A Climate Scientist's Path Into Risk Modelling

British Science Week (British Science Association) · 3 March 2025

I was honoured to be featured by the British Science Association as part of their Smashing Stereotypes campaign, which profiles scientists and engineers whose paths challenge the stereotypes people still hold about who works in STEM and what STEM looks like. The full piece is on the BSA website, and I’ve pulled some of my favourite moments from the conversation below.

What I actually do

The interview opens with a question I get a lot: what does a climate risk modeller really do? My short answer in the piece:

“If a company relies on wood pulp and paper, and we predict an increase in forest fires in a specific region over the next 10 to 15 years, we help them assess that risk and adapt accordingly.”

It’s a relatively new field, regulations are still evolving, and most of my clients find it easier to bring in specialists than build the expertise in house. The reason the work matters to me is that it closes a loop: when climate risk shows up in financial terms, companies are far more likely to actually act on it.

“When companies see climate risks framed in a measurable, financial context, they’re more likely to take action, whether that means reducing emissions, changing factory operations, or sourcing more sustainable materials. It’s a full circle process.”

On being the only girl in the room

The interview moves into the stereotype piece, which is the part I think mattered most to me to talk about. Growing up, I genuinely believed STEM had to look a certain way: hands on, mechanical, building and breaking things. In high school I was the only girl in my tech education class.

“I remember walking in on the first day and everyone clapping because it was a small school, and I was the first girl in that class in three years.”

We built battle bots. A friend joked once that using a bandsaw was the closest I’d get to using a sewing machine. It was meant kindly, but the line stuck because it captured exactly the gendered framing of STEM I grew up with: cars, robots, engineering on one side, and everything else on the other.

What changed for me at university was realising that STEM is also creativity, nature, and communication. My work today is a good example of that. I write climate models and run global simulations, and I also spend a lot of time turning that output into maps and visuals that a non technical audience can actually use.

“STEM is more than just calculations. It’s creative, dynamic, and deeply connected to the world around us.”

Why retention is harder than entry

Getting into STEM is easier than it’s ever been. Staying in it, especially for women, is a different question. Early in my career I had supportive mentors and peers, and I still struggled to feel like I belonged.

I also talk in the piece about a barrier I don’t think gets discussed enough: access to the outdoors. Climate science assumes you arrive comfortable with fieldwork, with camping, with skiing. For a lot of people from immigrant backgrounds, those things just weren’t part of growing up.

“I didn’t want to be the person in my 20s who had never been skiing or lacked basic fieldwork skills.”

It’s not exactly an inclusivity issue, but it is an access issue, and I think the field would benefit from being more honest about it.

Polar Impact, COP26, and finding community

The grassroots work I’m proudest of is Polar Impact, a non profit and peer support group focused on increasing diversity in polar research. I started volunteering while doing my MPhil at Cambridge, and watching it grow into something international has been one of the best things about the last few years.

A highlight was COP26 in Glasgow, where we organised panels featuring underrepresented researchers talking about their experiences in polar science. Visibility for voices that don’t usually get a microphone, in a moment when the world was actually paying attention.

I also stay connected to Women in Climate, mostly as a quiet observer in their group chats but in person at London meetups when I can make it.

Redefining what STEM looks like

One of the points I most wanted to land in the interview is that STEM is far broader than people give it credit for. It overlaps with geography, design, video games, the arts. A lot of what we now call AI was built by people who came up through computer graphics and GPU programming. My own field is full of leaders who didn’t start in physics or engineering at all.

“We need to stop confining STEM education to rigid categories and instead highlight how it connects to creativity, problem solving, and real world applications.”

The hardest part of the job

The piece ends on a question about purpose, and I tried to be honest. The hardest part of climate work isn’t the modelling. It’s translating urgency for people whose incentives are financial rather than environmental.

“For me, the need to preserve our planet is obvious. It’s a delicate ecosystem, and disrupting it has dire consequences. But not everyone sees it that way.”

The frustration is real, and so is the progress, even when it’s small. That’s what makes the work worth doing.

• 🔗 Read the full feature: britishscienceweek.org → Smashing Stereotypes: Pearl Ayem
• 📄 Archived copy: download PDF