Peter Alexander

Prof. Peter Alexander is Chair of Global Food Systems jointly at the School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh and the Global Academy of Agriculture & Food Systems, University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on the social, economic, and enironmental interactions within the food and land use systems, typically applying data and computationally intensive techniques, such as agent-based modeling. Prof. Alexander was a lead author for the 2022 IPCC Working Group II report and is a coordinating lead author on UNEP’s 7^th Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-7). He leads the Land Use Lab research group that has considered the interactions between climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as how the globalisation of the food system creates teleconnections between actions in one location having consequences in others. The role of international trade in reducing or exacerbating vulnerabilities to shocks, including geopolitical shocks, is of particular interest. How land use and food system changes interact with dietary choices and human health, for example, patterns of food consumption influencing environmental outcomes and environmental changes impacting nutrition and health, are also central to the research. As part of this, in collaboration with others, he leads the development of the Land System Modular Model. This model has been used to quantify the impacts of the changes on ecosystem service indicators such as the land carbon balance, runoff, and nitrogen pollution and explore the impact of future changes in diet on habitat availability in biodiversity hotspots, as well as the reverse—looking at the food security implications of different land conservation scenarios.