Georgetown University Subject Matter Experts for the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP29)

WASHINGTON- Georgetown University professors offer their expertise to journalists seeking interviews on subjects related to the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP29) from November 11 through November 22, 2024.

To request an interview, please contact Georgetown's Office of Communications at [email protected].

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Climate Change Experts

Joanna Lewis, Provost's Distinguished Associate Professor of Energy and Environment and director of the Science, Technology and International Affairs Program (STIA)

Dr. Lewis has more than two decades of experience with international climate and clean energy policy with a focus on China. In addition to her current work at Georgetown, Dr. Lewis also runs the Clean Energy and Climate Research Group and leads several dialogues facilitating U.S.-China climate change engagement. She has worked for multiple governmental and non-governmental organizations, including the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, the Asia Society and the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Her research is supported by the National Science Foundation, the Center for Security and Emerging Technologies and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Her expertise in clean energy policy can provide a frame of reference for possible policies emerging from the conference.

Relevant Publications: 2023 MIT Press, "Cooperating For The Climate: Learning From International Partnerships In China's Clean Energy Sector" and 2020 University of Washington Press, "Greening East Asia: The Rise Of The Eco-developmental State"

Relevant Expertise: climate change, climate policy, International energy and clean energy science

Open to: TV, Print and Radio

Megan Lickley, assistant professor of Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service

Dr. Lickley's research examines the drivers and impacts of climate change. She uses tools from data science that bridge climate science, math and policy in order to assess a range of outcomes and their likelihood of occurring. This involves combining various Earth system models with in situ measurements and population data in a rigorous statistical framework. Dr. Lickley applies these methods to core climate issues including water resources, the duration of rapid climate change, and sea level change. Her work has focused on evaluating global compliance with the Montreal Protocol and climate change impacts for the World Bank of Uganda. Dr. Lickley can speak on climate change, global compliance and assessing outcomes and their likelihood of occurring.

Relevant Publications: 2024 "Heat Wave Time of Emergence Patterns: a Matter of Definition." Environmental Research Communications and 2023 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, "Climate Oscillation Impacts on Water Supply Augmentation Planning."

Relevant Expertise: climate change uncertainty, climate impacts and global compliance

Open to: TV, Print and Radio

Raphael Calel, associate professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy

Dr. Calel is an applied environmental economist engaged in the evaluation of climate change policy at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy. His research investigates the implementation and economic impacts of the EU Emissions Trading System and the Clean Development Mechanism and the challenges of forecasting the economic damages from climate change. Dr. Calel's expertise has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Fast Company, and MIT Technology Review.

Relevant Publications: 2022 WIREs Climate Change, "Allocation, allocation, allocation! The political economy of the development of the European Union Emissions Trading System" and 2020 Nature Communications, "Temperature variability implies greater economic damages from climate change"

Relevant Expertise: climate change, climate policy, international energy and clean energy science

Open to: Print

Environmental Justice Experts

Monica Sanders, adjunct professor of law

Professor Sanders specializes in the intersection of policy and climate equity. She teaches Law, Policy and Practice in Disasters and Complex Emergencies at the Georgetown Law Center and previously served as a Senior Legal Advisor for International Response and Programs at the American Red Cross. Before joining Georgetown University, Professor Sanders was a Senior Fellow at Tulane University's Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy, where she designed the first-in-the-nation programs on disaster equity and the "Climate X JEDI" Spring Institute. She was recently appointed to the National Academies Committee on "Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and their Impacts." Her expertise in cross-cultural communications and climate equity policies can provide background to the current and future policies in question at the conference.

Relevant Publications: 2020 Traumatology, "Equity In Addressing Climate Change: Using Law And Policy To Serve Frontline Communities" and 2025 UNDRR Americas Regional Reports (forthcoming),"Inclusive Technology: Bridging Cultures and Climate Resilience."

Relevant Expertise: environmental justice, climate equity, disaster equity and public policy

Open to: TV, Print and Radio

Randall Amster, teaching professor, director of the Environmental Studies Program and co-director of the Environment and Sustainability Program

Dr. Amster is a published author of subjects including social and environmental justice, political theory, peace and nonviolence and emerging technologies. He has served as a subject matter expert and member of editorial boards for numerous scholarly publications. His research explores environmental peacebuilding, climate justice and the connection between communities and ecology. His expertise can provide references to the principles of environmentalism and resource management.

Relevant Publications: 2023 Environment, Space, Place, 15, 1, "Reinhabiting Ecotopia: Weaving the Threads of People, Place, and Possibilities"

Relevant Expertise: climate change, emerging technology, environment and justice studies

Open to: Print and Radio

Tim Bartley, professor in the Department of Sociology and Earth Commons

Dr. Bartley is a sociologist who studies sustainability standards, environmental/environmental justice movements, and the regulation of global industries with a focus on political, organizational, and economic processes that shape environments around the globe. Currently, his work examines regulatory change in the European Union (including the development of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism), collective perceptions of "distant" problems, and how green industrial transitions proceed or falter utilizing both qualitative and quantitative research, ranging from semi-structured interviews with companies and advocacy groups to survey experiments with citizen-consumers and workers. Dr. Bartley's expertise in global industry regulations and sustainability standards can provide background to regulation changes and the connection between global markets and climate policy.

Relevant Publications: 2024 Regulation & Governance, "Tackling Toxins: Case Studies of Industrial Pollutants and Implications for Climate Policy" and 2022 American Sociological Review, "Global Markets, Corporate Assurances, and the Legitimacy of State Intervention: Perceptions of Distant Labor and Environmental Problems"

Relevant Expertise: sustainability standards, environmental justice movements, global regulations, climate policy

Open to: TV, Print and Radio

Politics of Energy Experts

Marcus King, professor of the practice in Environment and International Affairs in the Science and Technology in International Affairs Program (STIA) at Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service

Dr. King's expertise and research focus on identifying linkages between environmental change and societal instability in fragile states. He draws on experience from a number of governmental and non-governmental organizations including CNA Corporation's Center for Naval Analyses, as Research Director of the Sustainable Energy Institute and Senior Manager for Energy and Security Programs at a private consultancy. He has held Presidential appointments in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he represented the United States for negotiation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Office of the Secretary of Energy. King is Vice Chairman of the Council on Strategic Risks and a member of the Center for Climate and Security's Advisory Board. Dr. King can speak on topics related to environmental security and transnational resilience.

Relevant Publications: 2023 Lynne Rienner, "Weaponizing Water: Water Stress and Islamist Extremist Violence in Africa and The Middle East"

Relevant expertise: environmental security, climate change resilience and transnational security

Open to: TV, Print and Radio

Thane Gustafson, professor in the Department of Government

Dr. Gustafson is a scholar of political science at the Georgetown University Department of Government and holds expertise in the politics of energy and climate change worldwide with a focus on Russia. He also teaches "The Politics of Climate Change" which explores the comparative politics of the United States, European Union, China, Russia and India about climate change and its consequences. Dr. Gustafson can provide expertise on the difficulty of addressing climate change and its impact on political systems.

Relevant Publications: 2020 Harvard University Press, "The Bridge: Natural Gas in a Redivided Europe", 2022 Harvard University Press, "Klimat: Russia in the Age of Climate Change" and Oxford University Press 2025 (forthcoming), "Perfect Storm: Russia's Failed Opening, War and Sanctions, and the Uncertain Future"

Relevant Expertise: Russian and European affairs, climate policy and energy security

Open to: TV, Print and Radio

Global Health Experts

Katie Atkin, assistant professor at the Georgetown University School of Nursing

Dr. Atkin DNP, WHNP-BC, ANP-BC is interested in exploring the impact that climate change has on the health and well being of pregnant people and how it is expanding the existing gap in disparate maternal and infant health outcomes across racial groups in the United States. In her prior faculty appointment at MGH Institute of Health Professions (IHP) in Boston, MA, she served on the Steering Committee of the MGHIHP Center for Climate Change, Climate Justice, and Health. Dr. Atkin's work focuses on educating future and current clinicians on ways to reduce health inequities in pregnancy by providing education on the adverse outcomes that occur with exposure to extreme heat and air pollution in pregnancy as well as strategies to mitigate risk.

Relevant Publications: 2023 Journal Of The American Association Of Nurse Practitioners, "Development Of A Screening Tool For Assessment Of Climate Change-related Heat Illness In The Clinical Setting."

Relevant Expertise: global climate change and health

Open to: TV, Print and Radio

Rebecca Katz, professor and director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security

Dr. Katz holds joint appointments at Georgetown University Medical Center and the School of Foreign Service. Before joining Georgetown University, Dr. Katz was a consultant to the Department of State on issues regarding Biological Weapons Conventions, Pandemic Influenza and Disease Surveillance, and later became a Senior Advisor on the global COVID-19 responses. She teaches global health diplomacy, emerging infectious diseases and global health security. Dr. Katz can speak on the implementation of domestic and global health regulations and the importance of global health security concerning the connection between health and climate change.

Relevant Expertise: global health security policy, health diplomacy and international health regulations

Open to: TV, Print and Radio

Business of Sustainability Experts

Amrita Kundu, assistant professor of operations and information management

Amrita Kundu is an assistant professor of operations and analytics at the McDonough School of Business and is an expert in how businesses can create social value and improve environmental sustainability. Currently, Dr. Kundu has been has been completing ongoing fieldwork based in Bangladesh to identify pathways to reduce lead poisoning from informal recycling of lead acid batteries. She also received a $280k grant from UN SMEP via an NGO called Pure Earth to fight lead poisoning globally. Dr. Kundu can provide expertise on circular supply chains, business model innovation, technology adoption in emerging markets, the impact of disruptions on small firm performance in developing countries and the role of resilience in overcoming the negative impact.

Relevant Publications: 2022 Manufacturing & Service Operations Management "Timely After-sales Service And Technology Adoption: Evidence From The Off-grid Solar Market In Uganda."

Relevant expertise: circular supply chains, business model innovation, technology adoption in emerging markets and the social value of environmental sustainability.

Open to:

Anil Khurana, executive director of the Baratta Center for Global Business

Dr. Anil Khurana is the founding Executive Director of the Baratta Center for Global Business and Research Professor at Georgetown University's McDonough Business School. He has more than 30 years of experience in industry, consulting, academia, government, and private equity. His industry experience includes aerospace, manufacturing, auto, engineering, energy, mobility/transport, technology, sustainability, and government. Most recently he was a senior partner with PwC Strategy and led PwC's $7.5B global industrials and automotive business unit. Dr. Khurana is an expert in global innovation and technology, global business and sustainability and global value chains.

Relevant Expertise: international business, science technology and innovation, sustainability, supply chain mobility/ transport and global value chains

Open to: TV, Print and Radio

Safak Yucel, associate professor and Associate Director at the Business of Sustainability Initiative

Safak Yucel is an associate professor of Operations Management (with tenure) at the McDonough School of Business and the associate director of the Business of Sustainability Initiative. His research focuses on renewable and conventional energy sources, investments in renewable energy, business implications of climate change and sustainability operations. Prior to joining Georgetown, Dr. Yucel worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy. His research has appeared in leading journals, including Management Science and Manufacturing and Service Operations Management. Dr. Yucel's expertise in sustainability operations can provide context to investments in renewable energy.

Relevant Publications: 2022 Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, "Smart Charging of Electric Vehicles: An Innovative Business Model for Utility Firms", 2020 Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, "Promoting Solar Panel Investments: Feed-in-tariff versus Tax-rebate Policies" and 2020 Manufacturing and Service Operations Management "Investments in Renewable and Conventional Energy: The Role of Operational Flexibility"

Relevant expertise: renewable and conventional energy sources, investments in renewable energy, business implications of climate change and sustainability operations

Open to: TV, Print and Radio

Vishal Agrawal, Henry J. Blommer Family Chair in Sustainable Business and professor of operations management

Vishal Agrawal is Henry J. Blommer Family Endowed Chair in Sustainable Business and Professor of Operations Management at the McDonough School of Business. He currently serves as the Academic Director for the Business of Sustainability Initiative and Co-Academic Director of the M.S. in Environment and Sustainability Management. His research has been awarded the Dissertation Proposal Award by The Aspen Institute Center for Business Education and in 2023 he was awarded the MSOM Young Scholar Prize, which recognizes exceptional young researchers (of age 40 years or younger) who have made outstanding contributions to scholarship in operations management. Dr. Agrawal can speak on the managerial challenges in business and the environment, the effect of consumer behavior on operations, energy, and sustainability, fast fashion impact on sustainability efforts.

Relevant Publications: 2022 Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, "Non-ownership Business Models For Solar Energy." and 2022 Management Science, "Design Of Electricity Demand-response Programs."

Relevant Expertise: business model innovation, business of sustainability, operations management and sustainability

Open to: TV, Print and Radio

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