Dr Hannah Rudman FBCS FRSA

Senior Research Fellow
Information and Computational Sciences
Hannah is passionate about applied action research’s impact into policy and professional and enterprise practice for nature positive net zero pathways. She has expert standing in the natural capital community as an innovator on decision-grade data and nature tech in natural capital. Hannah's skills include establishing and maintaining strategic relationships and partnerships. She engages nationally and internationally by building and maintaining interdisciplinary knowledge exchange networks and projects, and by directly advising senior policy makers, including in the EC, UNEP, WEF, DEFRA, and The Scottish Government. She co-leads the Scottish Nature Finance Pioneers – a 720+ person network working on nature positive net zero restoration projects achieving a just transition.  Hannah regularly is invited to communicate to different audiences - government, general audiences and industry- through all channels, including sector-press articles; presenting keynote addresses and chairing panels at national and international conferences; and producing well-watched film documentaries.

Biography

Hannah is also an experienced non-executive director used to dealing with risk, transparency, integrity, culture and fiduciary duties. She currently serves Highlands Rewilding as an Executive Director, and as a publicly appointed board trustee of the National Galleries of Scotland. Prior, she served Dynamo, Macrobert Arts Centre, New Media Scotland and Digital North.

Previously, Hannah led £multi-million publicly funded national digital transformation and innovation programmes. Directed by Hannah’s leadership, digital transformation was achieved in 250+ creative industries enterprises. Hannah advises governments on how to empower sectors to transition to nature positive net zero utilising digital and data technologies for measurement, reporting, verification and regulation.

Hannah was an Associate Director at international firm BOP Consulting ‘17-‘18, establishing their Organisational Transformation capability. During ’16-’17, she worked with global science and tech solutions company Leidos as Associate Principal Consultant, developing their Digital Transformation practice.

Hannah was elected as Fellow of the British Computer Society in 2016, as Honorary Fellow at Durham University in 2015, and as Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce in 2007. She founded and ran Envirodigital 2009-16, innovating digital products that gave people agency to reduce carbon in their businesses and lives, and represented SMEs on The Scottish Government’s 2020 Climate Group.

Research

Hannah was recently at World Biodiversity Forum presenting a case study on the business model for restoring Scotland’s Rainforest. Her research focuses on how digital and data innovations in nature tech can help the natural economy sector trustably and transparently digitally measure, report and verify nature restoration, biodiversity uplift and natural carbon sequestration (dMRV). Watch this video filmed in Scotland’s Rainforest to find out more.

Hannah is also leading research in a NERC funded programme focussing on Integrating Finance and Biodiversity.

Past research

Hannah’s team researched whether digital data from nature tech helped finance institutions better trust results and reports from nature restoration projects – watch this film from Lauriston Farm to find out more.

Hannah worked with Highlands Rewilding, researching in 2021 nature tech that could be used by them to establish the baseline facts of their natural capital assets, watch to find out more and to hear about the team’s plans for securing investment for improvement and restoration projects.

Hannah explored bioregioning in a podcast, and discover how it helps us to see the unique places where we live and work with new eyes, helping us reconnect to and restore the ecological systems of which we are a part and upon which we all depend. We hear about the benefits Bioregioning Tayside is achieving, where locals are re-orienting their human economic and social activities to promote resilient environments and livelihoods, and regenerate their local natural capital.

Publications

The following Publications have not yet been migrated to the James Hutton Institute's Pure service and relate to the research outputs from the two legacy organisations: The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and The Scottish Crop Research Institute.

Journals

Prior to appointment

A Scottish charitable company limited by guarantee. Registered in Scotland No SC374831. Registered office: The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie Dundee DD2 5DA. Charity No SCO41796