meet hannah ritchie research focuses on global development and environmental sustainability part of her work is to gather and publish not. of data. really of what we try to. understand ensure the world as it is i think it's vital that most of the developments we've seen in terms of human wellbeing have been positive hannah ritchie works at the oxford martin school a research unit founded in 2005 she and her colleagues work into disciplinary teams on ways to enhance the wellbeing of people across the planet and to find solutions to the world's urgent challenges such as climate change and child mortality. they also gather and present research findings on a platform called our world in data for all to see. and i think a lot of the questions that people have researchers know where they are they started this stuff every day that it was there but it's kind of what's an academic paper. and really kind of quantitative is that no one of our friends so really what we bring together are either academic research from publications or these kind of international data set. the world bank. and then we

hannah ritchie from scotland is no exception. she has a take on life that is fairly uncustomary. nnah: the world is not always a good place, but it's much, much better r than it was in te past. and i think it's really important that we acknowledge this and understand this to make sure progress continues. reporter: the post-doctoral researcher on global development is a champion of presenting the world as it is, including the good sides. she and her colleagues at the university's martin schoolol research unit compile figures and graphics for a database that emphasizes positive trends. it's featured on their website, our world in data. life expectancy, for example, has risen significantly across the world, from a global average of 46 in 1950 to over 70 now. and the proportion of children dying before the age of five has steadily declined. in many countries, c child mortality is now close to zero. the researchers also have encouraging news on the global poverty front. over the last 30 years the number of people belelow the absolute poverty level, those with an income of less than $1.