Measuring the environment: metrics that guide science, policy and resilience
Imagine you are advising on a high-stakes environmental decision — climate, nature, or pollution.
Now ask yourself: What data are you relying on? Who built the numbers you are using? And what might be missing?

In my work, I have spent years developing and applying metrics — to measure climate hazards, environmental risks, vulnerability, and policy performance.
Metrics help us navigate complexity. They simplify, prioritise, and guide decisions across science, policy, and practice. But they also carry assumptions, trade-offs, and blind spots.

We will explore how choices around data, thresholds, frequency, and weighting shape what we see — and what we act on. This is a story about metrics — and a quiet reflection on how we might use them with greater care, clarity, and intent.

About the speaker
Anna is an environmental scientist and Visiting Researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London. She is also contributing to research excellence and interdisciplinary initiatives across the Humanities Division at the University of Oxford. Her background spans climate and environmental science, with a particular focus on metrics, risks, and adaptation. Anna has a soft spot for complex data, clear thinking, and making things useful — and is always curious about how we measure what matters.
Date: 13 November 2025, 13:00
Venue: Dyson Perrins Building, off South Parks Road OX1 3QY
Venue Details: Desert Room
Speaker: Dr Anna Freeman (Humanities Division, University of Oxford)
Organising department: Environmental Change Institute
Organiser: Dr Avidesh Seenath (Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: avidesh.seenath@eci.ox.ac.uk
Host: Dr Avidesh Seenath (Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford)
Part of: ECM Brown Bag Seminar Series
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Avidesh Seenath