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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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Alice Karanja
Alice Karanja is a Project Researcher at the Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), University of Tokyo. For her current research work she assesses the sustainability impacts of small-scale aquaculture and fisheries projects in developing countries. She obtained a PhD from the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI) at the University of Tokyo in 2019. For her PhD she studied the adoption and impacts of clean cookstoves in Kiambu and Muranga districts of Kenya. Before coming to Japan, Alice was a Tutorial Fellow at the Maasai Mara University in Kenya working on interdisciplinary approaches to explore the interaction between sustainable energy, climate change, ecosystem services, economic development and policy interventions. She holds a BSc from Moi University, Kenya (2012) and an MSc from The Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand (2014) |
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Dalelan Anderson
Dalelan Anderson is an MSc candidate in the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI), University of Tokyo. Before joining GPSS-GLI he worked as a Scientific Officer and Researcher for marine ecosystem conservation and climate change adaptation initiatives in Jamaica. He also served as the General Manager of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) engaged in fisheries management and education. He earned his BSc in Environmental Biology from the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica.
His research interests include the evaluation of over-fished marine resources in reefs affected by climate change and are culturally important, and the implications for food security, economic development and human livelihoods. His current research focuses on the economic valuation of the parrotfish species in Jamaica as it relates to coral reef resilience to climate change, and its economic contribution to coastal artisanal communities. |
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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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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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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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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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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 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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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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Merle Naidoo
Merle Naidoo is a Visiting Researcher 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 PhD on Sustainability Science from the University of Tokyo, adiploma 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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. |
