SFU experts available for Earth Day

Earth Day (April 22) will highlight the ongoing world climate crisis and mark the start of a two-day virtual Leaders’ Summit on Climate, hosted by U.S. president Joe Biden. Forty world leaders will meet to discuss the urgency for stronger climate action, while starting April 20, Earth.org will host a three-day virtual event to highlight the effects of climate change and the need for solutions to protect the global environment. 

The following SFU experts are available to speak on various topics related to climate change and sustainability amid the ongoing global pandemic. 

AVAILABLE SFU EXPERTS

Climate Policy

NANCY OLEWILER, professor, economics, Nancy_olewiler@sfu.ca

•  Economics and policy
•  Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
•  Increasing resilience to climate impacts

Environment & COVID-19

MAYA GISLASON, professor, health sciences, maya_gislason@sfu.ca

• Social and ecological drivers of COVID-19 
• Climate change, mental health and children 
• Climate change communication 
• Public health impacts of intensive resource extraction on Canadian populations
• How equity, diversity and inclusion can be applied to thinking about community and environmental health 

Gislason will be giving a lecture for Pacific Aids Network (PAN) on April 22

CECILIA SIERRA HEREDIA, health sciences, sierrahe@sfu.ca

• Climate change, allergies, environmental health and research methods

KRISTEN ZICKFELD, professor, geography, kzickfel@sfu.ca

• Current and future consequences of global heating, science of net-zero, carbon dioxide removal

Environmental Education 

DAVID ZANDVLIET, professor, education, 604.219.0362, david_zandvliet@sfu.ca (Zandvliet is the first United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair in Bio-Cultural Diversity and Education to improve environmental education)

• Environmental education and climate change education.
• Ocean literacy issues, science and environmental communication 

Sustainability 

MICHAEL ADACHI, assistant professor, engineering science, mmadachi@sfu.ca

• Advancing Canada’s solar cell technology to provide environmental and economic benefits 
• Development of flexible monocrystalline silicon solar cells

ZAFAR ADEEL, professor, School of Sustainable Energy Engineering, zadeel@sfu.ca

• Global water security and management 
• Climate change adaptation and responses to the Paris Agreement and sustainable development goals (SDGs)
• Policy ramifications for water security as international attention is focused on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic

ALEX BOSTON, Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, 604.928.2347, a_boston@sfu.ca  (you can also contact Andrea Hedley 604.264.0838 (communications))

• Community energy planning, urban planning, climate policy, urban sustainability and climate change adaptation 
• Sustainable energy, green cities issues (energy, buildings, transport) 

ANDREANNE DOYON, assistant professor, resource & environmental management, 403.707.7141, andreanne.doyon@sfu.ca

• Issues related to urban planning, sustainability and climate change 
• Equity and justice considerations regarding climate change 

MARTIN ESTER, professor, computing science, ester@sfu.ca

• Precision agriculture  
• Using machine learning to discover new activities/molecules that create synergy with pesticides, to boost efficacy of organic pesticides to the same level as traditional pesticides 

BIRUTE GALDIKAS, archaeology, drbirute@gmail.com

• Can talk about her life’s work - marking 50 years in the field - among the world’s orangutans, the challenges facing the species and their habitat including climate change 

ANIL HIRA, professor, political science, anil_hira@sfu.ca (Hira is the lead for SFU's Clean Energy Research Group (CERG)

• New policy paper on geothermal energy CERG.html
• Renewable energy and climate change challenges from a policy perspective in the Global South

SAMI KHAN, assistant professor, School of Sustainable Energy Engineering, s_khan@sfu.ca

• Systems to rapidly capture and convert carbon dioxide from power plant emissions and reduce overall carbon dioxide emissions 
• Methods to capture carbon dioxide from air and convert to useful products such as automotive fuels, polymers and cement  
• New paper in Cell Reports on interfacial engineering to instantly capture and concentrate carbon dioxide 
  

TACO NIET, assistant professor, School of Sustainable Energy Engineering, taco_niet@sfu.ca

• System interactions and challenges between climate, energy, land and water 
• Renewable energy integration, storage and energy system challenges 
• Modelling to support sustainable development 

MERRAN SMITH, Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, 778.951.8060, merran@cleanenergycanada.org  (can also be reached through assistant Keri McNamra, keri@cleanenergycanada.org)

• Federal/provincial climate and energy policy 
• Clean energy, clean tech, clean investment, clean transport, climate advocacy 
• Clean economy, EVs, ZEV mandate, COVID-19 economic recovery 
  

HENDRIK WOLFF, associate professor, economics, hendrik_wolff@sfu.ca (is in Europe with limited availability)

• Carbon taxes and energy issues in the U.S. and Canada 
• Urban mobility and transportation issues

 

CONTACT

MELISSA SHAW, SFU  Communications & Marketing 
236.880.3297 | melissa_shaw@sfu.ca

Simon Fraser University 
Communications & Marketing | SFU Media Experts Directory 
778.782.3210

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As Canada’s engaged university, SFU works with communities, organizations and partners to create, share and embrace knowledge that improves life and generates real change. We deliver a world-class education with lifelong value that shapes change-makers, visionaries and problem-solvers. We connect research and innovation to entrepreneurship and industry to deliver sustainable, relevant solutions to today’s problems. With campuses in British Columbia’s three largest cities—Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey—SFU has eight faculties that deliver 193 undergraduate degree programs and 127 graduate degree programs to more than 37,000 students. The university now boasts more than 165,000 alumni residing in 143 countries.