Celia Deane-Drummond began her academic career in the natural sciences, focusing on plant physiology and agricultural botany, particularly the biochemistry of nitrogen nutrition in plants and the biophysics of ion transport across plant cell membranes using novel tracers. The global and ethical challenges of the use of GMOs encouraged her to retrain in theology, education, and environmental ethics.
As founder Director of the Laudato Si’ Research Institute (LSRI) and Senior Research Fellow in Theology at Campion Hall, University of Oxford, she leads the multidisciplinary research work of the Institute, develops and fosters its collaborative partnerships and projects, including those with the church and other allied organisations. LSRI brings together scientific, social and environmental expertise from both academics and practitioners in order to work towards solving the complex and pressing eco-social problems of our time.
Celia was Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame from 2011 to 2019 (together with teaching responsibilities in the College of Science), and before this was Professor of Theology and the Biosciences at the University of Chester from 2000-2011. From 2012-2024, she was Honorary Professor in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University.