Dr Jason Blackstock has a unique background spanning quantum physics research, Silicon Valley technology development, international public policy, and higher education innovation and leadership. He is an internationally respected educator, scholar and policy advisor on the interfaces of science, technology and engineering with society and public decision-making. Jason's areas of research and policy expertise include sustainability (particularly climate change and geoengineering); digital technology & policy; the future of work & higher education; and public interest innovation systems.

Jason joined University College London in 2013 to co-found the globally unique Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (UCL STEaPP), and led the department through its formative years as the founding Head of Department (2013-2018). He was also the co-creator and inaugural Course Director (2013-2018) of UCL's internationally recognised How to Change the World undergraduate course, which runs for over 700 students across two intensive weeks every June as the capstone course of the first two years of UCL Engineering's award winning Integrated Engineering Programme. Since 2018, Jason has led the development of the independent How to Change the World organisation, created to expand the availability of the programme's unique and highly sought-after methodology to diverse audiences around the world. He is currently on sabbatical from UCL STEaPP (2019-2021), focusing on external activities.

Jason has taught and led research and policy programmes at renowned universities and think tanks such as Harvard, Oxford, the Centre for International Governance Innovation, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. He has co-authored over 100 academic and policy publications and 10 patents; given over 150 invited talks and policy briefings across six continents; led more than a dozen international academic and policy conferences; and led and/or co-authored over half-a-dozen policy-oriented international science assessments. He is currently a Future World Fellow of the IE Centre for the Governance of Change and a Distinguished Fellow of UCL’s Centre for Engineering Education, and serves as a board member or advisor for numerous networks and organisations, currently including MIT's Institute for Data, Systems & Society, the Carbon X-Prize, We Make Change and the Institute for Science, Society and Policy as the University of Ottawa.