SJ Beard

SJ Beard is an emerging research leader in the transdisciplinary field of Existential Risk Studies. Their work covers a wide range of topics, with a particular focus on the evaluation and mitigation of systemic contributions to global catastrophic and existential risk. They have published research into the ethics of future generations; methods to study extreme, low probability, and unprecedented events; the history, present challenges, and potential future of Existential Risk Studies as a field, understanding and addressing the constraints that prevent decision makers taking action to keep us safe; and building existential hope in the possibility of safe, joyous, and inclusive futures for human beings on planet earth.

Much of their work focuses on understanding global systemic risks such as those relating to transformative technologies and environmental breakdown, which has been described by Vice as “bringing scientific precision to the doomsday scenario that wipes us off the planet.” This draws on a comprehensive toolkit of methods for assessing global catastrophic risk and includes considerations of injustice and public policy, as discussed on the Future of Life Podcast. Their first book with Julius Weitzdörfer, Double Debt Disaster, assessed injustice as a barrier to recovery from mega-disasters. They have also edited two introductory volumes to the field of Existential Risk Studies, published with Open Book, and will publish a trade book on Existential Hope with Polity in autumn 2025.