Dr. John Robinson is Executive Director, UBC Sustainability Initiative, and a professor with the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability, and the Department of Geography, at the University of British Columbia. In the former role he is responsible for integrating academic and operational sustainability on UBC’s Point Grey campus. His own research focuses on the intersection of climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainability; the use of visualization, modeling and citizen engagement to explore sustainable futures; sustainable buildings and urban design; creating private/public/NGO and research sector partnerships for sustainability; and generally the intersection of sustainability, social and technological change, behaviour change, and community engagement processes. A major current project is the development of the research and partnerships programs around the new Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS), now under construction on the UBC campus.
Dr. Robinson is a member of the BC Hydro External Advisory Committee on Electricity Conservation and Efficiency, and the Program Committee of the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, on the Board of the Sustainable Cities Foundation and the Pembina Institute, a member of the Steering Group of HELIO International, and on the Editorial Boards of the journals Integrated Assessment, Ecology and Society, Building Research and Information, and the Journal of Industrial Ecology. He is a Fellow of the Trudeau Foundation and has been a Lead Author in the last three reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.