Contact information
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1664-9029
Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6GG
research groups
Emma Garnett
PhD
Post doctoral Researcher
Behaviour change and sustainable diets
I am a Researcher in the Sustainable and Healthy Food Group, funded by the LEAP, SHIFT and SALIENT projects. I am investigating the efficacy of different approaches to reduce meat consumption and move to more plant-based diets. More generally, I'm interested in how we can overcome fairly economic, political and social barriers to live well within planetary boundaries.
I enjoy teaching and science outreach. I am an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and won the Janet Moore prize for supervising in Zoology (University of Cambridge). I have discussed my research at outreach events including the Cambridge Festival of Ideas, Soapbox Science, Earth Optimism and the Cambridge Science Festival.
Biography
I read Zoology at the University of Cambridge for my Bachelor’s degree. I then spent two years studying in five different countries for an Erasmus Mundus Master in Applied Ecology. I returned to Cambridge for my PhD funded by NERC; I researched which interventions were most effective to increase vegetarian sales in university cafeterias. My PhD research was one of the finalists in a global Solution Search for behavioural approaches to mitigating climate change and has been profiled by national and international news organisations. During my PhD I undertook a 3-month placement at DEFRA and produced a report on the environmental impacts of bio-based plastics.
After my PhD I carried out a Fellowship at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership on evaluating the promises and pitfalls of different policies to bring about more sustainable diets, such as carbon labelling.
Recent publications
Does the range of ecolabels on offer alter their impact on meal selection? An online randomised control trial
Journal article
Biggs E. et al, (2026), BMC Public Health, 26
The effect of increased availability of vegetarian meals on vegetarian meal sales in worksite cafeterias: a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial
Journal article
Becker E. et al, (2026), International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
Does unmatching meat and plant-based meals change plant-based meal selection? An evaluation in an online hypothetical randomised trial
Journal article
Garnett E. et al, (2026), Appetite
Mangroves support an estimated annual abundance of over 700 billion juvenile fish and invertebrates
Journal article
zu Ermgassen PSE. et al, (2025), Communications Earth and Environment, 6
How can consumer science help the foodservice industry replace meat? A critical review
Journal article
Baptista I. et al, (2025), Appetite, 207
Evaluating Dynamic Norm Messages and Alternative Interventions to Reduce Meat Consumption in Cafeterias
Journal article
Biggs E. et al, (2025), Global Environmental Psychology
Population-level interventions for sustainable food consumption
Chapter
Garnett EE. and Pechey R., (2025), 287 - 302
Tackling inequality is essential for behaviour change for net zero
Journal article
Kukowski CA. and Garnett EE., (2024), Nature Climate Change, 14, 2 - 4
Changes in greenhouse gas emissions from food supply in the United Kingdom
Journal article
Stewart K. et al, (2023), Journal of Cleaner Production, 410
Carbon and other environmental footprint food labels: potential and pitfalls
Preprint
Garnett EE., (2023)
Discrepancies between two long-term dietary datasets in the United Kingdom (UK)
Journal article
Smith K. et al, (2023)
Plant-based default nudges effectively increase the sustainability of catered meals on college campuses: Three randomized controlled trials
Journal article
Boronowsky RD. et al, (2022), Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 6
The vital role of organizations in protecting climate and nature
Journal article
Garnett EE. and Balmford A., (2022), Nature Human Behaviour, 6, 319 - 321
Remarkable euryhalinity of a marine fish Lutjanus novemfasciatus in mangrove nurseries
Journal article
Plumlee JD. et al, (2022), Ecology, 103
Discrepancies between two long-term dietary datasets in the United Kingdom (UK)
Journal article
Smith KG. et al, (2022), Wellcome Open Research, 6
Changing behaviour for net zero 2050
Journal article
Marteau TM. et al, (2021), BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 375
Making more effective use of human behavioural science in conservation interventions
Journal article
Balmford A. et al, (2021), Biological Conservation, 261
Steps to diversify priority-setting research in conservation: reflections on de Gracia 2021
Journal article
Jucker T. et al, (2021), Conservation Biology, 35, 1324 - 1326
Price of change: Does a small alteration to the price of meat and vegetarian options affect their sales?
Journal article
Garnett EE. et al, (2021), Journal of Environmental Psychology, 75
Biodiversity conservation as a promising frontier for behavioural science
Journal article
Nielsen KS. et al, (2021), Nature Human Behaviour, 5, 550 - 556
Localised climate change defines ant communities in human-modified tropical landscapes
Journal article
Boyle MJW. et al, (2021), Functional Ecology, 35, 1094 - 1108
Discrepancies between two long-term dietary datasets in the United Kingdom (UK)
Journal article
Smith KG. et al, (2021), Wellcome Open Research, 6
Order of meals at the counter and distance between options affect student cafeteria vegetarian sales
Journal article
Garnett EE. et al, (2020), Nature Food, 1, 485 - 488
Insights from two decades of the Student Conference on Conservation Science
Journal article
Geldmann J. et al, (2020), Biological Conservation, 243
Impact of increasing vegetarian availability on meal selection and sales in cafeterias
Journal article
Garnett EE. et al, (2019), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116, 20923 - 20929
Correction: The environmental costs and benefits of high-yield farming (Nature Sustainability, (2018), 1, 9, (477-485), 10.1038/s41893-018-0138-5)
Journal article
Balmford A. et al, (2019), Nature Sustainability, 2, 339 - 341
Insights from two decades of the Student Conference on Conservation Science
Preprint
Geldmann J. et al, (2019)
Ten-year assessment of the 100 priority questions for global biodiversity conservation
Journal article
Jucker T. et al, (2018), Conservation Biology, 32, 1457 - 1463
Interventions targeting conscious determinants of human behaviour to reduce the demand for meat: A systematic review with qualitative comparative analysis
Journal article
Bianchi F. et al, (2018), International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 15
Interventions targeting conscious determinants of human behaviour to reduce the demand for meat: A systematic review with qualitative comparative analysis
Journal article
Bianchi F. et al, (2018), International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
The environmental costs and benefits of high-yield farming
Journal article
Balmford A. et al, (2018), Nature Sustainability, 1, 477 - 485
Restructuring physical micro-environments to reduce the demand for meat: a systematic review and qualitative comparative analysis
Journal article
Bianchi F. et al, (2018), The Lancet Planetary Health, 2, e384 - e397
Maternal effects on offspring size in a natural population of the viviparous tsetse fly
Journal article
English S. et al, (2016), Ecological Entomology, 41, 618 - 626