Jess Zionts is a DPhil student in the Environmental Change Institute working with Professor Myles Allen and external partners at the World Resources Institute to develop mitigation strategies for the UK land sector, with a specific focus on the beef industry. This is building on her previous work at Oxford as an MSc student in the Environmental Change and Management programme, where Jess wrote her dissertation with Professor Allen on the policy implications of applying flow-based greenhouse gas metrics to Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement. Jess’ DPhil research focuses on the application of novel emissions and land-use accounting metrics in the development of net-zero pathways to incentivise decisions that help feed the world without destroying it.

Between the MSc and DPhil, Jess worked at the World Resources Institute on the Food and Climate Programmes. With the Food Programme, Jess contributed to various reports on land-sector mitigation strategies, including a ‘climate neutral’ plan for the Danish land sector, and an analysis of the impact of increased demand for wood on land use and climate. In the Climate Programme, Jess was a member of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Secretariat, contributing to the Corporate Land Sector and Removals Guidance. Jess was the lead author for the chapters on agricultural emissions, land use change, and data collection and quality.

In addition to the MSc, Jess holds an undergraduate degree in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.