Dr Sarah Ashbridge

Dr Sarah Ashbridge is an Affiliate Expert of RUSI, where she previously worked as a Research Fellow within the Military Sciences Team (2021-2023). Here, she established the Greening Defence Programme which focused on the ways in which climate change affects armed forces, and the impact of defence upon the environment, with an international portfolio. The Greening Defence podcast remains the most prominent output of the programme. The Moral Component programme supported the delivery of research engaged with human rights and/or the Laws of Conflict (LoCs), including works to assess the initial civil-military forensic response in Ukraine, proliferation risks presented by lethal autonomous weapons (LAWS), and UK mortuary affairs capabilities.

Sarah went on to work at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) before establishing her own company, S A Consultancy (Yorkshire), where she has revived her dual research portfolio. Within her climate programme, she is the co-host of The Resilience Brief podcast, delivered in partnership with the International Military Council for Climate and Security, the NATO Climate Change and Security Centre of Excellence and Frazer-Nash. Key Programme themes include infrastructure, energy security, resilience, competitive advantage. Sarah also serves as a Research Associate within the Climate Change and (in)Security Project (CCIP), conducting research focused on the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Within her forensic programme, Sarah provides support to military and forensic partners exploring their ability to respond to mass fatalities and/or compliance with International Humanitarian Law. Mortuary Affairs remains a specialist topic. She is a member of the Military Consulting Group of the ICRC’s Military Personnel Identification Project, and also serves as a planner within the Battlefield Forensics Programme, supported by the NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme.

Sarah also has experience in conflict archaeology, writing her PhD on the development of British identity discs and MOD structures to manage battlefield Fatalities during the First World War. She has supported the recovery of ten German and Commonwealth soldiers killed during this conflict, with one British soldier now resting in a known grave. Sarah supported the response to the Grenfell Tower disaster in her previous capacity as a Team Member of Kenyon International Emergency Services.