Maynooth University Faculty of Social Sciences

Dr Ellie Murtagh is a postdoctoral researcher at Maynooth University, serving as the Chapter Scientist for Chapter 2 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Cities, supporting Coordinating Lead Author Prof. Peter Thorne in the production of the chapter. Prior to this, she served as a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bristol, contributing to the forthcoming UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA4) with a focus on health and wellbeing; and as a Research Associate at the London School of Economics, supporting research on the impacts of heatwaves in cities. Ellie holds a PhD from the University of Strathclyde, where her research developed decision-making tools for climate adaptation in post-industrial cities.

Beyond academia, Ellie has held senior roles as a practitioner. From 2022 to 2024, she was the UK Climate Adaptation Lead at the British Red Cross, where she assessed current and future humanitarian risks posed by climate change in the UK and collaborated on community-based adaptation projects. Prior to this, from 2017 to 2022, she was a Climate Adaptation Services Specialist working on the Adaptation Scotland programme (a Scottish government funded initiative) leading projects on capacity building and climate finance for public bodies including local authorities. Previous roles also include International Climate Fund Officer for the former Department for International Development (DFID). She currently sits on the Board of Trustees of the climate communications charity, Climate Outreach, and is a member of the British Standards Institution (BSI) climate change working group