Elilzabeth Robinson
Elizabeth Robinson

Elizabeth Robinson becomes new Director of the Grantham Research Institute

The Grantham Research Institute has appointed Professor Elizabeth Robinson as its new Director from 1 September 2021. She is currently Professor of Environmental Economics at the School of Agriculture, Policy, and Development at the University of Reading.

Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute, said:

“We are very pleased that Elizabeth will be joining the Institute as Director. She will bring an international perspective informed by her many experiences of working overseas, and a deep understanding of the significant links between economic development and climate change. Elizabeth has an impressive list of high-impact academic publications to her name on many aspects of environmental economics, as well as important policy contributions on public health and climate change through her role as a member of the Lancet Countdown Board.’’

Elizabeth Robinson is an environmental economist with over twenty-five years’ experience undertaking research in low- and middle-income countries that addresses the design of policies and institutions to reduce climate change emissions, protect the environment, and improve the livelihoods of resource-dependent communities. Her current focus is on climate change, health, and systemic risk, oriented particularly around food security and food systems. She has a first-class honors degree from Oxford University in Engineering, Economics, and Management; a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from Stanford University; and has lived and worked in Tanzania and Ghana for over six years.  She is an EfD Research Associate and holds an associate position at the University of Gothenburg.

“Professor Elizabeth Robinson has made great contributions to the EfD network over the past decades,” comments Gunnar Köhlin, EfD’s Director.

“She was instrumental when we established our center in Tanzania and built our forestry collaborative program. Elizabeth has been an important force in EfD’s work to build research capacity in the Global South and is a role model for our young researchers, especially women. We congratulate her on this appointment, and the Grantham Research Institute for their excellent recruitment and hope for continued collaboration in her new role”.

“I am absolutely delighted to be joining the Grantham Research Institute. It is exciting to become Director of the Institute at a time when there is such an intense focus in the UK and around the world on climate change and the environment,” said Elizabeth Robinson.

“Collaborating on policy-focused research projects with my EfD colleagues has been an important and enjoyable part of my career, and I look forward to us continuing to work together.”

By: Petra Hansson

News | 15 May 2021