Fellowship for Exeter researcher to work in government on Net Zero policy

A University of Exeter Business School researcher has been awarded the prestigious British Academy Innovation Fellowship to work in the Cabinet Office on Net Zero policy evaluation for 12 months.

Dr Gloria Crabolu, a Lecturer in Sustainable Tourism at the University of Exeter Business School, has taken up the role of British Academy Policy Research Fellow, which will see her work on using systems approaches in evaluating sustainability interventions as part of the Cabinet Office’s Evaluation Task Force.

The Innovation Fellowships Policy-led scheme is designed to enable researchers in the humanities and social sciences to partner with specific UK Government departments to address challenges that require innovative approaches and solutions.

Dr Crabolu is an early-career researcher with an interdisciplinary research profile that connects sustainability and complexity thinking to business and policy.

She enjoys advising organisations on how to develop innovative interventions that lead to positive systemic change. She worked extensively in sustainable development and management both in the developing and developed world.

Her work has informed a diverse range of organisations, ranging from international bodies like the European Commission, UN Tourism, the OECD, and World Animal Protection to smaller entities like the Sardinian government.

For the BA Innovation Fellowship, Dr Crabolu has been seconded to the Evaluation Task Force, a joint Cabinet Office-HM Treasury Unit to advise on systems approaches in net zero policy evaluation. 

Dr Crabolu said: “I’m very excited to be working with the Cabinet Office as a BA Policy-led Innovation Fellow, which gives me the chance to use my research in practical setting to bring about robust, systems-based methods of analysing and evaluating the effectiveness of net zero policy.”