Dr. Hadi Dowlatabadi

Biography:
Dowlatabadi is Canada Research Chair & Prof in Applied Mathematics and Global Change, at the University of British Columbia. He is a University Fellow at Resources for the Future, a Washington think tank. He is also Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Engineering & Public Policy. He received his BSc from Edinburgh (1980) and his PhD in physics from Cambridge University (1984). His research is at the nexus of humans, technology and the environment. He has studied climate change and its context of global change along with viable response strategies since 1986. His research is solution oriented and often falling outside disciplinary grounds. He sees the world as a dynamic non-equilibrium heterogeneous system where the search for complexity leads to paralysis and over-simplification spells trouble.

Hadi has a few publications from books on how to choose electricity generation technologies to determinants of malaria around the world. He has over 150 peer-reviewed papers and has supervised about three-dozen PhDs. He serves on the editorial boards of four journals. He is co-founder of the non-profit Offsetters Climate Neutral Society (www.offsetters.org), CTO of Green-Erg Technologies Ltd (www.green-erg.com), and a Director of REV Ltd. (www.rapidelectricvehicles.com).

Awards:

In 1989 Hadi was awarded the Rockefeller Foundation’s, Warren Weaver Fellowship. He and Tim Weiskel were given $50 M to initiate an environmental program. they responded by designing Leaders in Environment and Development (www.lead.org).

In academia, he and his distinguished colleagues have raised more than $30 M in research funding.

Abstract:
The Neighbour’s Grass

What are more appropriate science-policy interactions for Canada? Why do so few public policies seem to build on available scientific evidence? Why has billions of funding built so many buildings and so few bridges between industry and academy? Are there better models for us to adopt in Canada?