Dr Elin McCormack reflects on her experience of working in the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in 2021.
In 2017, the Royal Society launched a fully-funded Science Policy Secondment scheme offering its Research Fellows the opportunity to gain policy experience at the heart of government. Below, we hear about Dr Elin McCormack's experience of the secondment. Dr McCormack was a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow.
Background
Through the Royal Society’s Policy Secondment Scheme I have been fortunate to be seconded for nine months to the Climate Science group in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). As someone who has been working on the development and use of experimental instrumentation for the past fifteen years, I saw this secondment as an ideal opportunity to take a step back from my lab-based research to better understand how my work, and that of my research institute, the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (STFC RAL) Space, fits into the wider science and innovation landscape in the UK.
The multidisciplinary Climate Science group provides specialist inputs to a variety of organisations and senior decision makers. For example, the international climate science team provides scientific input to aid in achieving global climate goals through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and recently at COP26. The group also manages large climate research programmes based on climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the yearly publication of the UK’s greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory that is used to track both domestic and international GHG targets.
What was the scheme like?
During my secondment I worked as part of the team tasked with ensuring that the most relevant scientific evidence is used in the compilation of the GHG inventory. My scientific experience was useful in helping to answer questions such as: are we using the best available data and sensing to track land cover and use in the UK? Are we using the most appropriate gas sensors in optimal places to accurately detect a variety of greenhouse gases? What is the role for remote sensing instrumentation, for example on satellites?
A key part of the work the group does is to weigh up evidence from different sources, and I was able to contribute to this by writing and running scientific simulations and undertaking detailed literature reviews. However, whereas in academia the outputs are often the publication of a paper or an application for research funding, the objectives in the BEIS group are to help policy makers shape the UK’s strategy for climate change. The impacts of these decisions can be significant, so a strong leadership structure and a rigid framework for all decision-making processes are in place to ensure transparency.
I was impressed by the working culture at BEIS. There were lunchtime talks and courses for continuing development, special interest groups, and ‘online coffee’ to ensure everyone feels included and valued.
Overall, I learnt a lot about how science policy decisions are made within the government, and the key role the evidence from scientific research plays in helping these decisions. However, the highlight of the secondment for me was to work with an extremely dedicated and dynamic team at BEIS who care deeply about climate science.
