Introducing Marja Salo: “Bringing research knowledge to support decision-making is rewarding”
Analyst Marja Salo specializes in climate and environmental statistics. In her work, she analyzes national and international numerical data and creates visualizations to illustrate development trends. Her previous experience as a researcher supports her in this role.
Working in the Climate Change Panel’s secretariat, Marja Salo loves numbers and feels at home analyzing various statistics related to climate policy.
“In the secretariat, we’re all ‘generalists’ with our own strengths. My specialty is definitely handling numerical data. I primarily monitor and analyze statistics published in Finland—for example, tracking the status of greenhouse gas statistics is part of my job,” Salo explains.
Her role also involves a lot of writing and contributing to the panel’s reports.
Expertise in climate and environmental issues is essential in her work. Salo has a background in research and has previously studied, among other things, consumption-based emissions.
“Consumption-based emissions cover many sectors of society, so I’m familiar with the climate field from many angles. In my current role, I’ve had the opportunity to engage with various fields that the Climate Change Panel’s researchers study,” Salo says.
Her previous experience also helps her understand the research world and its specific characteristics, such as project-based work.
“My earlier research at the intersection of qualitative and quantitative methods is useful when working with a panel representing various scientific disciplines,” she adds.
“It’s motivating to see how research knowledge is refined into a form that can be used in decision-making”
Salo greatly values research work and the effort to make research findings more accessible, so that the information can be used in decision-making.
The Climate Change Panel’s shared goal is to ensure that research knowledge is available in a timely and applicable manner. Even after research is completed, a lot of work is needed before the information can be easily considered in decision-making.
“Few people have time to read lengthy research publications. It’s important to make information available as quickly as possible so that up-to-date knowledge can genuinely be used in current decision-making,” Salo explains.
It takes a specific skill set to compile a digestible information package from an overwhelming flow of data.
“My role in this includes preparing data-based summaries, graphs, and tables,” she says.
The Climate Change Panel’s secretariat supports the work of the panelists but also helps decision-makers access climate information.
“You can contact us when climate-related information is needed to support decision-making. We investigate what information the Climate Change Panel has on the topic. If there isn’t any yet, we consider the possibility of including the perspective in future reports.”
The secretariat primarily serves national politicians and ministry officials but also aims to respond to citizens if their questions can be answered using the panel’s knowledge base.