Anne Sietsma

Biography

I am a PGR based in Geography at the University of Leeds working with Professors James Ford (Leeds) and Jan Minx (MCC Berlin), investigating how machine learning methods can help create an overview of climate change adaptation. I previously completed a joint MSc in Sustainable Development at the Karl-Franzens Universität Graz and the Università Ca’Foscari in Venice. Outside of academic life, I am a volunteer at the Conference of Youth, which is the United Nations’ youth conference on climate change.

Qualifications

2016 – 2019: Joint International Master (MSc) from Karl-Franzens’ Universität Graz & Università Ca’Foscari Venice.

2013 – 2016: BSc Technology and Liberal Arts & Sciences, University of Twente

Research Interests

Climate change adaptation

Evidence synthesis

Natural Language Processing

Teaching interests

I have taught introductory courses in sustainability for the School of Earth and Environment, as well as teaching Global Geopolitics, Migration and Uneven Development in the School of Geography.

Project Title

Big Data and Climate Change Adaptation

Supervisors

Prof. James D. Ford

Prof. Jan C. Minx

Funding

Panorama NERC DTP, 2019

Project outline

In my PhD project, I am exploring the application of machine learning methods for climate change adaptation. More concretely, I analyse text data such as scientific papers but also policy documents from around the world to see if trends and regional differences can be identified. The use of computer-based methods in adaptation research is comparatively new, so the project is relatively exploratory; however, we hope to support international decision making. A global overview of adaptation research and policy could for example inform the allocation of development funds, as well as contributing to the Global Stocktake on Adaptation under the Paris Agreement.