Dr. Lili Jia
Head of Sustainable Innovation Lab
Centre for Human Inspired Artificial Intelligence, University of Cambridge
Senior Research Fellow in Sustainability Pathways
PhD in Economics, M.Sc. in International Trade, B.Sc. in Management
Contact
lj340@cam.ac.uk
Centre for Human Inspired Artificial Intelligence,
16 Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1SB, UK
About
Lili is interested in discovering real-world pathways to social, environmental and economic sustainability. Her research focuses on modelling sustainable behaviours, designing scalable technologies, and developing systemic strategies for sustainability transitions.
Lili has published 20 high-impact articles and reports that change our understanding, design, and development of sustainability solutions. Three of her publications have received journal awards. Her article on “Motivating actions to mitigate plastic pollution” was among the Top 50 Earth and Planetary Sciences Articles 2019 in Nature Communications.
Lili’s article in Harvard Business Review helped food companies and policymakers understand how to improve the measure of sustainability in food industry systemically with digital traceability technologies. Her research findings have provided scientific evidence for policy development. They supported the Environment Agency in officially expanding its scope to beyond legal compliance in the Regulatory Statement 2022. They were included in the UK’s Green Finance Strategy 2023 and the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs’ Food Data Transparency Partnership roadmap. She serves on the Editorial Board of Scientific Reports.
Lili is pleased to consider applications from prospective PhD students.
Research Interests
AI applications for motivating sustainable production and consumption behaviours
Digital traceability technologies
Sustainable production and consumption
Experimental economics
Environmental psychology
Sustainability transitions
Economic, psychological, and management theories
Ecosystem
Policy
Projects
Lili has raised over £1.5M of research funding since 2017.
Lead
2023-2027
Standardising Environmental Data Schema Beyond Legal Compliance (SEEBEYOND2), Environment Agency (EA), UK
2022-2023
ESRC Policy Fellowship, ESRC, UK
2021-2022
Standardising Environmental Metrics Beyond Legal Compliance (SEEBEYOND1) EA, UK
2019-2021
FoodPro Food Standards Agency, UK
2019-2019
Global Challenges Research Fund Seed Funding, UKRI, UK
2019-2019
Cambridge Creative Circular Plastics Centre Seed Funding, EPSRC, UK
2019-2020
Knowledge Transfer Fellowship, EPSRC, UK
2018-2019
Impact Acceleration Accounts grant, ESRC, UK
2019-2019
Impact Acceleration Accounts follow-up grant, ESRC, UK
2018
Innovation Fellowship, ESRC, UK
Co-lead
2019
European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Food, EU
2018
EIT Food, EU
2017
EIT Food, EU
Publications
Key publications
Jia, L.*, Prabhu, J. & Evans, S. (2023). How food companies can better measure their sustainability. Harvard Business Review.
Jia, L., Evans, S.*, van der Linden, S. (2019). Motivating actions to mitigate plastic pollution. Nature Communications, 10(4528). Aidt, T., Jia, L., Low, H.* (2017). Are prices enough? The economics of material demand reduction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 375(2095).
Jia, L.*, Petrick, M. (2014). How does land fragmentation affect off-farm labor supply in China: Evidence fromhousehold panel data. Agricultural Economics 45(3):369-380. DOI: 10.1111/agec.12071
Policy Reports
Jia, L. (2024). Motivating social transformation to sustainable consumption with systemic incentives. Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs Report No. EV04105. https://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/ProjectDetails?ProjectId=21651
Jia, L.*, Evans, S. (2022). Standardising environmental metrics in food and drink sector: An incentive-based regulatory approach. Environment Agency Report ENV6005288R.
Jia, L.*, Evans, S. (2021). Prevent food allergy alerts: an incentive-based approach. Food Standards Agency Report.
Jia, L.*, Barker, H., Tremain, R. (2020). An incentive-based regulatory approach to help deliver greater environmental ambitions. Environment Agency Policy Brief.
Other publications
Augustus, E., Haynes, E., Guell, C., Morrissey, K. Murphy, M. M., Halliday, C., Jia, L., Iese, V., Anderson, S., Unwin, N.* (2022). The impact of nutrition-based interventions on nutritional status and metabolic health in small island developing states: A systematic review and narrative synthesis. Nutrients, 14, 3529. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14173529
Haynes, E., Augustus, E., Brown, C. R, Guell, C., Iese, V., Jia, L., Morrissey, K., Unwin, N. * (2022). Interventions in Small Island Developing States to improve diet, with a focus on the consumption of local, nutritious foods: a systematic review. BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, 5: doi: 10.1136/bmjnph-2021-000410.
Jia, L.*, Evans, S. (2021). Improving food allergen management in food manufacturing: An incentive-based approach. Food Control, 129: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2021.108246
Jia, L., van der Linden, S.* (2020). Green but not altruistic warm-glow predicts conservation behavior. Conservation Science and Practice, 2(7): https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.211
Jiang, H., Liu, W., Jia, L.* (2019). How humble leadership influences the innovation of technology standards: A moderated mediation model. Sustainability, 11(10).
Picchioni, F.*, Aleksandrowicz, L., Bruce, M. M., Cuevas, S., Dominguez-Salas, P., Jia, L., Tak, M. (2016). Agri-health research: what have we learned and where do we go next? Food Security 6(1): 292-298.
Jia, L.* and Bao, C. (2014). Residential freshwater demand in China. ZEF Discussion paper.
Jia, L.* (2014). How to fill the empty cup? Residential freshwater use in Dongying, China. ZEF news, Bonn, Germany.
Herzfeld, T., Jia, L., Wolz, A. (2013). Rural areas in transition: Different policy approaches to rural development. IAMO Annual 2013, Halle.
Jia, L.* (2012). Land fragmentation and off-farm labor supply in China, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Jia, L., Su, C. (2011). Re-evaluating real estate: A cluster analysis approach. China Appraisal.
Awards and honours
2023
Innovation in Engagement Award 2023: 2nd place (with Wolfson College), University of Cambridge
2022
Most Cited Article 2020-2021, Conservation Science and Practice
2020
Top 50 Earth and Planetary Sciences Articles in 2019, Nature Communications
2019
Excellence in Research Award, IfM, University of Cambridge
2012
Top 3 Conference Paper, International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE), Brazil
2008-2009
Research Assistant Award, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
2008-2011
PhD Scholarship, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
2001
Advanced Undergraduate Student Scholarship, China Agricultural University, China
2000-2003
Excellent Undergraduate Student Scholarship, China Agricultural University, China
Previous appointments
Senior Research Fellow/Research Associate, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK
Lecturer in Sustainable Innovation, Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia, UK
Research Fellow, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK
Senior Researcher, Centre for Development Research, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Postdoctoral/Doctoral Researcher, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO), Halle (Saale), Germany
Financial Consultant, China United Assets Appraisal Group, Beijing, China