SFU Experts at COP28

Coming at a critical time when heat records are being set and nations are struggling to stick to their climate commitments, world leaders and experts will gather in the United Arab Emirates for the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12.

A delegation of experts from Simon Fraser University will be attending COP28 in person and are ready to speak to media. And other SFU experts are also available to speak on various aspects of climate change impacting the future of our planet and unique programs at the university – including a new ecological chaplain to help students with climate-related anxiety.

SFU COP28 DELEGATION

KIRSTEN ZICKFELD, professor of climate science and director, SFU Climate Research Lab | kzickfel@sfu.ca

• Author of the special report on the Global Warming of 1.5 Degrees for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2018 and an author of the IPCC’s sixth assessment report (2021)
• Climate science 
• Scientific perspective on carbon removal and nature-based climate solutions
  
• Carbon budgets consistent with climate goals

ZAFAR ADEEL, director pro tem, School of Sustainable Energy Engineering | zadeel@sfu.ca

• Economic impacts of climate change, the Loss and Damage Fund, climate change impacts on global water cycle, and societal adaptations to climate change impacts
• Global water security and management 
  
• Climate change adaptation and responses to the Paris Agreement and sustainable development goals (SDGs) in relation to the 2030 agenda for sustainable development

JUDE CRASTA, rogram manager, Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue | jude_crasta@sfu.ca

• The role of cities in advancing multilevel climate action 
• The power of convening through dialogue

SID MEHTA, senior director, Ancillary Services | sid_mehta@sfu.ca

• The global shift towards sustainable food systems 
  
• The role of universities in contributing to climate action 
  
• SFU’s role as a leader in accelerating sustainable food systems 
• expertise 4

FEYZA SAHINYAZAN, assistant professor, Beedie School of Business | feyza_sahinyazan@sfu.ca

• Humanitarian supply chains 
• Long-term food and energy access problems 

AVAILABLE SFU EXPERTS

JASON BROWN, ecological chaplain, environment | jason_brown_3@sfu.ca

• SFU’s Faculty of Environment and the Multifaith Centre have launched an Ecological Chaplaincy Pilot Project to explore the provision of pastoral and spiritual care to members of the SFU community experiencing anxiety and grief related to the climate and extinction crises. Brown is SFU’s first ecological chaplain to lead this work 
• Climate anger and anxiety

JOHN CLAGUE, professor emeritus, earth sciences, CRC chair in natural hazard science | john_clague@sfu.ca

• Sea-level rise & impacts of climate warming on the cryosphere (glaciers, ice sheets, permafrost)

RADOSLAV DIMITROV, graduate program chair, professor, Department of Political Science | rdimitro@sfu.ca

• Dimitrov participated in UN climate talks for more than 10 years as a government diplomat on the European Union delegation; helped negotiate the Paris Agreement and redesign the EU negotiating strategy in 2018, and was co-chair of the EU Task Force on Climate Communication. 
• Climate diplomacy, global climate change negotiations & the United Nations 
• Global environmental politics 
• Transitions to a clean economy 

ANDREANNE DOYON, assistant professor, resource and environmental management | andreanne_doyon@sfu.ca

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

GWENN FLOWERS, professor and graduate program chair, earth sciences | gflowers@sfu.ca

• General state and evolution of the terrestrial cryosphere (how glaciers and ice sheets work)
• How glaciers are responding to climate change 
  
• How experts measure & model to understand these changes

MAYA GISLASON, associate professor, health sciences, Planetary Health Research Group | maya_gislason@sfu.ca

• Planetary health, climate change, intergenerational climate equity, cumulative impacts of intensive resource extraction, climate change, mental health and children, climate change communication

ANDY HIRA, department chair, professor, political science | ahira@sfu.ca

• Energy markets & regulation 
• Green transition for remote & developing communities 
• Geopolitics of energy 

SAMI KHAN, assistant professor, sustainable energy engineering | s_khan@sfu.ca

• Carbon capture and conversion system to reduce CO2 emissions 
• Action Canada Fellow – looking into policy and sustainability

GEOFF MANN, director, Centre for Global Political Economy | geoffm@sfu.ca

• Author of Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future (2018) 

TACO NIET, assistant professor, sustainable energy engineering | taco_niet@sfu.ca

• Climate policy & modelling energy alternatives; working with UN member states to assess resource systems to meet Paris Agreement targets 
  
• Energy justice & equity – how to decarbonize our energy system while assuring equitable access to energy & addressing environmental justice considerations

AVIVA PHILIPP-MULLER, assistant professor, marketing | aviva_philipp-muller@sfu.ca

• Climate change deniers 
• How climate change can be better marketed to influence more to take action

LYNNE QUARMBY, professor, biological sciences | quarmby@sfu.ca

• Quarmby is available to speak about 'red snow', for which she has a new research paper releasing this week. The phenomenon is connected to snow changing colour from a species of algae that absorb more heat and speed up the melting process.

MARK ZACHARIAS, executive director, Clean Energy Canada | For media inquiries, please email Keri McNamra: keri@cleanenergycanada.org

• Climate policy, energy policy, B.C. climate policy, federal climate policy, clean energy, clean tech, clean investment, clean transport, climate advocacy, clean economy.

 

CONTACT

RAY SHARMA, SFU Communications & Marketing 
ray_sharma@sfu.ca

MATT KIELTYKA,  SFU Communications & Marketing 
236.880.2187 | matt_kieltyka@sfu.ca

 

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

ABOUT SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Who We Are
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 364 undergraduate degree programs and 149 graduate degree programs to more than 37,000 students. The university now boasts more than 180,000 alumni residing in 145+ countries.