Bao-Jie He is a professor of Urban Climate and Sustainable Built Environment at Chongqing University, China. Prior to Chongqing University, Baojie is working on heat-resilient cities and communities. Baojie is a PI, Co-PI, and key investigator of many projects on urban climate and built environment in China and Australia. Baojie has been invited to act as topic editor-in-chief, leading guest editor, associate editor, conference chair, sessional chair, and scientific committee of a variety of reputable international journals and conferences. Baojie received "Highly Cited Researcher" title from the Clarivate in 2022 and 2023, the Sustainability Young Investigator Award in 2022, and the Green Talents Award in 2021.
Dr. Joni Jupesta rejoined UNU-IAS in 2023 as a research fellow and academic associate. From 2020 to 2023, he was a senior researcher at the Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) in Kyoto, Japan, where he focused on mid- and long-term net-zero GHG emissions through carbon dioxide removals (CDR), carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and low energy demand (LED). Dr. Jupesta gained industry experience as a senior manager on corporate GHG emissions at Sinar Mas Agribusiness and Food Company based in Jakarta, Indonesia (2013-2020). He obtained his Ph.D. in Management Science and Technology from Tohoku University in 2010. He was a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report on WG III Climate Change Mitigation (2018-2022) and Task Force Bureau Member IPCC on National GHG Inventories for its 7th cycle.
Prof. Dr. Giuseppe T. Cirella is a professor of Human Geography at the University of Gdansk, Poland, where he received a Doctor of Habilitation in Economics and Finance. He specializes in economic development, environmental social science, and sustainability. His background also includes socio-political research throughout Eastern Europe, Africa, and China. After completing his Ph.D. at Griffith University, Australia, he has held professorships and scientific positions at the University of Pretoria, South Africa; Saint Petersburg State University, Russia; Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, China; Life University, Cambodia; and Free University of Bozen, Italy. In his early career, he worked with the Canadian International Development Agency in Indonesia as well as with Radarsat International in Brazil. He is also on the editorial board of a number of internationally renowned academic peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Gloria Pignatta is a Scientia Lecturer in the School of Built Environment at UNSW Sydney (Australia). Her research focuses on building energy efficiency and sustainability in the built environment. Her research in the field of urban development touches on the global problem of climate adaptation and mitigation, but also social challenges, such as energy inequality. Her research aims to improve the performance of buildings to enhance their liveability through the development and the implementation of advanced passive solutions. She is a civil engineer with a Ph.D. in Energy Engineering from the University of Perugia, Italy. In 2017, she was a postdoctoral associate and building and construction expert at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), Singapore, and in 2016, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Inter-University Research Center on Pollution and Environment "Mauro Felli" (CIRIAF), University of Perugia, Italy.