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Abhishek Bhattarai
Abhishek Bhattarai is an MSc candidate at United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). He completed his BSc in Forestry Science at the Institute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University, Nepal in 2012. Prior to joining UNU-IAS, he worked for 6.5 years at Rupantaran, a Nepal-based NGO, as a Regional Specialist in sustainable natural resource management, climate change, food security and resilience in vulnerable and food insecure districts of Nepal. Abhishek’s broad research interests include sustainable development, resilience, food security and ecosystem services. His MSc research focuses on the resilience of ecosystem services from sub-tropical forests in Nepal, and their effect on human wellbeing. |
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Eric Brako Dompreh
Eric Brako Dompreh is a Project Researcher at the Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), University of Tokyo. He obtained his PhD from the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science- Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. His thesis focused on how the adoption of certification standards by cocoa and oil palm smallholders in Ghana can affect productivity, income, food security and poverty alleviation. He holds an MPhil in Agribusiness and a BSc in Agriculture (with a major in Agribusiness), both from the University of Ghana. Prior to joining GPSS-GLI, he worked as a Research and Operations Officer for the Ghana Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System project (Ghana-SAKSS) under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. His research interests include poverty alleviation, food security, agricultural technology adoption, standardization, climate change, as well as sustainable tree crop production. His main research at IFI relates to the assessment of the impact of small-scale aquaculture systems in Bangladesh and Myanmar. |
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Gayara Rathnabarana
Gayara Rathnabarana is an MSc student at the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). She holds a BA & BSc in Sustainability, Science and Society from McGill University, in Montréal, Canada. Prior to joining UNU-IAS, she volunteered with the Greenpeace McGill chapter and was also involved in a sustainability initiative known as the Plate club that aimed to reduce single use plastics through the provision of reusable dishes.
Gayara’s research interests include modelling, biodiversity conservation, and food systems. Her MSc research focuses on the positions of greenhouses and within a food systems framework. |
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Himangana Gupta
Himangana is a is a Visiting Research Fellow at IFI, University of Tokyo and a UNU-JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow at the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). She has a PhD in Environment Science from Panjab University, India. She has worked on climate change and biodiversity policy and negotiations, and has conducted research on how to find synergies and gaps between the two major Rio Conventions: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Her current research focuses on the climate, biodiversity and community linkages in socio-ecological production landscapes under the International Satoyama Initiative.
Before joining UNU-IAS and the University of Tokyo, she was a part of the National Communication Cell in the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Her duties included the preparation of India’s National Communications to the UNFCCC, including Biennial Update Reports, in coordination with scientists, climate experts and other ministries. She has been an expert reviewer for the IPCC AR5 WGII report, IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C, and the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment. She is also a certified expert in climate adaptation finance and is currently a Climate Adaptation Finance Fellow at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Germany. She has published on climate policy and negotiations, environmental security and women in climate change. |
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Jasmine Black
Jasmine is a UNU-JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow at IFI, University of Tokyo and the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). She has a PhD in Soil Biogeochemistry from Newcastle University for which she gathered soils and data from the Amazon in Guyana to assess molecular and bulk carbon storage. Following this, she worked in organic farming and with farmer-led innovation in the charity sector in Japan and the UK. She then transitioned into social sciences at the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI), UK. As a researcher, she works at the nexus between nature, farmers and policy makers to understand and amplify the ‘quieter’ voices in our world for more holistically managed landscapes. Jasmine is also a storyteller and illustrator, and works with Socially Engaged Art & Practice to bring these creative elements into her research. In her current fellowship she is investigating opportunities and barriers to multiplying Alternative Food Networks as and the importance of women’s roles and stories within them. She sits on the board for the Community Supported Agriculture Network UK. Twitter: @Dr_SoilieJas |
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Jelena Aleksejeva
Jelena Aleksejeva is a PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. Jelena holds an MSc in Environmental Sciences from the University of Tsukuba, with certificates from the Environmental Diplomatic Leader program (EDL) and the International Collaborative Environmental Program (ICEP). Her broad research interests are in climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable development, and renewable energy. Her current PhD research focuses on the deployment of green roofs and solar panels in urban areas as a strategy for climate change mitigation. |
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Jie Su
Jie Su is a PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. Jie holds an MSc in Environment Management from Xiamen University (2019) and a BSc in Environmental Science from Fudan University (2016) in China. During her degrees she focused on the economic valuation of coastal ecosystem services and endangered species in marine ecosystems of China.
She is interested in finding solutions about environmental and ecological issues through economic models and approaches, especially relating to marine and coastal sustainability, ecosystems services, and biodiversity. Her current research focuses on socio-economic optimization for the systematic planning of coastal protection and restoration interventions in China that meet environmental, social and economic goals for present and future generations. |
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Kamaldeen Yussif
Kamaldeen Yussif is a PhD candidate at the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). He holds an MPhil in Innovation Communication (2016) and a BSc in Agriculture Technology (2010), both from the University for Development Studies (UDS), Ghana. For his MPhil research he worked on irrigation policing, eliciting farmers’ perceptions and willingness to pay for private irrigation supply in Ghana. Before coming to UNU-IAS he was an Assistant Lecturer (2017–2019) and Senior Research Assistant (2012–2017) the University for Development Studies (UDS). Kamaldeen’s research interests include the sustainability aspects associated with rural-urban connections, rural and agrarian transformation, as well as human security issues. His Ph.D. research focuses on suburbanisation in Ghanaian cities, as especially on local adaption and future options for peri-urban production landscapes. |
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Marcin Pawel Jarzebski
Marcin Pawel Jarzebski is a Project Assistant Professor at Tokyo College, University of Tokyo. He has conducted research on different aspects of industrial crop expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa. He obtained his PhD from the Graduate Programme in Sustainability Science - Global Leadership Initiative Program (GPSS-GLI) at the University of Tokyo in 2015. During his PhD he explored community resilience of indigenous and non-indigenous community forestry groups in the Philippines. For his previous work he was engaging GIS systems for biomass estimation and loss over the time in the protected areas in Poland (Nicolaus Copernicus University); and GIS application to disaster management in the flood-prone areas of informal settlements in Manila, Philippines (The University of the Philippines). He is also editorial board member of the Ecological Questions Journal since 2011. |
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Melvis Apoh
Melvis Apoh is an MSc candidate at the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). She holds a professional diploma in Social Forestry from the Centre of Social Excellence (CSE) Africa in Yaounde, Cameroon, and a BSc in Environmental Science from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Prior to joining UNU-IAS, she worked for 3 years as a Project Officer at Green Development Advocates (GDA), a Cameroon-based NGO. During that time she worked on multiple issues such as community forestry, climate change and REDD+, forest governance, impacts assessment, community development and advocacy in different regions of Cameroon. Melvis’ broad research interests include traditional ecological governance systems, sustainable development, gender mainstreaming in natural resource use and management policies, and forestry and palm oil certification. Her MSc research focuses on identifying the multiple values of indigenous forest-dependent communities in Cameroon, and how these values contribute to their well-being. |
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Mizan Bisri
Mizan Bustanul Fuady Bisri (Mizan) is a Visiting Research Fellow at IR3S, University of Tokyo. He is a JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellow at the United Nations University-Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). He received PhD and MA degrees in political science from Kobe University (Japan) and MSc and BSc in urban planning from Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) (Indonesia). Prior to joining UNU-IAS and IR3S, he served as Disaster Monitoring and Analysis Officer at ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre). In the past he has worked for ITB, University of the Philippines, Asia Pacific Institute of Research (Japan), and served as consultant for various organizations including government agencies in Indonesia, international NGOs and United Nations agencies, e.g. ADPC, Oxfam, GIZ, JICA, UN-ESCAP. His research and professional interests are ranging from disaster management, disaster education, humanitarian studies and humanitarian operations, climate change adaptation, and urban planning. Currently, as a JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral scholar, he is exploring the networked-politics of science and policy nexus on disaster management and climate change adaptation in Southeast Asian countries. He employs various tools such as social network analysis and discourse network analysis, as well as various fundamental political science and public administration theories. Mizan also holds professional certification in emergency response and humanitarian operations, including Incident Command System (basic level, intermediate level, and Incident Action Planning specialization). He is also a certified member of the ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ERAT) and United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC). He is affiliated with Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) as young-scientist fellow, and was active at the United Nations-Major Group for Children and Youth (UN-MGCY), which represented youth constituent in various UN-related processes. |
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Quanli Wang
Quanli Wang is PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science -Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. Before entering GPSS-GLI, he was a Research Assistant in the Environmental Economics Laboratory at the Coastal and Ocean Management Institute (COMI), Xiamen University, China. He holds a MSc in Environmental Science and Engineering from Xiamen University (2019), and a BSc in Resources, Environment & Urban-Rural Planning Management from Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (2016) in China. During his degrees he worked on the assessment of urban resilience and ecosystem services in coastal areas of China using GIS. His research interests include food security, poverty alleviation, economic growth, aquatic resources conservation, and sustainable aquaculture production. His current research seeks to analyse key sustainability issues related to aquaculture operations applying different econometric models. His specific research aim is to develop appropriate methods to assess the sustainable yields of different freshwater and seawater aquaculture systems in countries with different development levels such as Japan, China, and Myanmar in order to balance ecological, economic and social benefits. |
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Robert Massimo Alfonsi
Robert Massimo Alfonsi is a PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. Before joining GPSS-GLI, Robert worked as a Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Informatics at the University of the Free State (UFS), South Africa (2010-2016). He obtained an MSc in Computer Science from the University of Pisa, Italy, (2009), carrying out field research in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Education and ICT for Development (ICT4D) at Rhodes University’s Telkom Centre of Excellence, South Africa (2005-2007). Robert is interested in the adoption and use of ICTs for food systems. For his PhD he investigates the challenges and opportunities of using ICTs for enhancing the sustainability of food systems, focusing on the development of an ICT framework for the South African food system. |
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Vinamra Mathur
Vinamra Mathur is a PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. Prior to joining GPSS-GLI, he was Program Assistant at the Responsible Asia Forestry and Trade Program (RAFT) at the Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Bangkok, Thailand. He holds a BSc (Hons.) in Environmental Science from the University of Manchester (2013) and an MSc in Environmental Governance from the United Nations University, Tokyo (2014). Vinamra’s research stems from his professional experience at the Nature Conservancy, which provided capacity-building and knowledge-sharing services to several Asia-Pacific countries in support of their efforts to promote trade in responsibly harvested and manufactured wood products. Through his research, he aims to understand the role of Japanese timber procurement and logging processes and practices, in order to better estimate their impact in the Sarawak region of Malaysia. |
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Yin Long
Yin Long is a Project Assistant Professor at the Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), University of Tokyo. She obtained a PhD from the Department of Environment System at the University of Tokyo. She has been awarded a Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Students Abroad in 2019. Prior to joining IFI she was a Guest Researcher at the Centre for Low Carbon Society Strategy of Japan Science and Technology, Assistant Researcher at the National Institution of Environment Studies (NIES), and an Assistant Professor at the Tokyo University of Science. She has expertise on energy economics and GIS, with her research focusing on the environmental outcomes of consumption in Japan. Currently, she conducts research on the sustainability of different sanitation systems in neighborhoods of Shanghai, P.R. China. |
Past members
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Abubakari Ahmed was a PhD student at the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo (2015-2018).
His PhD thesis explored the sustainability impacts of different biofuel feedstock options in Ghana |
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Alice Karanja was a PhD student at GPSS-GLI and Project Researcher at IFI, University of Tokyo (2016-2020).
Her research focused on the factors influencing clean stove adoption in rural Kenya, and its sustainability impacts. |
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Boubacar Siddighi Balde was a Project Researcher for the Belmont Forum project FICESSA at IR3S, University of Tokyo (2015-2018).
His research focused on the food security outcomes of industrial crop production in Sub-Sahara Africa. |
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Dalelan Anderson was an MSc Research Student in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science - Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo (2019-2021).
His research focused on critical aspects of parrot-fish fisheries management in Jamaica, with a specific focus on the perspectives of multiple stakeholders and local communities. |
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Denise Lozano was a PhD student at GPSS-GLI , University of Tokyo (2017-2020).
Her research focused on the systematic understanding of municipal solid waste management systems in Bolivian cities. |
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Ei Thwe was an MSc candidate in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science - Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo.
Her MSc research focused on the assessment of the effectiveness of the EIA system in the industrial sector of Myanmar. |
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Helen was a PhD student at the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo (2016-2020).
Her PhD research focused on how urban ecosystems are contributing a green economy transition in Myanmar, undertaking an economic valuation of ecosystem services provided by green spaces in Pyin Oo Lwin, a secondary city of Myanmar. |
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Hongru Hong was a PhD student at the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo (2017-2020).
His PhD research focused on the sustainability outcomes of upgrading to eco-industrial park status in China. |
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Letícia dos Muchangos was a Project Researcher at the Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), University of Tokyo
(2020). She conducted research on the sustainability of different sanitation systems in neighborhoods of Shanghai, P.R. China. |
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Linda Chinangwa was a Visiting Research Fellow at IR3S, and a JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellow at the United Nations University-Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) (2015-2017).
She conducted research on the potential of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes in sugarcane and tobacco landscapes of Malawi. |
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Merle Naidoo was a PhD student at the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo (2015-2018).
Her PhD research explored the adoption, visibility, and sustainability outcomes of Corporate Environmental Sustainability (CES) practices in supermarket retailers in Japan and South Africa. |
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Nikole Roland was an MSc student at the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science - Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS - GLI), University of Tokyo (2017-2019).
Her MSc thesis explored conflicts over water in sugarcane areas of Swaziland and how they are exacerbated by the 2015-2016 drought. |
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Rodolfo Dam Lam was a PhD student at GPSS-GLI , University of Tokyo (2016-2020).
His research focused on the identification of development challenges for indigenous communities in Guna Yala, Panama. |
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Shamik Chakraborty was a Visiting Research Fellow at IR3S, and a JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellow at the United Nations University-Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) (2015-2017).
He conducted research on ecosystem change and how it affects the ecosystem services provision in traditional Japanese seascapes. |
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Spencer Sibanda was an MSc student at the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo (2017-2019).
His MSc thesis studied the sustainability impacts of Conservation Agriculture in Zimbabwe. |
