Tristram Walsh

DPhil

Tristram Walsh is a DPhil student in the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) funded by a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Brasenose College Graduate Scholarship.

Tristram’s DPhil research addresses risks resulting from overshooting the long-term global climate goals, particularly relating to the increasing potential for tipping dynamics in overshoot scenarios. This work involves designing adaptive approaches for controlling climate mitigation in order to avoid dangerous climate change, and aims to aid decision-making under uncertainty in a way that could feed into UNFCCC processes and its objective.

Other work

Beyond his DPhil, Tristram’s research involves monitoring progress towards the global climate goals, tracking the ambition gap, and facilitating real-world action to close the implementation gap.

For example, he is a part of the Indicators of Global Climate Change (IGCC) initiative which updates key IPCC assessments on an annual basis (igcc.earth), where he produces the annual assessment of level of anthropogenic global warming.

Previously at Oxford Net Zero, as a Research Associate on the Transition to Net Zero, he worked on projects such as the development of the Net Zero Tracker (zerotracker.net), and, as the Business Engagement and Strategy Lead, he worked with business networks and policymakers (e.g. BEIS, We Mean Business, WBCSD, the ICC, B Lab, Race to Zero, and the Exponential Roadmap Initiative), to ideate, design, and launch initiatives to accelerate the transition to net zero. He also coordinated the Oxford Climate Research Network, bringing people together from academia, policy, and practice, to identify key knowledge gaps and create opportunities for collaboration.

Tristram received a First Class MPhys degree from New College, University of Oxford. During that time, he was awarded multiple academic scholarships, and led one of the world’s largest and most active student climate societies, for which he also received several awards for developing and leading "world class” projects.

Tristram has been recognised by the UNFCCC High Level Champions team as a ‘Young Leader in Climate and Technology’, and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Affiliations

• DPhil student, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
• Researcher, Oxford Net Zero, University of Oxford
• Guest Research Scholar, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
• Lead Author, IGCC Indicators of Global Climate Change
• Affiliate Member, WCRP Safe Landing Pathways Working Group
• Affiliate Member, WCRP Understanding High-Risk Events Working Group
• Fellow, Royal Geographical Society

Teaching experience

• Facilitator, Oxford Sustainable Business Programme, Saïd Business School
• Facilitating Tutor, Vice-chancellors Colloquium, University of Oxford
• Demonstrator, Sustainable Software Engineering, Doctoral Training Centre
• Thought leader and teaching assistant, Leadership in Global Change summer school