Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford

• +44 (0)1865 285531
• monika.zurek@ouce.ox.ac.uk

• Food Theme

Dr Monika Zurek is a senior researcher at the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford and a member of the ECI Food Systems Group. For more than 15 years she has worked on food systems, environment and development interactions in research and international organizations as well as in the consulting and the philanthropic sector.

Prior to joining ECI, Monika worked with Climate Focus, a consulting firm focusing on climate change mitigation and land use issues. Before that, she was part of the Agricultural Development Team of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation managing grants to improve the environmental sustainability of agricultural systems and risk management in agriculture. She also served as an economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and supported the Scenarios Working Group of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Monika started her career as a researcher at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), working on agricultural sustainability projects in Costa Rica and Mexico. She was also a lead author for various environmental assessments such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, AR4), the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD).

Monika holds degrees from the University of Hohenheim (MSc equivalent/Diploma in agricultural biology) and Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany (PhD in agricultural economics).

Monika is involved in, and leads on, a number of projects within the Food Systems Group at the ECI (current projects are listed below). She also sits on the coordination team of the UK's cross-government Global Food Security Programme on the Resilience of the UK Food System .

• Zero Hunger - Zero Emissions: Enabling the debate on how to feed the world whilst mitigating climate change
• Metrics, Models and Foresight for European SUStainable Food And Nutrition Security (SUSFANS)
• Social and Environmental Trade-offs in African Agriculture (SENTINEL)
• Foresight4Food: bringing together knowledge to enhance foresight and scenario analysis for global food systems

2021

• Hebinck, A., Zurek, M., Achterbosch, T., Forkman, B., Kuijsten, A., Kuiper, M., Nørrung, B., van 't Veer, P. and Leip, A. (2021) A Sustainability Compass for policy navigation to sustainable food systems. Global Food Security, 29. 100546.

2020

• Hasnain, S., Ingram, J. and Zurek, M. (2020) Mapping the UK Food System - a report for the UKRI Transforming UK Food Systems Programme. Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford.
• Zurek, M., Garbutt, G., Lieb, T., Hess, T. and Ingram, J. (2020) Increasing the resilience of the UK fresh fruit and vegetable system to water-related risks. Sustainability, 12(18). 7519.
• Zurek, M., Hebinck, A. and Selomane, O. (2020) Looking across diverse food system futures: Implications for climate change and the environment. Q Open, 1(1). qoaa001.

2019

• Rawe, T., Antonelli, M., Chatrchyan, A., Clayton, T., Fanzo, J., Gonsalves, J., Matthews, A., Nierenberg, D. and Zurek, M. (2019) Transforming food systems under climate change: Local to global policy as a catalyst for change. CCAFS Working Paper no. 271. Wageningen, the Netherlands: CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Available online at: www.ccafs.cgiar.org.

2018

• Ingram, J. and Zurek, M. (2018) Food Systems Approaches for the Future. Chapter 16 in, Serraj, R. and Pingali, P. (eds.) Agriculture and Food Systems to 2050: Global Trends, Challenges and Opportunities. . ISBN: 978-981-3278-34-9.
• Wiebe, K., Zurek, M., Lord, S., Brzezina, N., Gabrielyan, G., Libertini, J., Loch, A., Thapa-Parajuli, R., Vervoort, J. and Westhoek, H. (2018) Scenario Development and Foresight Analysis: Exploring Options to Inform Choices. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 43: 545-570.
• Zurek, M., Hebinck, A., Leip, A., Vervoort, J., Kuiper, M., Garrone, M., Havlik, P., Heckelei, T., Hornborg, S., Ingram, J., Kuijsten, A., Shutes, L., Geleijnse, J.M., Terluin, I., Veer, P., Wijnands, J., Zimmermann, A. and Achterbosch, T. (2018) Assessing Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security of the EU Food System—An Integrated Approach. Sustainability, 10(11 (4271)).

2016

• Rutten, M., Achterbosch, T.J., de Boer, I.J.M., Cuaresma, J.C., Geleijnse, J.M., Havlik, P., Heckelei, T., Ingram, J., Leip, A., Marette, S., van Meijl, H., Soler, L., Swinnen, J., van't Veer, P., Vervoort, J., Zimmermann, A., Zimmermann, K. and Zurek, M. (2016) Metrics, models and foresight for European sustainable food and nutrition security: The vision of the SUSFANS project. Agricultural Systems.

2015

• Zurek, M., Keenlyside, P. and Brandt, K. (2015) Intensifying agricultural production sustainably: A framework for analysis and decision support. Climate Focus and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

2014

• Dickie, A., Streck, C., Roe, S., Zurek, M., Haupt, F. and Dolginow, A. (2014) Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change in Agriculture: Recommendations for Philanthropy. Climate Focus and California Environmental Associates.

2010

• Ash, N., Blanco, H., Brown, C., Garcia, K., Henrichs, T., Lucas, N., Raudsepp-Hearne, C., Simpson, R.D., Scholes, R., Tomich, T., Vira, B. and Zurek, M. (2010) Ecosystems and Human Well-being: A Manual for Assessment Practitioners. Island Press, Washington DC. United Nations Environment Programme World Convservation Monitoring Centre. ISBN: 978-1-59726-711-3.

2007

• Carter, T.R., Jones, R.N., Lu, X., Bhadwal, S., Conde, C., Mearns, L.O., O’Neill, B.O., Rounsevell, M.D.A. and Zurek, M.B. (2007) New Assessment Methods and the Characterisation of Future Conditions. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II. In, Parry, M.L., Canziani, O.F., Palutikof, J.P., van der Linden, P.J. and Hanson, C.E. (eds.) Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. pp. 133-171.
• Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN (2007) The State of Food and Agriculture 2007. Part I: Paying Farmers for Environmental Services. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy.
• Zurek, M.B. and Henrichs, T. (2007) Linking scenarios across geographical scales in international environmental assessments. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 74(8): 1282-1295.

2005

• Carpenter, S.R., Pingali, P.L., Bennett, E.B. and Zurek, M.B. (eds.) (2005) Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Scenarios Assessment Report, Volume 2. Island Press, Washington DC. MA Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.