Professor David M. Driesen, Chair, Board of Directors, Senior Advisor

Professor Driesen is University Professor Emeritus at the College of Law of Syracuse University. He focuses on constitutional law, law and economics, and environmental law. Professor Driesen has published four books and many journal articles. His book, the Economic Dynamics of Environmental Law (MIT Press) won the Lynton Keith Caldwell Award of the American Political Science Association in 2004. Driesen was a Senior Project Attorney for The Natural Resources Defense Council. He clerked for Justice Robert Utter of the Washington State Supreme Court and worked in the Washington State Attorney General’s Office. Driesen holds a J.D. from the Yale Law School and a Bachelor of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory. Professor Driesen performs with the Excelsior Cornet Band and the Syracuse University Brass Ensemble.  

Professor Hu Xiao, Member, Board of Directors, Senior Scientific Advisor

Dr. Hu is a professor and founding member at the School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. He is the Director of the Environmental Chemistry and Materials Programme (ECMP) at the Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute (NEWRI) in NTU. He served as the Founding Co-Director of the RGE-NTU Sustainable Textile Research Centre (SusTex) and now serves as its Scientific Advisor. Dr. Hu has focused his attention on issues including plastics and textile fashion circularity, enhancement of efficiency and resilience in agriculture, proliferation of more sustainable and affordable water technology, and environmental health.

Professor Gregory Trencher, Member, Board of Directors, Senior Advisor

Dr. Trencher is an associate professor at the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies at Kyoto University in Japan. He focuses on the researches of energy policy and the governance of sustainability transitions. His current investigating topics include fossil-fuel phase-outs, company decarbonisation behaviour, next-generation mobility (electric, fuel-cell and autonomous vehicles) and smart cities. Dr. Trencher holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo.

Dr. Diarmuid O'Donoghue, Member, Board of Directors, Advisor

Dr. O’Donoghue is a Senior Research Security Advisor at Imperial College London, where he develops and maintains policy, governance and assurance related to export controls and security. Dr. O’Donoghue has published on Research Security and Export Controls, China's higher education, science system and technology system, comparative global higher education, and social policy. He holds a Ph.D. from Monash University, Australia.

Ang Zhao, Executive Director, Member, Board of Directors

Mr. Zhao is the founder of the Centre and is responsible for the organisational strategy and program operation. He focuses on environmental and economic impacts of energy policy and how economic and political institutions influence the outcome of climate and energy policy. Mr. Zhao was co-director of Rock Environment and Energy Institute, a think tank in Beijing, China. Zhao holds a Master of Science from The London School of Economics and Political Science.