Scientific Committee WRF 2015

Christian Ludwig received his master’s degree (1990) and PhD (1993) from the Chemistry Department at the University of Berne, Switzerland. Post Doctoral years were spent at the Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources (LAWR), UC Davis, CA (1994-1995) and at the Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology EAWAG (1995-1997). 1997 he joined...

Helga Weisz is an industrial ecologist. Her research focus is on the socially organized extraction of raw materials and energy, its transformation into goods and services, its use and final disposal to the environment as waste, emissions and heat, which, collectively, define the social metabolism. The transition from a biomass based agrarian towards a fossil...

Rick Anthony has more than 40 years of experience in environmental efforts, including developing resource management plans, implementing composting and recycling programs, conducting research, and bringing key stakeholders together in various regions around the world to enhance and expand sustainability. Rick is an internationally recognized and published expert in the area of resource management using...

Dr. Lorenz M. Hilty is professor at the Department of Informatics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. His interdisciplinary team, the Informatics and Sustainability Research (ISR) group, is shared by the University of Zurich and Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology. Lorenz Hilty is also the Sustainability Delegate of the University...

Dr. Mathias Schluep has studied Environmental Engineering and received his PhD in Natural Sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (Switzerland) in 2000. Mathias Schluep has worked in the academic and private sector in the fields of development cooperation, environmental research and general business consultancy at national and international levels for several...

Director: Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology, Freiberg, Germany (www.hzdr.de) EDUCATION Honorary Doctorate Dr. h.c., Université de Liège (Belgium 2015) Doctorate in Engineering D.Eng., Stellenbosch University (South Africa, 2006) Dr. habil., RWTH Aachen (Germany, 1995) PhD, Stellenbosch University (South Africa, 1991) INDUSTRIAL Outotec (Ausmelt) (Director Australia & Finland, 2006 to 2015) Mintek (South...

Armin Reller, former professor for Solid State Chemistry at the Institute of Physics since 2008, professor for resource strategy at the same institute, Chairman of the Environmental Science Center (ESC) and member of the board of the AMU (Application Center for Materials and Science) also as chairman of the Graduate School “Resource Strategy Concepts for...

Prior to joining ANU in 2011, Professor Bai worked as a Senior Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Global Environmentl Strategies in Japan, a visiting professor at Yale School of Forestry&Environmental Studies, and a research scientist at the Japanese Center for International Studies in Ecology. She is an...

Xiaoyue Du is a postdoctoral research fellow at Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology. She works on a variety of topics, such as assessing the supply risk of key materials for industries, evaluating the environmental impact of metal recycling, examining the metal flows of end-of-life vehicle recycling in Switzerland, integrate LCA into...

Bill Worrell is a professional engineer with 37 years of experience in solid and hazardous waste management. He has been the Manager of the San Luis Obispo County, California Integrated Waste Management Authority since 1995. Prior to San Luis Obispo he was responsible for solid and hazardous waste programs in San Diego and Miami. Mr....

Dr h.c. Walter R. Stahel Founder-Director, The Product-Life Institute, Geneva Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey The Product-Life Institute is a virtual not-for-profit consulting organization devoted to developing sustainable strategies and policies. Since the mid-1970s, Stahel has been an accomplished circular economy pioneer and an active proponent of...

Tim Prior is head of the Risk and Resilience Research Team at the Center for Security Studies (CSS). He has completed a Doctorate in Social and Environmental Psychology from the University of Tasmania (Australia), a Master’s degree in Environmental Science from James Cook University (Australia), and completed his undergraduate studies in quantitative ecology. Before joining...

Suojiang Zhang is a Professor and the Director of IPE, CAS and Vice-Director of the State Key Laboratory of Multi-phase Complex System, IPE, CAS. His main research interests focus on ionic liquids and green process engineering, including molecular simulations, properties, preparation and applications of ionic liquids for catalysis, such as a large-scale preparation process of...

Prof. Stefan Bringezu is Director at the Wuppertal Institute, heading the Research Group on Material Flows and Resource Management, and Professor for Sustainable Resource Management at the Center for Environmental Systems Research (CESR) at University of Kassel where he also co-chairs the Sustainable Resources Futures group. Biologist by training, Ph.D. in ecosystems analysis. He worked...

Sonia Valdivia is a Programme Manager at the World Resources Forum since mid August 2014 on the areas of ‘sustainable recycling industries’ and ‘life cycle management’. Before she was Programme Officer at the UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, and has been coordinating the Secretariat of the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative. She has a...

Sangwon Suh, Associate Professor, Corporate Environmental Management, Industrial Ecology, Life Cycle Assessment PhD, Environmental Science & Engineering, Leiden University (Netherlands); MS and BS, Environmental Engineering, Ajou University (South Korea) Sangwon Suh’s research focuses on the sustainability of the human-nature complexity through understanding materials and energy exchanges between them. Over the past 15 years, he has...

Ron Zevenhoven has been professor in Engineering Thermodynamics and Modelling at Åbo Akademi University, Thermal and Flow Engineering Laboratory, in Turku Finland, since 2005. He holds an MSc (ChemEng) and PhD degrees from Delft University of Technology. Current fields of research are mainly CO2 capture and storage using mineral sequestration, material recycling and energy recovery,...

Paul Ekins has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of London and is Professor of Resources and Environmental Policy and Director of the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources at University College London. He is also Deputy Director of the UK Energy Research Centre, and is the Co-Director in charge of its Energy Resources theme....

Patrick Wäger is a senior scientist at Empa’s Technology and Society Laboratory. In his research he addresses questions related to a more sustainable use of natural resources, in particular scarce metals.

Activities I am a professor of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering (Material Flow Analysis) at NTNU. I’m the (ad interim) chair of the International Society of Industrial Ecology’s section on Material Flow Analysis – ConAccount. Until recently, I served on the U.S. National Research Council’s Committee on Assessing the Need for a Defense Stockpile. Since 2009,...

Dr Michal Miedzinski is Principal Consultant at Technopolis Group (www.technopolis-group.com). He is an experienced researcher and consultant in the fields of science, technology and innovation, eco-innovation and green economy, and regional development strategies. Michal is co-founder and coordinator of the European Eco-Innovation Observatory, a EU-funded integrated knowledge platform on eco-innovation for policy-makers and business established in...

Professor Martin Charter, Director, The Centre for Sustainable Design®, University for the Creative Arts (UCA), UK Martin has worked at director level on business sustainability issues in consultancy, leisure, publishing, training, events and research for over 25 years. Prior to this he held in a range of management positions in strategy, research and marketing in...

I have been working passionately with futures studies for the last twenty years. I joined Finland Futures Research Centre in the middle of 1990´s as a coordinator of the first large study program on futures studies. I completed my doctoral thesis on sociology of climate change in 1997 and started to engage with various topics...

Economist, PhD in Sustainable Development by the University of Brasília (Brazil). Professor and Researcher from Faculty of Economics at the Federal University of Pará State. International Resource Panel Member of the United Nations Program for the Environment (UNEP), since 2009, participates in the Groups Metal, Trade and Decoupling. National Director of the Brazilian Society for...

Lewis Akenji coordinates the research project REDUCTIONS (Reducing Environmental Degradation & Unsustainable Consumption Trends & Impacts On Nature & Society), and is Guest Managing Editor of the Journal of Cleaner Production special volume on Absolute Reductions. He is lead author of two recent UN publications: Sustainable Consumption Guide for Policy Makers: Debunking Myths and Outlining Solutions...

Professor Hayashi is a professor of Nagoya University, EcoTopia Science Institute, Japan. His major is environmental policy and environmental assessment including biodiversity/ecosystem service assessment.

Jennifer Helgeson is a PhD student at the London School of Economics within the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment . She has previously studied Environmental Economics at the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute and Economics at Brandeis University. PhD research topic: Individuals’ understanding and estimation of climate change-related risks. I have a...

Helmut Rechberger is a full professor for Resource Management at Vienna University of Technology since 2003. He received his professional education in Vienna, at ETH Zurich, and at Yale. His research interests are: further development of evaluation methods and concepts in waste and resource management including statistical entropy; introduction of mathematical-statistical tools to Material Flow...

Heinz Schandl is a senior principal scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) based in Canberra, Australia where he leads the social systems research group and research on sustainable use of natural resources. His research links social theory, social metabolism and public policy to explore pathways for sustainable consumption and production and...

Dr. Harald Mattenberger studied environmental sciences in Germany, was a graduate student in the USA and earned his PhD in natural sciences in Switzerland. As a scientist in research institutes and later on head of research and developement in a small stock company he focused on developing novel recycling processes. He has been lecturer, researcher...

Associate Professor Damien Giurco is Director (Research Outcomes) at the Institute for Sustainable Futures. He serves on the Institute’s Steering Group and leads the development and implementation of both research and communication strategies to strengthen the quality and impact of ISF research. Concurrently, he is Research Director for the thematic area of Resource Futures. With...

Dr Zhu Dajian is Distinguished Professor of School of Economics & Management, Director of Institute of Governance for Sustainable Development, Head of Department of Public Management and Policy, and Vice Chairman of University Academic Committee，at Tongji University in Shanghai. He was awarded the special allowance by China’s State Council in 2000. His research interests include...

Cornis van der Lugt (PhD MBA / Stellenbosch, Paris) is Senior Research Fellow with the Centre for Corporate Governance in Africa (University of Stellenbosch Business School), as well as Geneva-based consultant with over 20 years’ experience in the sustainability field at international level. From 2009-2011 he was Coordinator of the Resource Efficiency Subprogramme of the...

Dr. Christian Hagelüken heads Umicore’s advocacy activities in the EU. He has over 25 years experience in (precious) metals recycling and sustainable metals management and has made numerous contributions to professional books, journals and conferences. He represents Umicore in related policy initiatives, associations, expert groups and scientific panels, among others the UNEP Resource Panel, the European...

Halina Szejnwald Brown is Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Associate Fellow at Tellus Institute. With a doctoral degree in chemistry, during the 1980s Brown was a chief toxicologist at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, directing the agency’s environmental health policy. Since coming to Clark in1987, much...

Bina Agarwal is Professor of Development Economics and Environment at the University of Manchester, UK. Until recently she was Director of the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi University. She is also President of the International Society for Ecological Economics. Educated at the Universities of Cambridge and Delhi she has lectured worldwide and held distinguished positions...

Arnold Tukker is per 1 October 2013 the Professor of Industrial Ecology and Director of the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) at Leiden University for 70% of his time. Until then he was Business line manager Societal Innovation and Economy at TNO, a large not for profit research organization in the Netherlands, where he retains...