Charles III.

While the UK’s delegation in Brazil is led by Prince William, representing the King, alongside Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, our conversation with Dr Shuckburgh offered an insight into the kind of scientific collaboration and forward thinking that has long informed the monarch’s environmental vision.

Emily is director of Cambridge Zero, the University of Cambridge’s flagship climate initiative, and a professor of environmental data science. A mathematician by training, she spent more than a decade at the British Antarctic Survey, leading research on the Southern Ocean’s role in global climate systems.

She has also advised government on climate.

Reflecting on her journey, she explained that it was her love of mathematics and the natural world that drew her into climate research.

She said: “I wanted to use my mathematical skills to understand how the atmosphere and oceans work from a physics perspective and soon realised that the changes I was studying were evidence of a rapidly shifting climate.”

That sense of urgency, she said, has shaped her career: documenting the science, while also communicating the risks to society.

She felt she had a responsibility to ‘warn society’ about the changes.

Over time, Emily has shifted her focus from analysing the problem to driving solutions.

“There’s only so much impact you can have describing the scale of the crisis,” she said. “At some point, you have a responsibility to help shape the answers and that’s what my work at Cambridge Zero is all about.”

She believes innovation must be matched by collaboration. “We have to accelerate solutions - technological, social, and local. Some will come from universities, others from communities on the ground. It’s about recognising that all have a role to play.”

Emily’s years in Antarctica gave her a unique perspective on both the fragility and resilience of our planet.

Today as a reminder of her work there – she works with a small bottle of water the from the depths of the Antarctic – a constant reminder of her mission.

Whilst we see the impact of climate change every day, Antarctica, tells us more because by drilling down we can find a history of our climate.

She said: “The polar regions are changing faster than almost anywhere else. They tell us how today’s rapid warming compares with natural cycles stretching back over a million years.”

Through drilling ice cores, scientists can literally hold the past in their hands: tiny bubbles of ancient air preserved for millennia. “It’s a direct record of Earth’s climate history,” she said, “and it shows without doubt that what’s happening now is unprecedented - driven by our emissions and land use.”

This, Emily says, creates a ‘museum’ of the past climate in a very special environment involving teamwork.

Working in such harsh environments also forged a strong sense of teamwork.

“Antarctica is breathtaking, but it’s never benign,” she recalled. “You rely completely on the people around you. That collaboration, that shared passion for discovery, is something I’ve carried into every part of my work since.”

Closer to home, Emily is applying the same collaborative ethos through the Centre for Landscape Regeneration, working with farmers, conservationists, communities and businesses across the Fens, Cairngorms and Lake District to find land-use models that support nature, climate, and livelihoods together.

“It’s about creating trusted spaces where people listen to one another and co-develop fair, sustainable solutions,” she said. “When you bring together scientists, landowners, schools and local councils, you tap into human creativity and that’s when the impossible starts to feel achievable.”

Emily has found this a hugely exciting melting pot of ideas, working with communities and scientists, social scientists and others. 

“If we could replicate this model, bringing together groups of people, coming up with common sense ideas, this turns something that could seem impossible into something exciting.

“An environment where people can disagree well!” – all in a bid to create solutions that are fair, sustainable and effective. 

Emily co-authored The Ladybird Book on Climate Change with King Charles III and environmentalist Tony Juniper, a project she describes as “deeply inspiring.”

Emily says he was heavily involved in the work.

“The King has always spoken about the need to live in harmony with the planet that sustains us,” she said. “That message - of balance, fairness, and connection - runs through all his work, and it’s something that deeply resonates with me.”

She added that His Majesty’s long-standing Harmony Project has been instrumental in encouraging more holistic approaches to sustainability - ones that bring together diverse voices and perspectives.

“What’s so powerful is that he’s been doing this for decades, long before it was mainstream. His emphasis on inclusivity and shared ownership of solutions is exactly what we need now.”

Emily has also been working closely with the University of Cambridge Primary School to rethink how education prepares young people for the century ahead. She and former headteacher James Biddulph have also co-authored Education Visions.

“Children starting school today will live into the next century,” she said. “We have a duty to equip them not just with knowledge, but with the skills and confidence to be active global citizens in a changing world.”

Despite the scale of the climate challenge, Emily remains both realistic and hopeful.

“We can’t ignore the perilous state of the planet - but nor should we be paralysed by it. The key is to turn awareness into action,” she said.

Her optimism lies in innovation, collaboration, and the growing will to act.

“The solutions are out there. It’s about accelerating them, and coming together, globally, to shape a better, fairer future.”

Emily sense of personal responsibility is strong. She sees it as her duty to talk about the state of the planet – but to help shape the solutions for the future.

Let us know what you think of The Decarbonisation Dialogue. If you have ideas for guests or other podcast suggestions, please contact us at podcast [email protected]

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