Who we are

Dr. Anik Bhaduri is the Director of the Asia Science Mission (ASM), where he leads a region-wide, mission-oriented platform that designs and tests scalable pathways for resilience and sustainability across Asia. An environment and resource economist with more than twenty years of international experience, he has worked extensively on socio-ecological risk assessment, climate adaptation, and the development of solution-oriented science programmes. He also serves as Co-Chair of the Future Earth Asia Regional Committee and is an Honorary Professor at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, and an Adjunct Professor at the Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University. Over his career, Anik has led major initiatives with UNESCO, FAO, and Future Earth, advancing system diagnostics, transdisciplinary collaboration, and innovation approaches that link scientific insight with real-world decision-making. His work focuses on integrating community priorities, scientific evidence, and catalytic capital to accelerate impactful mission outcomes across Asia.

Dr. Lambino (Masters and PhD, Kyoto University) is Director of Future Earth Center at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature and Deputy Director of Future Earth Global Hub Japan.  Her experience spans 20+ years as a practitioner and researcher focusing on environmental conservation and sustainability in Asia.  She has worked at WWF Philippines (including as Vice president for Sustainable Production) undertaking collaborative multi-stakeholder projects at different scales, at RIHN engaging in various transdisciplinary projects, and at Future Earth coordinating diverse research and knowledge-action networks.  She works as a boundary-spanner in the in-between spaces of science and policy, research and practice, and transdisciplinarity.  

Dr. Nadaoka has been contributing to realizing sustainable and resilient socio-ecological systems under increasing threat by various anthropogenic stresses, including climate change impacts. Dr. Nadaoka introduces transdisciplinary approaches through many international projects and in close collaboration with various stakeholders. One of his recent projects is “Developing a Meta-Network (Network of Networks) for Collaboration of Programs on Oceans, Marginal Seas and Coasts Under the Future Earth”, a 3-year international joint project from April 2024 funded by Future Earth Cross-Cutting Initiatives Grant. Based on this project, he has suggested the key concept of “Meta-Network Hub” for this proposal.

Dr. Shih-Yu’s research focuses on large-scale climate dynamics and the interactions with atmosphere, ocean, and land systems. Her newly developed research interest focuses on anthropogenic climate impact and sustainability adaptation. Dr. Lee is an Associate Research Fellow of the Research Center for the Environmental Changes in the Academia Sinica. She currently serves as the Deputy Director of Future Earth Taipei Hub.

Dr. Nairn connects and convenes transdisciplinary research at Future Earth Australia to tackle the world's wicked sustainability issues and provide robust and visionary evidence to policy makers that is grounded in people and place.  She has 15 years of experience in government, academia and the not-for-profit sector. Her holistic experience ranges from climate change and energy to marine debris and biodiversity. She was awarded her Masters in 2013, investigating ways to enhance Indigenous participation in marine research of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. This married her long-standing dedication for ocean conservation with my commitment to Indigenous sovereignty and justice.  

Dr. Shih-Yu’s research focuses on large-scale climate dynamics and the interactions with atmosphere, ocean, and land systems. Her newly developed research interest focuses on anthropogenic climate impact and sustainability adaptation. Dr. Lee is an Associate Research Fellow of the Research Center for the Environmental Changes in the Academia Sinica. She currently serves as the Deputy Director of Future Earth Taipei Hub.

Dr. Habibur holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Science with a specialization in Forest Science from Kyoto University and completed postdoctoral research through the prestigious JSPS Fellowship. His academic background includes Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Forestry from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology and a Master’s degree in Climate Change and Development from Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB). With more than 12 years of experience in academia and research across Bangladesh and Japan, his work focuses on coupled human–nature system dynamics in natural resource utilization, conservation and management, landscape restoration, cooking energy transitions, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and sustainability science. His research consistently bridges global environmental challenges with locally relevant solutions through interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches. Before joining the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, he served as a project researcher at Kyoto University, investigating the role of forests in sustaining rice production in Madagascar, and held positions as Program-Specific Assistant Professor and Postdoctoral Researcher, as well as Researcher at National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences (NIAES-NARO), Japan. As a consultant, he worked with CIFOR, USAID, GIZ, Winrock International, JICA, WaterAid, Concern Worldwide, Save the Children, and Mott MacDonald, as well as government departments in Bangladesh, further strengthening his expertise in transdisciplinary research and practical policy implementation. Dr. Habibur has authored and co-authored ~45 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. 

Dr. Kim serves on the Asia Regional Committee and Governing Council of Future Earth, representing regional, national, and local entities. He has 30+ years of teaching and research experience at several universities in biometeorology, rural systems engineering, complex systems, and sustainability science. He has served as editor of journals such as Agricultural and Forest Meteorology and Weather and Climate Extremes. He oversees the Advisory Committee of AsiaFlux –– a regional network for science, service and stewardship in monitoring energy, materials (carbon, water), and information flows in key ecosystems in Asia. He’s developing a visioneering-based complexity framework, along with information-theoretic sustainability measures for complex systems. 

Dr. Niles is a human-environmental geographer at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto. His research examines how different forms of traditional environmental knowledge remain sensible through time, and the continuing relevance of these longstanding fields of experience to the Anthropocene. His fieldwork examines traditional agricultural systems and material culture complexes, and has taken place in several countries of Asia and the Americas. His work often involves collaboration with natural scientists, philosophers, farmers, craftspeople, and government officials. and leads him to see transdisciplinarity as especially valuable in linking different kinds of knowledge to understand and act effectively the world today. 

Dr. Giles B. Sioen is co-Lead for Research and Innovation based in the Future Earth Global Hub Japan, Research Associate at the National Institute for Environmental Studies of Japan, and chair of the KU Leuven Alumni Chapter Japan. Among other activities, he works on the research and innovation portfolio with colleagues from across the Future Earth community, coordinates the Future Earth Urban and Health Knowledge-Action Networks, conducts individual research, and supports a range of domestic projects and activities. His research focuses on the development of a transdisciplinary system-based guideline to reduce the impact of climate change and other disasters on cities and health. Before joining Future Earth, he worked as a project researcher at the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences of the University of Tokyo in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology – System Design and Management Program where he applied sustainability science concepts in the fields of urban planning and public health using a systems approach. Dr. Sioen holds a Ph.D. in Sustainability Science from the University of Tokyo, a Master’s degree in Urban Planning and Design from KU Leuven (Luca-Arts, campus Ghent), and a Bachelor’s degree in Garden and Landscape Architecture from University College Ghent. 

Dr. Nairn connects and convenes transdisciplinary research at Future Earth Australia to tackle the world's wicked sustainability issues and provide robust and visionary evidence to policy makers that is grounded in people and place.  She has 15 years of experience in government, academia and the not-for-profit sector. Her holistic experience ranges from climate change and energy to marine debris and biodiversity. She was awarded her Masters in 2013, investigating ways to enhance Indigenous participation in marine research of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. This married her long-standing dedication for ocean conservation with my commitment to Indigenous sovereignty and justice.  

Dr Segundo Joaquin E. Romero, Jr. is the President of the Universities and Research Councils Network on Innovation for Inclusive Development in Southeast Asia, a nonprofit organisation affiliated with the Development Studies Program of the Ateneo de Manila University, where he is also a Professorial Lecturer. Dr Romero had previously served as a Professor of Political Science at the University of the Philippines, as well as the Executive Vice-President and Dean of the Graduate School of Public and Development Management of the Development Academy of the Philippines. Dr Romero writes a weekly opinion column for the local newspaper, Philippine Daily Inquirer. 

Dr. Stevenson is the Acting Director of the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), with over two decades of expertise in global change research. Her work focuses on climate change, biodiversity, ecosystems, and resilience across the region. She leads the implementation of APN’s research and capacity-building programmes, overseeing up to 60 transformative projects annually. She oversees the APN Annual Call for Proposals, collaborating with the Steering Committee to review and approve project funding. In addition to working with local and regional stakeholders, she engages with international organisations such as the UNFCCC, IPCC and IPBES to bridge science and policy. She also serves as Managing Editor of APN’s Science Bulletin. 

Dr. Kasuga has been the Future Earth Japan Hub Director since 2015 and is also a Professor at Nagasaki University. Her former posts include Vice-President of the Science Council of Japan, member of ICSU’s Committee on Scientific Planning and Review, Senior Fellow at the National Institute for Environmental Studies, and Visiting Professor at The University of Tokyo. She has worked as a government researcher on microbiological food safety in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. Internationally, she has worked with the World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods.

Dr. Nadaoka has been contributing to realizing sustainable and resilient socio-ecological systems under increasing threat by various anthropogenic stresses, including climate change impacts. Dr. Nadaoka introduces transdisciplinary approaches through many international projects and in close collaboration with various stakeholders. One of his recent projects is “Developing a Meta-Network (Network of Networks) for Collaboration of Programs on Oceans, Marginal Seas and Coasts Under the Future Earth”, a 3-year international joint project from April 2024 funded by Future Earth Cross-Cutting Initiatives Grant. Based on this project, he has suggested the key concept of “Meta-Network Hub” for this proposal. 

Dr. Ram Avtar is an Associate Professor at Hokkaido University (Faculty of Environmental Earth Science) and Director of the Global Land Programme (GLP) Japan Nodal Office. He serves in the Asia Science Mission (ASM) Coordination Unit as a member of the Task Force on Knowledge Infrastructure & Data. His research focuses on land systems and sustainability, advancing multi-sensor remote sensing and geospatial approaches—including UAV and machine-learning methods—to monitor terrestrial ecosystems and the climate-change interface, and to support vulnerability, resilience, and sustainability solutions from global to local scales. Previously, he was a Research Fellow at the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) (2012–2016). He holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Tokyo (Japan). He has contributed to IPBES as a Lead Author and is a recipient of Global Young Academy and Green Talents awards, with 200+ peer-reviewed publications and experience leading externally funded research projects. 

Dr. Kuaanan Techato is currently working as Associate Professor at Faculty of Environmental Management, Prince of Songkla University. He has completed his Ph.D. in Environmental Management from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand after previous master of industrial engineering and mechanical engineering. From 2012 until now, his main area of interest focuses on Environmental Sciences and Environmental Management. His area of expertise includes Energy and Environment Policy.

Dr. Shih-Yu’s research focuses on large-scale climate dynamics and the interactions with atmosphere, ocean, and land systems. Her newly developed research interest focuses on anthropogenic climate impact and sustainability adaptation. Dr. Lee is an Associate Research Fellow of the Research Center for the Environmental Changes in the Academia Sinica. She currently serves as the Deputy Director of Future Earth Taipei Hub.