Wendy Broadgate

Global Hub Director, Sweden: Executive Team

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Wendy Broadgate joined Future Earth in 2016 as Global Hub Director, Sweden. She leads the activities of the Swedish Hub, which hosts the Earth Commission Secretariat. The Earth Commission is an expert analysis to underpin the setting of Science-based Targets for a stable Earth system. She also leads the Future Earth team which produces policy briefs for the UN processes for biodiversity (CBD), Climate (UNFCCC) as well as Future Earth’s contribution to the landmark United in Science report for the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019.

Wendy has two decades of experience in strategy development, international sustainability research coordination and synthesis, communications and the science-policy interface. She holds a PhD in marine chemistry and has spent much of her career in global change research, publishing on the Anthropocene, Earth system science and ocean-atmosphere interactions.

She was Deputy Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) for 15 years and director of the The Fisheries Secretariat, a non-profit working towards sustainable fisheries in Europe. At IGBP she was strategic lead on projects such as ocean acidification, the IGBP great acceleration and the Planet Under Pressure Conference, making an impact in scientific synthesis, the Anthropocene concept and policy engagement.

Erik Pihl

Science Officer

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80% Time - Erik Pihl is Science Officer at the Sweden Hub of Future Earth, based at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Erik is an environmental engineer with a doctoral degree in Energy Technology. His research has been focused on decarbonizing the energy system. He has acted as Swedish representative in work for the European Academies Science Advisory Council and the IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme. Erik's work for Future Earth has included leading the 10 New Insights in Climate Science annual publications and co-authorship of the Exponential Roadmap reports.

Lisa Jacobson

Science Officer and Interim Communications Lead for the Earth Commission

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Lisa works in the Earth Commission secretariat, where her main tasks are coordination, communications and scientific support. Lisa has a background in science communication, journalism and project management. She worked more than ten years as a medical journalist and then at the science-policy interface for the Swedish Cancer Society. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Stockholm University and a MSc in social-ecological resilience from Stockholm Resilience Centre. Her research interests include transformations, sustainable lifestyles, and behavioral change - particularly related to food and travelling. Her master thesis was a qualitative interview study on the possibilities of transforming air travel behavior in the face of climate change.

Sophie Hebden

Liaison, Future Earth and European Space Agency

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Sophie is based at the European Space Agency Climate Office, near Oxford, UK. She is the liaison between Future Earth and ESA on Earth observations to support the aims of Future Earth. Sophie comes to Future Earth from the National Centre for Earth Observation at the University of Leicester, where she was coordinating UK representation at the major international initiatives the Group on Earth Observations and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites. Her research interests are in using land surface temperature datasets to evaluate coupled climate models, and in setting up 'in-situ' sites for measuring land surface temperature. She has a background in physics and science communication.  

Susanna Dobrota

Coordinator and Administrative Officer, Sweden

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Susanna Dobrota works as a Coordinator at the Swedish Hub her work tasks entail administration, finance, events and communications support. Susanna has a long background in administration and finance, working for companies within diverse sectors, which has given her valuable insights in setting up operational frameworks and fine-tuning management processes. In more recent years, she has also been involved in the sustainability work of various NGO’s and has a keen interest in international relations as well as in the structures and driving forces behind global environmental and social change. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies and a Master’s degree in globalization, environment and social change, both from Stockholm University.

Therese Öreteg

(Currently on parental leave) Communications and Administrative Officer, Sweden

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Therese has 10+ years of experience in international business operations in Sweden and Spain, and is working with Finance, HR, Admin and Communications at Future Earth. Therese has a Master of Science in Business Administration and Economics from Stockholm University combined with later studies in child rights and social and political movements. She is engaged in the non-profit sector since 2014 and is a board member of an NGO promoting education and social development in Peru.

Juan Rocha

Research Scientist, Earth Commission

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Steven Lade

Research Scientist, Earth Commission

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50% Time
Dr Steven Lade is a researcher using complex systems tools to study resilience, sustainability and social-ecological systems. Steve supports the Earth Commission in synthesizing the state-of-the-art science for a stable and resilient Earth system and finding ways to downscale planetary boundaries to local realities where cities, businesses, NGOs and other organisations can take concrete actions through science based targets. You can find more information about Steve’s research at www.stevenlade.net.

Noelia Zafra Calvo

Research Scientist, Earth Commission

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Noelia Zafra-Calvo supports the Earth Commission in synthesizing the best available scientific evidence to inform the development of the global goals on biodiversity. Her previous work has focused on science-policy research, contributing to develop a tracking system to assess multidimensional social equity in protected areas to report on Aichi Target 11; co-produce metrics for understanding environmental governance constraints in biodiversity conservation; and incorporate social concerns into systematic conservation planning approaches. She holds a degree in Environmental Sciences and a PhD in Global Change and Sustainable Development from the University of Alcala and the Natural History Museum of Madrid (CSIC), Spain. Her interest and passion lies in conservation social sciences and biodiversity.

Victoria Li

Financial and Administrative Officer

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Victoria has a bachelor’s degree in economics within accounting and financial management from Linnaeus University. After graduation she worked as an audit associate for 2 years. Victoria works as a Financial and Administrative Officer at the Swedish Hub. She is also the assistant to the global hub director.

Simona Pedde

Science Lead, Earth Commission

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Simona Pedde joined Future Earth in 2021. She leads the Earth Commission (EC) Secretariat, which coordinates analyses and activities by the Commissioners, Working Groups and the scientific staff of the EC. She also supports the liaison between the EC and partners in the Global Common Alliance, in close collaboration with the Global Hub Director of Future Earth and the EC Co-Chairs. With a combined social and natural sciences back­ground, her research focuses on the development, translation and application of climate change scenarios, particularly the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). Before joining Future Earth, she worked at WUR (the Netherlands) collaborating with SEI (Sweden), PIK (Germany) and IIASA (Austria) to translate global scenarios for regional users with co-production techniques. She also collaborates with UKCEH (United Kingdom) on developing the UK versions of the SSPs contributing to the Climate Change Risk Assessment for the UK Government climate adaptation policy. During her PhD at WUR, she co-lead the development of European and local versions of the SSPs in several case studies, in collaboration with both researchers and stakeholders.

Naomi Lubick

Science Communicator, Earth Commission

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Naomi Lubick supports the Earth Commission to communicate its science-based targets for a habitable and just planet for all, getting the message out to the right audiences, at the right time. She previously worked as a science journalist and editor, with a focus on earth and environmental science.

Daniel Ospina

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Owen Gaffney

Senior Innovations Fellow

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Owen Gaffney is a global sustainability writer and analyst at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Stockholm Resilience Centre. He co-founded the Future Earth Media Lab and he is on the faculty of Singularity University. Owen trained as an astronautic and aeronautic engineer and he is a qualified journalist, filmmaker and writer. For a decade he has worked in Earth system science communication. His work focuses on policy, media and business impact of global sustainability research  and visualizing humanity's impact on the planet through concepts such as the Anthropocene and planetary boundaries, and transformation processes. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the BBC and the world’s leading academic journals Science and Nature. His work on visualisations with Felix Pharand Deschenes have been shown at the UN Rio+20 Summit and the World Economic Forum in Davos.