The UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in the Application of Artificial Intelligence to the study of Environmental Risks (AI4ER) will, through several multi disciplinary cohorts, train researchers uniquely equipped to develop and apply leading edge computational approaches to address critical global environmental challenges by exploiting vast, diverse and often currently untapped environmental data sets. Embedded in the outstanding research environments of the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the AI4ER CDT will address problems that are relevant to building resilience to environmental hazards and managing environmental change. The activities will be focused on two key research themes. These themes will also touch on widely-applicable emerging methodologies (e.g. Students in the CDT cohorts engage in a one-year Master of Research (MRes) course with a taught component and a major research element, followed by a three-year PhD research project.

Redfern will serve as the head of Cambridge's Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Application of Artificial Intelligence to the study of Environmental Risks (AI4ER), which will share a total of $260 million in funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) with 15 other newly announced AI-focused CDTs. According to UKRI's funding announcement, AI4ER will focus on the development of "new methods to exploit AI's potential to analyse complex environmental data and thus help plan sustainable pathways to the future." UKRI cites climate change, a growing population, and shrinking biodiversity as a few of the risks the students will address with their studies. As for the specific types of projects Cambridge expects AI4ER students to undertake, the university notes several ongoing projects similar in scope, including ones focused on using AI to understand earthquake risk and monitor active volcanos. The answers to our greatest environmental problems could be hidden within the massive troves of data we can collect from the world around us.