Before his appointment as new Dean of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, Niels Christian Nielsen was Centre director and professor at Aarhus University’s iNANO centre. Niels Christian Nielsen also has solid leadership experience. He has spearheaded a large number of Danish and international research projects, research units and centres in the course of his career. He has also been an active figure in research policy through his work with a number of foundations, boards and councils, including the Danish Council for Research Policy. In 2009, Niels Christian Nielsen was knighted for his research contributions and his research policy activities.
A graduate of the National Veterinary School of Toulouse and the National School of Veterinary Services, Jean-Marc Bournigal, 49 years old, has dedicated his career to agricultural and food issues and is well-versed in European issues. From 1995 to 1997, he was an advisor in the office of Philippe Vasseur, then Minister of Agriculture, before carrying out several assignments in France and overseas. As Inspector General of Veterinary Public Health, he became delegate for agricultural affairs in France’s permanent delegation to the European Union in 2002 and went on to become Director General of Food (DGAL) at the Ministry of Agriculture in 2006. He was then named Director General of Agriculture, Agri-Food and Land Policy (DGPAAT) in 2009, where he closely led CEMAGREF research programmes in the framework of agreements with the Ministry of Agriculture. He was then appointed Chief of Staff to Minister Bruno Le Maire in 2010 and named President of Irstea by decree of the President of the French Republic in March 2012. In April 2013, Bournigal took over the Chairmanship of the Partnership for European Environmental Research till 2015. Bournigal is passionate about research and innovation which he has always supported in the positions he has held.
Professor Anne Glover joined the European Commission on the 1st January 2012 as first Chief Scientific Adviser to the European Commission. She provides expert advice on science, technology and innovation to policymakers and the Commission President. From 2006 to 2011 she had been the Chief Scientific Advisor for Scotland. In February 2013 she has been appointed to chair the newly created Science and Technology Advisory Council to the President.
She has played major roles for UK research councils in the setting of strategic priorities and budgets for science and has been a partner in several European research initiatives. In 2006, she was awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by the Queen in recognition of her services to environmental sciences. In 2008 she was made a Woman of Outstanding Achievement in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) and has worked hard to raise the profile of women in SET and to ensure that not only are women are recruited into careers in SET but that they are supported to remain in the profession during their careers.
Head of the Environmental Technology Unit, European Commission, Environment Research Directorate
Andrea Tilche’s scientific career has been mainly carried out in Italy where he established and directed the wastewater treatment laboratories of ENEA in Bologna, carrying on research on advanced anaerobic treatment and biological nutrient removal technologies. In 1998 he moved to the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in Ispra as Head of the Water Research and Monitoring Unit, and later moved to Brussels to lead the Water Key Action of the 5th Framework Programme. Dr. Tilche is now Head of the Environmental Technologies and Pollution Prevention Unit within the Environment Directorate of Directorate General Research. In this position, he is in charge of drafting European research programs in the field of Environmental Technologies and of managing their execution.
Bruyninckx studied political science with a specialization in international relations at Antwerp University and the University of Leuven. He then went on obtaining an additional degree in development studies at the Université catholique de Louvain and, subsequently, earned his PhD degree in 1996 at Colorado State University on the topic of international environmental politics. His academic expertise lies primarily in the field of international environmental policy, studying the effects of globalization on the global governance of environmental issues and sustainable development. From this perspective he is also involved in the study of global production and consumption systems, as well as in issues relating to distribution and justice. He is the current Executive Director of the European Environment Agency. Upon receiving this appointment, he took leave from his post as Professor of International Relations and Global Environmental Governance in the Institute for International and European Policy, and as Director of the Research Institute for Work and Society, both at the University of Leuven.
Claus holds an M.Sc in Chemical Engineering, a Ph.D. in Sustainability Management, and he is appointed Honorary Professor at the University of Aalborg and the Copenhagen Institute of Technology, where he contributes to the development of futures leaders. Before joining Novozymes, Claus was leading the Global Sustainability and Quality activities of the Hartmann Packaging Group. Claus Stig Pedersen is currently a member of the Corporate Advisory Council of the Sustainability Consortium, member of Procter & Gamble´s Supplier Sustainability Board. He is Liaison Delegate to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and member of the Board of the Danish Business Council for Sustainable Development. He also represent Novozymes in the UN Global compact LEAD initiative.
David Gee has been working at the interface of science, economics, production and policy making within occupational and environmental health since 1974. He has worked for trade unions and NGOs – being a past director of Friends of the Earth UK–and as a consultant. Since December 1995, he has worked for the European Environment Agency (EEA, Copenhagen), on science, policy and emerging issues. Among many other projects, David has been the catalyst, EEA editor, and a chapter co-author for the two volumes of Late Lessons Early Warnings published by the EEA in 2001 and 2013. David is also a founding Fellow of Collegium Ramazzini, an independent, international academy whose mission is to advance the study of occupational and environmental health issues, assess present and future risks of injury and disease attributable to the workplace and the environment, especially preventable risk factors, and transmit its views on these hazards and their prevention to policy-making bodies, authorities, agencies and the public.
Frans Berkhout is Professor of Innovation and Sustainability, and Director of the Amsterdam Global Change Institute at the VU University Amsterdam. He was director of the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) from 2004 to 2012. Before 2004 he was with SPRU (Science and Technology Policy Research), University of Sussex (UK). He holds a Geography BSc (University of Leeds, 1983) and a PhD in Science and Technology Policy Studies (University of Sussex, 1989). He did post-doctoral research at Princeton University (US). Among other advisory roles, Professor Berkhout will be a lead author in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (2013/14) and chair of the NWO Energy Transitions research programme. Professor Berkhout has extensive research, management and research training experience across a number of fields. His early research was concerned with the economic, political and security aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle and radioactive waste management. His more recent work has been concerned with technology, policy and sustainability, with a specific focus on climate policy.
Professor Markandya was appointed as Professor of Economics at Bath in 1996. He taught economics at University College London from 1970 to 1992 and at the Kennedy School of Government Harvard University from 1992 to 1996. Various times he has been a visiting professor at Princeton and Berkeley in the US and at universities in Italy, France and Australia. Environmental and resource economics has been the focus of Markandya’s research over the last twenty years and he is an acknowledged international authority in the field. Previously he has worked on valuation of the environment, external costs of fuels, green accounting, eonomy-wide policies and the environment, climate change, ozone layer protection and development of economic instruments for environmental protection. Anil is Scientific Director of the Basque Centre for Climate Change. In recent years he has been a Coordinating Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Third Assessment Report - with responsibility for costing methodologies for mitigation options. He was also until recently on secondment as Lead Economist at the World Bank.
Roger B. Street is the Director, Adaptation Science within UKCIP, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University and the Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) Climate Adaptation Fellow. At UKCIP, he provides the strategic direction for the Programme, and leads its technical and scientific work aimed at guiding risk, vulnerability and adaptation assessments, and at delivering credible and salient resources and tools. Roger also plays a leading role in the UK in working with the research and stakeholder communities to understand evidence and research gaps required to inform adaptation policy and practice. Roger also leads the Adaptation and Resilience to a Changing Climate Coordination Network that coordinates researcher and other stakeholder engagement in the delivery of quality research and and relevant outputs that best meet their needs focusing on the built environment and infrastructure sectors.
Roger Street will give a key note presentation with the title: A perspective on adaptation research and evidence gaps: informing decisions and policy.
In 2010, Sebastian obtained his Doctoral Degree at BOKU Doctoral School of Sustainable Development. From 1999 to 2006 he studied for a Diploma in Environmental Sciences at Leuphana University of Lüneburg, ETH Zurich and Universidad del País Vasco. Helgenberger’s expertise lies within the fields of climate change; Corporate adaptive capacity, capacity of response; Transdisciplinary Research; Sustainable Development; EU Research Policy; Joint Programming (JPI CLIMATE, JPI FACCE); Social Science Climate Change Research;
In 2012 Helgenberger worked as an expert for Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and in 2013 he reviewed articles for the scientific journal Global Environmental Change: human and policy dimensions.
