Dr Paul D. Jensen

Profile

I have a broad academic background in sustainable regional development, both in the UK and overseas. Projects I have worked on range from assessing the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of global food systems, through to the development of bespoke environmental management strategies for SMEs and the spatial planning of industrial ecosystems and low carbon energy infrastructure. My work is largely informed by systems thinking and the ecological sciences. In particular, I am interested in the flow of energy and resources through agro, urban and industrial ecosystems and how these can be optimised to facilitate equitable low carbon development.

My academic career has taken me from the University of Surrey, working on the development of industrial ecosystems, to the University of Hull, assessing the sustainability of palm oil based regional development in Southeast Asia and measuring the socioeconomic and environmental impact of the Humber’s growing renewables industry. Prior to my current position at Leeds, I also spent time in the University’s Civil Engineering department assessing opportunities for a low carbon infrastructure circular economy, and working in the School of Food Science and Nutrition to map and assess the sustainability of the Leeds city region food system.

I am a time-served electronics engineer and my research activities are highly applied and shaped by my career outside of academia where I have worked in a variety of sustainability focussed positions. These include working as a consultant developing circular business models for a range of public and private sector organisations, as a research engineer working with the eco-exemplar National industrial Symbiosis Programme to co-develop services that have been implemented in more than 40 countries, and as a senior business manager with the Energy Technology Centre. Most recently, I have worked in local government as a Senior Decarbonisation Management Officer at Hull City Council, where I was responsible for energy decarbonisation and the development of the city’s circular economy strategy.

Qualifications

• Eng.D Environmental Technology (Surrey)
• MSc (Res.) Environmental Technology (Hull)
• BSc (Hons) Wildlife and Countryside Conservation (Hull)
• PRINCE2 Project Management Practitioner

Student education

I lead the Consultancy Project module for the MSc Sustainability and Consultancy programme.

Research groups and institutes

• Sustainability Research Institute
• Business Organisations for Sustainable Societies