Transformations Community

Kyla Tienhaara is an associate professor and Canada research chair in economy and environment at the School of Environmental Studies and the Department of Global Development Studies at Queen’s University, Kingston. Her research currently focuses on the role of public and private investment in the energy transition. One area of her work has examined how private investors can use international treaties to block and delay the energy transition. Another area focuses on public investment through green stimulus/recovery programs and efforts worldwide to launch a Green New Deal.

Chris Riedy is a Professor of Sustainability Transformations and the Associate Director of Learning and Development at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney. He is a transdisciplinary action researcher, focusing primarily on energy transitions. Chris served as Co-Chair of the Transformations Conference 2023 and is an Advisor…

Mariana Zafeirakopoulos is a Social Design Lecturer at the University of Sydney. Mariana is a transdisciplinary scholar-practitioner, who works with other researchers and practitioners, combining different disciplines – like Social Sciences: International Relations, and Public Policy, with Design –  to create new knowledge for intervening in our ever-evolving and complex…

Etrit Shkreli is fascinated by how human beings frame their challenges, the assumptions they make, how this impacts their interactions, and the stories they tell about themselves, others, and their relationships. She studied psychology and politics. Etrit wrote her doctoral thesis on Hannah Arendt’s political thought and then went on…

Julianna Gwiszcz is a transdisciplinary, transboundary scholar-practitioner, activist, and transformations catalyst focused on sustainability, human rights, and global health. She’s passionate about creating a just and sustainable future for all. Her work combines hands-on learning and leadership development to drive global change. Two critical programs within the Transformations Community have…

Julia Leventon leads the Department of Human Dimensions of Global Change at the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CzechGlobe). The department as a whole looks at the responses of people, policy, and politics to global environmental change. Julia’s research focuses on transformative change towards sustainability,…

Blane Harvey is an Assistant Professor and William Dawson Scholar at McGill University’s Department for Integrated Studies in Education (Canada) where he leads the Leadership and Learning for Sustainability Lab. His research examines how knowledge on climate change and sustainability is produced, validated, and communicated, and how facilitated learning and knowledge…

Ignacio Gianelli is a Ph.D. student and Research Collaborator at the EqualSea Lab (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela) in Galicia, Spain. During his Ph.D., Ignacio is exploring, promoting, and communicating transformative pathways for small-scale fisheries. He aims to co-create transformative spaces in which to envision plural, possible and desirable futures for…

Lakshmi has a B.Sc. in biology, two M.Sc. in environmental management, and a PhD in sustainability sciences. For the past twelve years, she has been involved in capacity-building projects related to wetland management & water governance. She is currently working at the National Laboratory for Sustainability Sciences on research projects…

Dr. Yiheyis Taddele Maru is a social-ecological systems research scientist at CSIRO. He started his profession as a veterinarian and now has a post-graduate diploma in rural & natural systems management and a Ph.D. in integrative systems research, modeling, and building resilience & sustainable development of rural communities. At CSIRO, Yiheyis has been conducting…

Dr. Deborah O’Connell has unique expertise in ‘systems leadership’ – working across the system with a range of stakeholder groups, developing and applying new approaches to disaster risk reduction, vulnerability assessment, resilience building, systems-based strategy development, community engagement & facilitation. Deborah works across the sciences, arts & humanities to engage…

Dr. Andrea Jimenez is a lecturer in Information Management at The University of Sheffield. She has a Ph.D. from Royal Holloway University of London’s School of Management and a Masters’s in Sustainable Development. Her research focuses on the role of digital & social innovation as well as entrepreneurship in socio-economic…