SOLVINGFCB - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Wageningen University and Research, PBL
Denis W. Aheto is a Professor of Coastal ecology and Director of the Centre for Coastal Manegment - The Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience (ACECoR) at the University of Cape Coast. He is a distinguished German trained academic (DAAD Scholar) and expert in coastal management, with over 10 years of project management experience. He is the authorized representative of institutional donor funded projects in coastal and fisheries management at the University of Cape Coast funded by the World Bank, USAID and DANIDA among others worth over US$ 15 million. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Centre for Coastal Management (CCM) at the University of Cape Coast in 2013.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Fisheries at the Department
Dr. Akintola Shehu Latunji is a Professor of Fisheries at the Department of Fisheries, Lagos State University and a former of Head of Department, Fisheries Department. He is the Dean of Science and holds the position of Coordinator, Science Programme at the Centre as well as the Chairman, Nomadic Education Research Group. He is a recipient of the Australia Award and a Consultant to international bodies such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), WorldFish, and Fisheries Committee for West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC). He has received travel and research grants. He has served on editorial boards and guest editor for many academic journals.
Dr. Amber M. Holdsworth is a multidisciplinary climate researcher working for Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) where she specializes in the development and analysis of regional biogeochemical ocean models. She has publications in wavelet analysis, fluid dynamics, oceanography, atmospheric sciences, regional climate modelling and understanding the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems. She integrates rigorous mathematical analysis with innovative modeling techniques to address climate adaptation, to understand cross-scale interactions in the climate system, and to improve our mechanistic understanding of ocean ecosystems and their stressors.
Job Titles:
- Professor and Researcher at the University of Costa Rica
Christian Birkel is a Professor and Researcher at the University of Costa Rica, Department of Geography - Water and Global Change Observatory.
Job Titles:
- Professor
- Project Co - Director
Dr. Rashid Sumaila is a Professor and Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Interdisciplinary Ocean and Fisheries Economics at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia. His research focuses on bioeconomics, marine ecosystem valuation and the analysis of global issues such as fisheries subsidies, marine protected areas, illegal fishing, climate change, marine plastic pollution, and oil spills. Sumaila has experience working in fisheries and natural resource projects in Norway, Canada and the North Atlantic region, Namibia and the Southern African region, Ghana and the West African region and Hong Kong and the South China Sea.
Dr. Sumaila received his Ph.D. (Economics) from the University of Bergen and his B.Sc. (Quantity Surveying) from the Ahmadu Bello University. Sumaila is widely published and cited. He won the 2017 Volvo Environment Prize and was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2019. His interest in the environment started early in life when his grandfather used to say people should "walk as if the ground feels pain" - this is sophisticated environmentalism! His specific interest in ocean and fisheries was picked in Norway. Sumaila enjoys exploring novel ideas and mentoring future thinkers. He loves waking up each day thinking of how best to contribute to ensuring that we bequeath a healthy ocean to our children and grandchildren so they too can have the option to do the same.
Job Titles:
- Co - Creation of Knowledge, Pollutant Management, and West Africa Fisheries
This article examines how Dr. Temitope Sogbanmu is co-creating solutions with stakeholders, addressing IUU fishing, microplastics, and climate impacts, while championing Indigenous knowledge to promote sustainable fisheries and inclusive climate diplomacy.
Dr. Hemming focuses on interdisciplinary approaches from decision science, risk analysis, and behavioral sciences to inform nature-related decisions, particularly at the intersection of climate change and justice.
Her research targets three key areas: enhancing decision quality, addressing data deficiencies, and bridging the decision-implementation gap. Dr. Hemming advocates for transparent communication about values, uncertainties, and trade-offs, emphasizing openness to alternative approaches. She envisions her work as co-created and reciprocal, grounded in a commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Building on her acclaimed doctoral work at the University of Melbourne (2019) on structured expert elicitation methods, Dr. Hemming's current research extends these foundations. Recognized with the 2020 Chancellor's Prize for Excellence in PhD thesis and an Editor's recommendation, her work is widely applied by decision-makers to inform critical decisions and assessments.
Job Titles:
- Project Director
- Professor and Director of the Institute for the Oceans
Dr. William Cheung is a Professor and Director of the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, the University of British Columbia. He is also a Canada Research Chair in Ocean Sustainability and Global Change. He is an international leader in developing and using scenarios and models of biodiversity and ecosystem services to understand the responses and vulnerabilities of marine human-natural systems to global change. His work addresses policy-relevant research questions and cuts across multiple disciplines, from oceanography to ecology, economics and social sciences. His research ranges from local to global scales.
William is actively involved in international and regional initiatives that bridge science and policy. For example, he served as Coordinating Lead Author for the Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). He serves as Associate Editor for Global Change Biology and Ecological Society of America's Frontier in Ecology and the Environment.
William obtained his BSc and M.Phil. from the University of Hong Kong. He completed his PhD in Resource Management and Environmental Studies at UBC. From 2009 to 2011, he was Lecturer in Marine Ecosystem Services in the University of East Anglia.
Bio: Wisdom Akpalu is a Professor of Economics. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from Gothenburg University, Sweden. Currently, he is the Dean of the School of Research and Graduate Studies (SRGS) at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and the Director of the Environment for Development Initiative in Ghana (EfD-Ghana), which is funded by Sida. He is also a partner of the One Ocean Hub (OOH) and a co-opted member of the Technical Advisory Board (TAC) of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). He was the inaugural president of the African Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AFAERE). Prior to joining GIMPA he was Associate Professor of Economics at the State University of New York, Farmingdale, NY; and a Research Fellow at the United Nations University's World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER). Since 2013, he has been a resource person for the Africa Economic Research Consortium (AERC).
Prof. Akpalu is an avid researcher with an interest in the biophysical and economic dynamics of marine ecosystems, and the Economics of Climate Change. Some of his works have been published in journals such as Nature Communications, Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, Marine Resource Economics, Ecological Economics, Marine Policy, Energy Policy, Environment and Development Economics, Climate and Development, Bioeconomics, and Natural Resource Modeling.
Research Interests: He is a highly respected researcher and educator in the field of environmental economics, including the areas of Optimal Extraction of Natural Resources, Economics of Climate Change, Modeling Microeconomic Behavior, and Economics of Crime and Punishment.
Dr. Akpalu's Awards include:
Academy of Economics and Finance (AEF) Research Fellow for 2015
CTLT Outstanding Scholarly Publication Prize 2014 (Shared with Richard Vogel and Xu Zhang)
IIFET Best Student Paper Prize 2006
Job Titles:
- Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia
Job Titles:
- Clec'H Is Assistant Professor in the Environmental Systems Analysis Group at Wageningen University
Her research is highly interdisciplinary and mainly focuses on the spatial and temporal dynamics of the socioecological systems. It examines interactions between landscape (structure, composition and dynamics), ecological functioning mainly using the concept of ecosystem services and public policies and local practices at multiple spatial and temporal scales.