BOArd of advisors
CESaRE’s Board of Advisors is a group of industry and academia experienced professionals that are at our side during these formative years. As a young Journal, gaining the support of leaders in the field helps transform our work, pushing us further to achieve our Vision. If you would like to join our Board, use the link to get in touch with us.
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Dr. Shobha Maharaj
External Role: Independent Researcher: Climate Change & Terrestrial Ecosystems, Mitigation and Adaptation
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Dr. Shobha Maharaj is a climate impacts scientist who has spent the last 12 years in a combination of research and practitioner roles centered around the assessment of climate impacts upon terrestrial ecosystems; biodiversity and protected areas management & planning. Her current research focuses on climate impacts and sustainable nature-based adaptation and mitigation strategies, especially across global biodiversity hotspots, islands and the Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use (AFOLU) sector.
She serves on several international climate related collaborations. Some of these include: (i) Lead Author on the IPCC’s upcoming AR6 for both the Small Islands Chapter and the Biodiversity Hotspots Cross-Chapter Paper; and Contributing Author to the Key Risks across Sectors and Regions Chapter (Working Group II); (ii) Lead Author on the IPBES-IPCC workshop report on climate change and biodiversity and (iii) Coordinating Lead Author of the Climate and Ecosystems chapter of the National Ecosystems Assessment of Grenada.
Laura Canevari
External Role: CEO and Founder of ITACA & Business Development Associate at Acclimatise
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Laura has ten years combined research and consulting experience working on climate change adaptation issues globally. She is the CEO and Founder of ITACA (Innovation, Training and Adaptation in Coastal Areas), a technical assistance service provider based in Panamá and committed to accelerating climate adaptation and resilience financing in the Caribbean. She also works for Acclimatise/Willis Tower Watson as climate risk analyst and business development associate. Laura holds a PhD in Geography from King´s College London, an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford University and a Bachelor of Marine Science (major in Coastal Management) from Queensland University.
Dr. Kalim U. Shah
External Role: Public Policy Professional specializing in Island Jurisdictions | Environment, Energy, Sustainability, Climate Change
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Dr. Shah is a recognized expert on public policy, regulation and and governance in small island jurisdictions. As an institutional theorist, his research addresses science-based policy and regulatory design and administration for climate change, pollution prevention, clean technology, industrialization and sustainable production and consumption. His new work is on the effectiveness of tools such as technology needs assessments and regulatory impact assessments for informing policy decisions.
He is currently Director of the Island Policy Lab and Assistant Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy and the Joseph Biden Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Delaware. He has also held faculty posts at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University and the University of Trinidad and Tobago in his country of origin.
Recently of note, Dr. Shah was appointed as the Coordinator of the Universities Consortium of Small Island States, a United Nations Multi-stakeholder Partnership and served as Coordinating Lead Author for Environmental Policy Assessment of the UN Global Environmental Outlook 6 Report. He is also current President of the Interdisciplinary Environmental Association.
He is a Fulbright Scholar, was an Organization of American States Ecology Fellow and a MacArthur Fellow. Dr. Shah received his Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Public Policy at George Mason University; M.Sc. In Natural Resource Management at the University of the West Indies, Barbados and B.Sc. In Biochemistry and Ecology at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago. He has over thirty peer-reviewed publications to date in journals including Energy Policy, Journal of Cleaner Production, Policy Sciences and Sustainability.
Dr. Rebekah Shirley
External Role: Director of Research, Data & Innovation at the World Resources Institute, Africa
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Dr. Rebekah Shirley is the Director of Research, Data & Innovation at the World Resources Institute, Africa, and former Chief of Research at Power for All. She leads teams in creating widespread access to data and applied insights for mobilizing sustainable energy solutions. Rebekah has won multiple awards for this work and has a combined fourteen years of research across Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. Rebekah earned her PhD and MSc in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was a University Chancellor’s Fellow building tools for integrated power system design in emerging markets. Rebekah has won grants from institutions such as the Mott Foundation, the European Climate Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation that support her research. Hailing from the West Indies, Rebekah now lives in Nairobi, Kenya where she is also a Visiting Research Fellow at Strathmore University, mentoring students and young researchers.
Alexander Girvan
External Role: Adjunct Senior Technical Officer at the Caribbean Natural Research Institute | Associate at the Cropper Foundation
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Alexander Girvan is an Environmental Economist with 11 years of experience in ecosystem assessments, environmental valuation, economic analysis, fundraising and environmental mainstreaming. He has served as the Programme Coordination of the Caribbean Sea Commission at the Association of Caribbean States and piloted the application of environmentally adjusted national accounts in Trinidad with the Global Environment Facility. Currently, his work focuses on developing sustainable livelihoods for the blue economy with vulnerable coastal communities in the Caribbean, through the application of participatory approaches, value chain methodologies and introduction of innovative finance, with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
He also serves as a Director at the Cropper Foundation, as a member of the Technical Sub-committee of the Trinidad and Tobago Extractive Industries Transparency Institute.
He received his BSc with a double major in Economics and Geography from McGill University and his MSc in Environmental Economics and Environmental Management from the University of York with best-in-class honours.
Navin Seeterram
External Role: Social Impact & Events Director at Cambridge University Social Impact & Sustainability Society
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