Speakers Brochure | IIASA/OeAW Conference

Ursula Scharler
Professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN),
South Africa
Short Biography
Prof. Ursula Scharler is currently a full professor in the School of Life Sciences of the
University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. She works extensively on marine
and estuarine ecosystems, and her expertise encompasses systems analysis in
ecosystems and socio-economic systems. With a strong background in ecology, her
work reaches beyond natural ecosystems to inform research activities in urban,
economic, and digital platform systems. At UKZN, she mentors postgraduate students
in ecology and systems analysis, and teaches across different topics at under- and
postgraduate level.
Since 2014 she has been a member of the South African NMO to IIASA and its chair
from 2017 to 2022. Most recently, Prof. Scharler has contributed to the COVID-19
Country Response Report for the South African National Government, and to the Blue
Climate Initiative of the Tetiaroa Society on Ocean Health and Human Wellbeing.
Other academic citizenship activities include serving as member of national and
international conference organising committees, and the organisation of national and
international workshops on marine and estuarine ecosystems and systems analysis.
Prof. Scharler serves on the editorial board of several peer reviewed international
journals.
Thomas Schinko
Equity and Justice Research Group Leader,
Population and Just Societies Program,
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
(IIASA)
Short Biography
Thomas Schinko joined the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
as a research scholar in 2014. Currently, he is Research Group Leader of the Equity and
Justice (EQU) Research Group within the Population and Just Societies (POPJUS)
Program at IIASA. He studied economics and environmental system sciences at the
University of Graz, Austria and Uppsala University, Sweden.
Dr. Schinko’s main research interests fall into the areas of comprehensive climate risk
management and just transitions. He focuses on the assessment of socio-economic
impacts of climate related risks and their distributional effects, the identification of just
and inclusive climate risk management strategies, the understanding of risks and risk
perceptions connected with climate change mitigation and adaptation options, and the
ethical and politico-economic aspects in the context of a Just Transition towards a
sustainable future.
His areas of expertise include quantitative economic modelling as well as qualitative
social science methods with a particular focus on participatory processes.
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