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.[3]
Research
Ritchie started her career as a
lecturer in
sustainability at the
University of Edinburgh. She developed teaching programs focused on sustainability.[4] She left Edinburgh to start a research position at the
University of Oxford, where she developed data visualizations to communicate information.[3]
Ritchie's early work considered food systems and how it was essential to adapt to meet the
Sustainable Development Goals.[5] For example, she has argued that for most foods, the
carbon footprint is barely impacted by transport.[6]
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.[7] During the
COVID-19 pandemic, she built the Our World in Data
COVID-19 information dashboard.[8] In 2023 she became Deputy Editor and Lead Researcher.[9]
In 2024
Chatto & Windus published Ritchie's first book, Not the End of the World,[10] which explores her optimism for large-scale problem-solving and ending
climate change.[11][12]
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.[13]
Bibliography
Book
Not the End of the World, Chatto & Windus, 2024, ISBN 9781784745004.[14]
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.)