Professor Patricia Thornley FREng

Biography

Professor Patricia Thornley was appointed Chief Scientific Adviser in the Department for Transport (DfT) in January 2026.

Patricia Thornley is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering with 28 years’ experience working on energy projects in industry and academia. She is director of the Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute at Aston University and Associate Dean for Research at Aston’s College of Engineering and Physical Sciences.

Patricia has led the UK’s £6 million SUPERGEN Bioenergy hub since 2012, with responsibility for coordinating research into bioenergy and strategically guiding its membership of over 30 academic and 20 industrial and policy partners to focus on sustainable bioenergy and biofuel development.

Patricia’s research focuses on sustainability assessment of energy systems, particularly bioenergy and low carbon fuels, evaluating the environmental, economic and social consequences of implementation pathways.

Working at the interface of the academic, policy and industrial communities, she served as an expert in the 2020 Climate Assembly UK, a member of the advisory group for Elsevier’s 2021 international report on pathways to net zero, and chaired the Climate Change Committee’s advisory board for its 2020 biomass report.

Currently, Patricia is a member of the Energy Working Group supporting HMT’s Green Technical Advisory Group, Defra’s Tree and Woodland Scientific Advisory Group and the National Farmers’ Union Net Zero Advisory Board.