Tom is a PhD candidate in the Conservation and Development Lab within the Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, under the supervision of Prof. Rachael Garrett. He employs mixed methods to investigate how market-led approaches can halt and reverse biodiversity loss in the world's most biodiverse tropical savannah, the Brazilian Cerrado, and the Brazilian Amazon. Combining remote sensing with climate and land use scenario analysis, Tom asks whether financial mechanisms such as nature-based carbon credits and risk disclosures will be effective in halting biodiversity loss in the northern Cerrado. His research also includes financial analysis of the region's socio-bioeconomy (SBE) and where it can be scaled up to reverse biodiversity loss within the Cerrado and secure critical ecosystem services beyond the biome. For the Brazilian Amazon, he uses Large Language Models (LLMs) to investigate the role of sustainable finance in scaling the Socio-Bioeconomy over the past 30 years to assess how it is likely to develop in the future. Finally, he will launch a policy Delphi in 2026 to research how policymakers can equitably industrialise the socio-bioeconomy to not only elevate the competitiveness of sustainable land uses in the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado, but support the indigenous people and local communities that have championed these production models for centuries.
Before Cambridge, Tom worked in various sustainable finance roles across Australia and the UK, including the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group where he worked on energy policy, corporate transition plans, and investor stewardship on environmental and social issues. He holds an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford, and a Bachelor of Psychology and Bachelor of Applied Finance from Macquarie University. He has also passed the CFA Level 1 exam.
