Dr. Catherine Richards
2017
Origin Foundation John Monash Scholar
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Engineering
Reframing global warming for better risk management: climate change, food insecurity and societal collapse
University of Cambridge
United Kingdom
Energy and Environment, Engineering
Management consulting; Private equity; Asset Management; Transactions; M&A; Buy-side; Sell-side; Operational excellence; Capital excellence; Strategy; Real assets; Infrastructure investing; Real estate investing; Sustainability investing; Energy investing; Engineering; Natural resources; Energy; Water; Agriculture; Transport; Material supply chains
I am a Consultant based out of McKinsey’s London office. I work with Asset Managers, Private Equity & Principal Investors on top of house strategy, across the full deal cycle (both buy and sell side) and on portco value creation, with a focus on infra / RE / advanced industry investing, particularly with a sustainability angle. I also work with Corporates, Spinouts & Scaleups in the real asset space on strategy, finance and operational excellence. I leverage 10+ years’ pre-Mckinsey experience at the intersection of real assets, technology and sustainability: • Previously, I advised climate tech startups and engineering institutions on strategic topics alongside postdoc research on global risk + resilience, future foods biotech and AI + digital twin applications; • Before that, I managed real estate construction and novel materials projects, while completing my PhD(Eng) at Cambridge on energy transition, climate change and agri-food supply chain risk; • Prior to that, I was an engineer at a top Fortune 500 company in the energy sector and government corporation in the water sector, the latter while completing a BEng(Civ) and BEng(Env). Highlights from my career include: • delivering multi-billion dollar infra projects, and leading hundreds of people in high consequence environments; • international experience, inc. Australia, Germany, KSA, Malaysia, Norway, Singapore, UAE, UK, USA; • multiple papers in Nature portfolio ft. by The Financial Times, and co-editing a book with Lord Martin Rees; • being named a John Monash Scholar and Forbes 30 Under 30 for Industry Innovation; • simultaneously competing at representative level in sports inc. soccer, kiteboarding, and polo (Full Blue).