Ximena Schmidt

Ximena Schmidt is a Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering at Brunel University London's College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences, where she joined in 2019 as a Global Challenges Research Fellow at the Institute of Energy Futures. She currently serves as module leader for Process Design (CL3602), Design Project (CL3605), and Sustainability and Environmental Engineering (CL5656).

Her educational background includes a PhD in Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science from The University of Manchester, UK, and dual BSc degrees in Chemical Engineering and Engineering Science from Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

Schmidt's research centers on sustainable food systems, with expertise in life cycle sustainability assessment, circular economy, and waste valorization. Her work spans sustainable food supply chains, consumption behaviors, school food environments, and citizen science applications. She develops data science and system modeling approaches to address food-climate interactions, particularly through transdisciplinary projects like TakeaBiteCC (Take a Bite out of Climate Change) and GGDOT (Greenhouse Gas and Dietary choices Open Toolkit).

Her recent publications demonstrate consistent focus on food system sustainability, with trends showing increasing integration of citizen science methods, longitudinal dietary impact assessments, and policy-relevant evaluations of school nutrition programs. Key thematic clusters include household food waste behaviors, Brazilian food purchase footprints, sustainable cooking technologies, and waste-to-food conversion pathways.

• Coordinator of TakeaBiteCC - Take a Bite out of Climate Change
• Champion for Consumer Behaviour at STFC Food Network + 2.0
• Coordinator of GGDOT - Greenhouse Gas and Dietary choices Open Toolkit

Schmidt actively supervises PhD students in sustainable food systems research and leads multiple funded projects including Batteries Recycling in Circular Economy, Sustainable School Food Environments in Brazil, and Low-Cost Solar-Powered Food Storage. Her outreach work has been featured by BBC World Service and The Conversation, focusing on sustainable parenting and environmentally friendly cooking practices. She contributes to interdisciplinary research groups including the Institute of Energy Futures (IEF) and Energy Systems and Thermofluids (EST).