Jonathan Green
Senior Research Fellow

Profile

Biography

Jonathan is part of the Sustainable Consumption and Production team at SEI. With over 20 years of experience in conservation science, he specializes in assessing the costs and benefits of biodiversity conservation and integrating biodiversity and natural capital accounting into decision-making. He also co-leads SEI’s Global Strategic Policy Engagement for the Ocean and Biodiversity.

Jon’s research traces the impacts of consumption on biodiversity, often through complex trade chains in agricultural commodities. By identifying how trade drives biodiversity loss and pinpointing key actors in supply chains, he helps develop strategies for more sustainable supply chain management. His work also explores the alignment of sustainability agendas, including dietary transitions and nature-based solutions.

Prior to his current position, he earned his PhD in Zoology at the University of Cambridge before spending two years at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School, studying the ecological and economic impacts of land conversion for shorebirds. He then returned to Cambridge to work in the Geography Department on corporate engagement with Natural Capital, and was based at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Career

• 2003 to 2007: BSc(Hons), Zoology, University of St Andrews
• 2008 to 2012: PhD, Dept. of Zoology, University of Cambridge
• 2012: Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
• 2012 to 2014: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Program in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy, Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University
• 2014 to 2016: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Geography and Institute for Sustainability Leadership, University of Cambridge
• 2016 to 2018: Luc Hoffmann Research Fellow, SEI York
• 2018 to present: Senior Research Fellow, SEI York

Departmental roles

• SEI Environmental coordinator - I work with SEI colleagues internationally to improve sustainability performance within the institute.

Research

Overview

I work within the Sustainable Consumption and Production group to trace the impacts of consumption on biodiversity, via often-complex chains of trade in agricultural commodities. Gaining insight into how trade in agricultural commodities drives biodiversity loss and the key actors in those supply chains is a starting point to identify opportunities for improved supply chain management to help avert future losses of habitat and species.

Projects

• Trase

Trase is a supply chain transparency initiative that seeks to transform our understanding of how companies, governments and other actors involved in the trade of agricultural commodities are linked to impacts and opportunities for more sustainable production – and to place this understanding in the hands of those who can make a difference.

• Contacted - Managing biodiversity risks in global supply chains

This project involves modelling the impacts of land use change on habitats and species and linking these to local agricultural production systems and consumption activities through trade models. Contacted incorporates the values and perspectives of diverse stakeholders on how threats are perceived, experienced, and managed in order to stimulate innovation for sustainability. Key research institutions work closely with WWF offices to test how these approaches can be integrated as a decision-support tool in conservation and business practice.

• Indicators for socially-responsible consumption and production

This project, supported by N8 AgriFood pump priming funds, reviews the landscape of social impact/risk indicators applicable to agricultural production-to-consumption analyses. I work with colleagues from different disciplines, both within the SCP group and from across the N8 Universities, to identify key areas to improve social-impact assessment in consumption-based accounting.

Research group(s)

Sustainable Consumption and Production

Available PhD research projects

If you are interested in applying for a PhD that aligns with any of my research interests, please get in touch with a project idea. I am particularly interested in interdisciplinary and applied research to understand and mitigate trade-linked drivers of biodiversity declines.

Supervision

I am happy to supervise dissertations for current Environment Department Masters students. Please contact me to discuss opportunities.