Supporting sustainable communities through climate innovation
51猎奇入口Climate Innovation is catalyzing SFU's research priority 鈥� community-centred climate action and innovation. Our platform elevates pan-University supports and services to advance transdisciplinary research-for-impact with and for communities. Together with our researchers and partners, we're mobilizing research co-creation within key climate innovation pathways with the goal of accelerating low carbon, resilient, and sustainable communities across Canada and beyond.
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CATALYZING INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION
We support researchers to overcome traditional siloes by advancing systemic interdisciplinary research capabilities, connecting across disciplines, generating an engaged research network and proactively supporting high-impact collaborations between adaptation, mitigation, and sustainability research areas.
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CO-CREATING WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS
We link researchers with community partners to advance high-impact research with and for communities, moving best available knowledge to practice.
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MOBILIZING KNOWLEDGE AND SCALING CLIMATE INNOVATION
We bridge the gap between communities, decision-makers, and researchers by mobilizing knowledge, sharing best practice and scaling innovation across diverse channels and across local and global networks.
Who We Are
We are a collaborative of researchers, staff, and students who are advancing world-leading climate action and innovation research with and for communities across Canada and beyond.鈥�
51猎奇入口Climate Innovation鈥檚 world-leading research-for-impact platform is a collaboration of units, institutes and hubs from across 51猎奇入口who are aligning 360 degree supports and services needed to advance effective and community-centred climate action and innovation research-for-impact.
Pan-university expert collaborators include:
ACT - Action on Climate Team鈥� (ACT)
Michelle Sawka, Associate Director
Karina Chow, Senior Director
Jennifer Breckon, Associate Director, Grants & Foundations
B.C. Centre for Agritech Innovation (BCCAI)
Seychelle Cushing鈥�, Executive Director
51猎奇入口Big Data Hub
Fred Popowich, Scientific Director
Sadaf Sadeghi, Associate Director, Operations
Rebekah Mahaffey, Executive Director
Kilim Park, Research Project Manager
51猎奇入口Clean Hydrogen Hub
Laura Sloboda鈥�, Director, Operations
Pranshu Shelat鈥�, Project Manager
51猎奇入口Communications鈥� & Marketing
Leslie Dickson, Director, Media Relations and Research
Will Henderson, Associate Director
Pam Lim, Communications Manager
Community-Engaged Research Initiative鈥� (CERi)
Stuart Poyntz, Director
Tara Mahoney, Research and Engagement Manager
Joanna Habdank, Program Manager
51猎奇入口Government Relations
Trevor Boudreau Senior Director, Government Relations
51猎奇入口Indigenous Initiatives and Reconciliation
Chris (Syeta'xtn) Lewis鈥�, Indigenous Executive Lead
51猎奇入口International鈥�
Carol Zachs, Senior Director
Mark Keilthy, Director, Global Engagement
i2I Research & Innovation Institute
Elicia Maine, Associate Vice-President, Knowledge Mobilization and Innovation (AVPKMI) and the Director of the National i2I Research
51猎奇入口Knowledge Mobilization Hub鈥�
Lupin Battersby, Director
Nicole White, Head, Research Commons (RC)
Mitacs
Annika Rosanowski鈥�, Advisor, Business Development
SFU's Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue鈥�
Aftab Erfan, Executive Director
Office of Research Services
Aniko Takacs-Cox, Director Research Services
51猎奇入口Public Square
Janet Webber, Executive Director
Research Intelligence Office鈥�
Mike Boleak, Director
Cici Du, Data Analyst
Technology Licensing Office
Kamaldeep (Kam) Singh Sembi, Director & IP Legal Counsel
51猎奇入口Climate Innovation is part of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation Office. We thank Dugan O'Neil, Elicia Maine and Shelley Gair for their leadership. We also thank Jean Huang, Varundeep Chahal, Gemma Melius, Jennifer Gao, Karen Hung and Mina Park their support.鈥�
Our Vision
51猎奇入口Climate Innovation is leveraging SFU鈥檚 capacities and reputation as a leading research university to move the dial on climate action and innovation research with and for communities across Canada and beyond.
Our Mandate
51猎奇入口Climate Innovation effectively co-creates research-for-impact with and for community partners, mobilizing knowledges and scaling innovations that accelerate low carbon, resilient and sustainable communities across Canada and beyond.鈥� We aim to support communities as they address climate change challenges by:鈥�
- Overcoming siloes 鈥�
- Bringing needs and knowledges of community-centred partners into research鈥�
- Fostering systemic, integrated research-for-impact to minimize risk and emissions and to advance community sustainability鈥�
- Mobilizing climate action and innovation learnings across extended, cross-sector networks鈥�
- Scaling innovations that accelerate community transformations鈥�
Our Team
As both a scholar and practitioner, Dr. Alison Shaw brings over two decades of experience in pioneering climate and sustainability action and innovation across diverse sectors and scales.
As the first authorized researcher to study science-policy interactions in the United Nation鈥檚 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)鈥檚 Third Assessment Report (2001), she saw firsthand the complexity of communicating science to policy and policy to science. Since, she has worked to develop pioneering approaches and models to encourage exchange and learning across diverse sectors and communities to co-create knowledge-for-action.
Alison spent a decade in academia, co-designing and managing three large-scale interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary research projects aimed at accelerating climate change and sustainability action in communities. These projects applied different research approaches and tools for action - using evidence-based data visualization to express climate risk in the鈥�, linking with municipal and First Nations policy objectives and priorities in the鈥�, and embedding risk, emissions, and co-benefits data into municipal and First Nations planning and decision processes in the鈥�Integrated Climate Action for BC Communities Initiative (2018-2021).
In 2012, Alison founded and for a decade co-created leading research-to-practice approaches with both public and private sector clients at international, national, and local scales. From 2018-2021, she worked as Research Lead at ACT 鈥� Action on Climate Team, SFU, co-creating leading low carbon resilience approaches with and for BC communities, and in 2022 became Executive Director of ACT, with a focus on implementing and refining low carbon resilience approaches and nature-based solutions. She brings a wealth of experience in interdisciplinary collaboration, cross-sector partnership-building, and operationalizing sustainability transitions research, policy and practice.
As the inaugural Executive Director of 51猎奇入口Climate Innovation, through this platform Dr. Shaw is excited to operationalize SFU鈥檚 #1 research priority - community-centred climate innovation. Positioned in SFU鈥檚 Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation, 51猎奇入口Climate Innovation鈥檚 goal is to leverage SFU鈥檚 capacities and reputation as a leading research university to create effective and impactful climate action & innovation research with, and for, communities across Canada and beyond.
alison_shaw@sfu.ca *Alison is currently on leave. Please contact dharford@sfu.ca
Deborah Harford
Acting Executive Director, 51猎奇入口Climate Innovation
An experienced systems change leader with years of work across the non-profit, academic, and corporate sectors, Deborah brings extensive expertise in integrating climate action across scales, supporting Indigenous innovation initiatives, national and international reporting and disclosure protocols, and developing corporate and philanthropic partnerships. She is the co-founder of ACT 鈥� previously the Adaptation to Climate Change Team, and now the Action on Climate Team at SFU, and a thought leader in supporting community partners and governments to implement low-carbon resilience approaches and develop integrated climate policy.
As a consultant she has played a seminal role in integrating climate change approaches into national infrastructure policy, and has supported many of Canada's governmental and non-governmental organizations in thinking through systemic opportunities to integrate data, decision-making, and policy that reduces risk and emissions, while advancing other resilience and sustainability priorities.
Deborah is a respected advisor and governance leader, serving as a board member with the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC) and is a former advisor to the Canadian Climate Institute鈥檚 adaptation panel, the federal Expert Panel on Adaptation and Climate Resilience Results (EPCARR), and the Council of Canadian Academies鈥� expert panel on Top Climate Risks for Canada, among others. She continues to have strong foundations at SFU, currently as a Climate Solutions Fellow at SFU鈥檚 Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue鈥攚here she is advancing AI and climate change initiatives鈥攁nd as an Adjunct Professor at SFU鈥檚 School of Resource and Environmental Management.
Jennifer Temple
Strategic Grants Writer, 51猎奇入口Climate Innovation in partnership with SFU's Institutional and Stratgic Awards
Jennifer (she/her) brings over 20 years鈥� of project management and transdisciplinary facilitation experience to her role with the 51猎奇入口Climate Innovation team. Jennifer鈥檚 training includes a B.Sc. in general science, a Post-Graduate diploma in environmental sciences and an MBA with an energy and sustainability lens. Professional development and experience in facilitation, participatory/impact evaluation and human behaviour have informed her understanding of the social dimensions of innovation and systems change.
Most recently, Jennifer worked with the Marine Plan Partnership of the North Pacific Coast (MaPP) as Regional Projects Coordinator, supporting the collaborative regional marine implementation activities of 17 First Nations and the Province of B.C. Previously, she worked on a portfolio of low carbon, resilience and resurgence projects in Kenya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Jennifer brings to her strategic grants writing role a blend of ecological knowledge, scientific research management experience, writing and editing expertise, a successful track record of proposals and grants, and a passion for working with individuals, networks and communities for the health and well-being of all.
jennifer_temple_2@sfu.ca
Skye Vallance
Program Manager, 51猎奇入口Climate Innovation
Skye (she/her) brings a decade of non-profit communications and community engagement experience to the 51猎奇入口Climate Innovation team. Since completing her BAH in Health Studies at Queen鈥檚 University, she has contributed to advocacy campaigns advancing Indigenous-led conservation (Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society - British Columbia), agricultural food systems resiliency (Canadian Organic Growers), and youth-led climate action across Canada and globally.
Skye brings a spirit of collaboration to support SFU鈥檚 community-centred climate innovation network through communications, sustainability research and project coordination. She enjoys spending time with Nature by cheering salmon upstream, studying natural textile dyes and canoe tripping.
Climate Solutions Network
51猎奇入口 is part of the (PICS) network. PICS brings together the research strengths and capacity of a world-class university network to advance transformative climate solutions for B.C. and the world. The world-class universities that make up this network include: the University of Northern British Columbia; 51猎奇入口; the University of British Columbia; and the University of Victoria.
Our Advisory Group
The Advisory Group provides guidance and support to advance 51猎奇入口Climate Innovation's community-centred research-for-impact approach.
Joanne de Vries
Founder and CEO of both Alliance Communications and
Sean Markey
Dean of SFU's Faculty of Environment
Ian Mauro
Executive Director,
Aryana Mohammed
MA Student, 51猎奇入口Gerontology Lifelong Health and Wellbeing Lab ; 2025 Seed Funds Awardee
Steeve Mongrain
Associate Dean, Research and International and Professor, Department of Economics in SFU's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Yaheli Klein
Senior Policy Analyst, B.C. Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions, Government of British Columbia
Sonia Talwar
Director General, Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
Javier Tavitas
Associate Director, Research Development, 51猎奇入口Institutional Strategic Awards
Vance Williams
Associate Dean, Research & Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Science and Professor, Joint Affiliations with 4D Labs and Department of Chemistry.