Meet the Team
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Abubakari Ahmed
Abubakari Ahmed is a PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. Before joining GPSS-GLI, Abubakari first worked as an Urban Planning Officer between at the Town and Country Planning Department, Ghana (2011- 2012). He then worked as a Project Researcher at the Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies (IESS), University of Ghana (2014-2015). His background is in Urban Planning (BSc. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana 2011) and Sustainability Science (MSc. United Nations University, 2014). What drives his research is not just how to achieve sustainability but rather the consequences of not having sustainable societies. He is interested sustainability assessment at different contexts such as bioenergy, biodiversity, development policy, land use planning and the normative institutional arrangements and governance architecture that shape power relations, and resource use across scales. His current PhD research focuses on the sustainability impacts of industrial crops in Ghana using political ecology and resilience thinking. |
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Alice Karanja
Alice Karanja is a PhD student in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. Before joining GPSS-GLI, she was a Tutorial Fellow at the Maasai Mara University in Kenya. She holds a BSc from Moi University, Kenya (2012) and an MSc from The Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand (2014) Alice research interests incorporate an interdisciplinary approach to explore the interaction between sustainable energy, climate change, ecosystem services, economic development and policy interventions. Her PhD research focuses on the sustainability impacts of clean cooking solutions in rural Kenya. The overall aim of this study is to establish the mechanisms through which the adoption of clean cooking solutions affects ecosystem services and how this links to poverty alleviation and human wellbeing. Eventually, the study will propose recommendations to design policies and incentives that can shape new values for the promotion, adoption and sustained use of clean cooking stoves and fuels in Kenya and beyond. |
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Boubacar Siddighi Balde
Boubacar Siddighi Balde is post-doctoral researcher at the Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science (IR3S), University of Tokyo. At IR3S he explores the food security impacts of industrial crop expansion in Sub-Sahara Africa. Boubacar holds a PhD in Managerial Economics from the United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences (UGSAS), Tottori University. He earned an MSc in Field Production Sciences and Agricultural Economics from Tottori University, and a BSc in Crop Production (Agricultural Production) from the Superior Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary of Faranah (ISAV/F), Guinea. Prior to joining IR3S, Boubacar was a Cooperative Researcher to the Laboratory of Farm Management/Agricultural Economics of Tottori University conducting research on the role of farmers organization models in Guinea from the perspectives of rural development and agribusiness management. He was also as a researcher to the Guinean Ministry of Agriculture (National Direction of Agriculture, DISIA) to the Research Fund and Innovation (FRI) project funded by the Ministry of Higher Education conducted to the Institute of Superior of Agronomic and Veterinary of Faranah (ISAV/F) and some Guinean private institutions such as the AHD Establishment. He has conducted research related to food security, poverty alleviation, rural livelihoods improvement, land use change analysis, farm performance analysis, econometrics, efficiency and productivity analysis and the technical efficiency of small-scale salt producers and mangrove rice farmers in Guinea. |
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Denize Lozano
Denise Lozano Lazo is a PhD candidate at the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. Denise holds an MSc in Development Studies from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland (IHEID) and a BSc in Industrial Engineering from the Private University of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia (UPSA). Prior to her graduate studies, Denise worked in the energy sector in Bolivia, in areas related to information systems, supply chain management, and corporate governance. Her research and career interests are on green businesses, urban ecology, waste management, and the role that the informal sector and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can play in contributing to the sustainable development of cities in the developing world. Her current PhD research focuses on the assessment of the barriers and factors of success of sustainable waste management in Bolivia. |
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Ei Thwe
Ei Thwe is an MSc candidate in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science - Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. Before joining GPSS-GLI, Ei worked as a deputy staff officer at the Union Minister Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation where she was responsible for policy related subjects, monitoring and evaluation of the foreign projects and issuing environmental compliance certificates. She graduated from the University of Forestry, Yezin, Myanmar in Environmental Science and Forestry (BSc Forestry, 2012). Her research and career interests are on sustainability, developmental policy, resource efficiency and cleaner production, waste management and recycling, and green innovative solutions to business. Her MSc research focuses on the assessment of the EIA system in the industrial sector of Myanmar, whether it is effectively enhance the consideration of environmental aspect and socio-economic well-beings of the project site analysing the loopholes in the system. |
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Eric Brako Dompreh
Eric Brako Dompreh is a PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science- Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. 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 current research relates to how the adoption of certification standards by cocoa and oil palm smallholders in Ghana can affect productivity, income, food security and poverty alleviation. |
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Helen
Helen is a PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. Prior to joining GPSS-GLI, she was a senior timber ranger (2006-2011) and assistant manager (2011-2014) for the Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC). Then she worked as a staff officer for the Planning and Statistics Division at the Union Minister Office of the MONREC in Myanmar (2014-2015). She received her BSc in Forestry (2006) from the University of Forestry, Myanmar and an MSc in Natural Resource Management (2012) from the University of Mahidol, Thailand. She is interested in how urban ecosystems are contributing a green economy transition in Myanmar by providing significant benefits to urban residents and enhancing urban resilience. Her research interests are urban ecosystems, urban ecosystem services, economic valuation of ecosystem services, urban resilience and green economy development. Her current PhD research focuses on the economic valuation of ecosystem services provided by different types of urban ecosystems in Pyin Oo Lwin, one of the secondary cities of Myanmar. |
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Hongru Hong
Hongru Hong is a PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. Before that, Hongru worked in environmental consulting and investment for several years, both in the UK and in China. He is a chartered engineer verified by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council of China. Hongru obtained a BSc in Biological Sciences from Northwest University, China, in 2007, and an MSc in Water and Environmental Management from the University of Bristol, UK, in 2009. During this period he has done research in the ecological behavior of Rhinopithecus roxellanae (snub-nosed monkey) and the impacts of growing biofuel crops on biodiversity. As part of his wok in environmental consultancy, Hongru has evaluated many environmental projects in China and witnessed the outcomes of these investments. After decades of rapid economic growth, China is facing fierce environmental challenges as never before, not only in scale but also in complexity. Still, the investment in and construction of environmental projects, particularly Eco-Industrial Parks, is growing at a fast pace, and this is expected to continue for quite some time. However, are such environmental investments really sustainable when taking a holistic view? With an interdisciplinary background, Hongru is hoping to get a glimpse of the big picture of the relation between ecological, economic and the societal systems using Eco-Industrial Parks as his research focus. |
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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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Linda Chinangwa
Linda Chinangwa is a Visiting Research Fellow at IR3S, University of Tokyo. She is a JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for the Advances Study of Sustainability of the United Nations University (UNU-IAS) in Tokyo, working as part of the Food security Impacts of Industrial Crop Expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa project (FICESSA). She was awarded a PhD from Bangor University (2014), an MSc in Management of Natural Resources and Sustainable Agriculture from the University of Life Sciences in Norway (2006) and a BSc in Agriculture from the University of Malawi (2002). Prior to joining IR3S and UNU-IAS, Linda worked as Chief Land Resources Conservation Officer for the Government of Malawi (Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security) where she was responsible for facilitating and contributing to policy formulation with regards to the land resources conservation, environmental education, natural resources management, and general agriculture issues in Malawi. Her research and career interest are primarily in forestry, natural resources management, ecosystem services, agriculture, livelihoods and sustainable development, from the social and economic perspective of rural communities. Currently she explores the potential for incentive base conservation programmes (e.g. Payment for Ecosystem Services) as a tool for enhancing forest conservation in industrial crops growing areas of Malawi. |
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Marcin Pawel Jarzebski
Marcin Pawel Jarzebski is a post-doctoral researcher at the Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science (IR3S), University of Tokyo. For his current research work he studies the food security effects of industrial crop expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa, and climate change adaptation capacity development processes in Indonesia. 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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Merle Naidoo
Merle Naidoo is a PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. Before joining GPSS-GLI Merle worked as a lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of the Free State (UFS), South Africa (2010-2015). She obtained a diploma in Disaster Management from UFS (2010) and a MSc in Water Management at Rhodes University (2008). She received her Honours degree in Environment and Development (2003) and her BSc in Plant Sciences (2002), both at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her broad research interest are on green business solutions and consumer response, eco-cities and sustainable living solutions, clean energy options, natural resources management and conservation, water saving and recycling technologies. Her PhD research focuses on Corporate Environmental Sustainability (CES) in the retail sector, and particularly on the analysis of the adoption and implementation of CES strategies in Japanese and South African supermarkets |
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Nikole Roland
Nikole Roland is an MSc candidate at the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science - Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS - GLI), University of Tokyo. Nikole received a BSc in Chemistry in 2016 from Gardner-Webb University, United States. She is interested in the interactions between humans and the environment, with a particular focus on how water quality can be one gauge of this relationship. Nikole's research focuses on the different spheres of influence of regional and local decision-making that cause a change on how the people interact with their environment, such as changes in agricultural practices, and the effects of these changes. Specific focus of investigation includes the political ecology and the water-food-energy nexus of cash crops in Swaziland. |
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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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Rodolfo Dam Lam
Rodolfo Dam Lam is a PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. Rodolfo holds an MSc in Sustainability from the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) in Tokyo, and a BE in Computer Science from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) in Monterrey, Mexico. Before joining GPSS-GLI, he was a Research Assistant at UNU-IAS working on food security in Sub-Sahara Africa. Prior to his graduate studies, Rodolfo worked in the technology sector and consumer mass market leading regional initiatives in Central and Latin America. Rodolfo’s research interests include sustainable development, transdisciplinary research, gender equality and policies to achieve social justice. His PhD research focuses on mapping the development challenges of the Gunas, an indigenous group in Panama. The study seeks to follow a multi-stakeholder approach to identify key sustainability challenges in the socio-ecological systems (SES) of Gunas Yala, and explain patterns within the system using network analysis. |
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Shamik Chakraborty
Shamik Chakraborty is a Visiting Research Fellow at IR3S, University of Tokyo. He is a JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for the Advances Study of Sustainability of the United Nations University (UNU-IAS) in Tokyo, working with the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI). He received his PhD from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in 2011. His research focuses on socio-ecological landscapes and seascapes of Japan, and particularly the causes of their decline and ways of possible revival. He mainly conducts research from a human geographical perspective. Prior to joining IR3S and UNU-IAS, he conducted field studies in different parts of Japan. These included studies about the degradation of coastal fisheries of Seto Inland Sea; the social ecology and land use history of Satoyama landscapes in the Kuma river basin in Kumamoto prefecture; the roles of conservation initiatives and their links between society, ecology and landscapes; social ecology of grassland management in Aso volcanic area; and the role of tourism in the conservation of landscapes and biodiversity. In addition to Japan, he has research experiences in the Philippines, Indonesia, and India. |
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Spencer Sibanda
Spencer Sibanda is an MSc candidate at the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. He holds BA degrees in Liberal Arts and Accounting from Tokyo Christian University and Harare Polytechnic College in Zimbabwe. Spencer worked as an international relations officer with disadvantaged communities for the National Red Cross Society in Zimbabwe and South Africa prior coming to Japan in 2010. For the past two years, he has immersed himself deeply in Japanese society, active as both a language instructor and cultural ambassador in elementary, junior high, and high schools throughout Japan. His MSc research explores the linkages between social change, biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction in Sub Sahara Africa, and particularly in Zimbabwe. Other research interests include human-nature relationship, climate change, agricultural development, ecosystem services, food security and sustainable development. |
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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. |
