2026 SDGs-IECS Visiting Scholars
The SDGs@UofT and Institute for Environment, Conservation, and Sustainability (IECS) joint Visiting Scholars Program is pleased to announce the 2026 Visiting Scholars.
The Visiting Scholars will conduct a short‑term academic visit (one month) whose research aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals. The program is designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, strengthen global research networks, and promote meaningful knowledge exchange across the University of Toronto community.
Visiting Scholars
Araceli Clavijo, Institute for Non‑Conventional Energy Research (INENCO), CONICET Argentina
Araceli Clavijo is a biologist with a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering and Risk Prevention from the University of Granada (Spain) and a PhD in Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina). She is currently an assistant researcher at the Institute for Non-Conventional Energy Research (INENCO) of CONICET in Argentina. Her research focuses on the water-energy nexus addressing water governance and territorial risk analysis, grounded in the fundamental pillars of sustainable development —equity, environmental sustainability and economic growth —from a Political Ecology perspective. She has specialized in highly vulnerable territories, particularly the Andean region, and the semi-arid Chaco, where she has studied land tenure conflicts, water access for indigenous communities and resource governance. Her main line of research is about energy transition and sustainability, with special emphasis on the analysis of socio-environmental impacts in the Lithium Triangle. With more than ten years of experience in Latin America, she has conducted research stays in EEUU, Israel and Spain, and is an active member of a global research network on energy transitions involving institutions in Canada, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Mexico and Spain. Her approach combines academic research with community-led initiatives and capacity-building for Indigenous and peasant organizations.
Mike Hill, University at Albany, State University of New York, United States
Mike Hill is currently Professor of English at the University at Albany, SUNY, and has a long record of international teaching and research collaboration with colleagues in England, Scotland, Australia, Finland, Russia, Italy, Cambodia, and most recently, China. His current research is in the field of ecological humanities, particularly, issues of genre change, realism, and climate fiction. Hill has written on the relationship between war and “culture”; the non-economic writing of Adam Smith; U.S. race relations and whiteness; and public sphere theory. His books to date are: On Posthuman War: Computation and the Military Violence (University of Minnesota Press: 2022); The Other Adam Smith (Stanford University Press: 2015); After Whiteness: Unmaking an American Majority (New York University Press: 2004; Whiteness: A Critical Reader (New York University Press: 1997), which won the Gustavas Myers Award for Best Book of 1997; and Masses, Classes, and the Public Sphere (Verso: 2001). Hill’s current book in progress, Ecologies of War, focuses on climate change, fictional realism, and the rise of political violence. He is also working on a volume called A Singular Voice: The Collected Works of Michael Sprinker (Bloomsbury: forthcoming), and an accompanying special issue for the journal, Decalage, on the legacies of Sprinker’s work
Mark Kelly, Atlantic Technological University, Ireland
Dr. Mark Kelly is the Head of the Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Centre for Sustainability, co-lead of the ATU Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Academy, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Building and Civil Engineering, and lead of the ATU Build360 research group. He is currently on secondment with the Higher Education Authority (HEA) as the National Policy Advisor on ESD. Mark has over 25 years’ experience working in higher education and has led several research projects on construction and demolition waste management, resource efficiency, circular economy, and ESD. He is also an accredited Climate Fresk, Carbon Literacy, ‘SDGs to 2030 game, and Lego Serious Play for Higher Education facilitator.
As part of the Visiting Scholars Program, Mark is particularly interested in sharing his ‘Sustainability Literacy to Leadership Learning Pathways’ framework for staff and students to evaluate its applicability within a range of contexts; explore the role of futures thinking and foresight at different institutional scales and study whole-of-institution approaches to sustainability, climate action/justice, and the SDGs.
Paolo Livieri, Messina University, Italy
I am currently a Research Fellow at the Department of Cognitive Sciences, Psychology, Education, and Cultural Studies (COSPECS) at the University of Messina, where my research bridges classical German philosophy and contemporary debates in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and theories of consciousness.
I hold a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion from McGill University and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Padova. My work focuses on Post-Kantian philosophy, especially Kant, Hegel, and Jacobi, with particular attention to metaphysics, the concept of existence, the problem of the definition of consciousness, and the relationship between faith and reason. I also engage contemporary phenomenology, 4E cognition, naturalistic ethics, and Japanese philosophy, including the Kyoto School.
My recent publications include monographs on Hegel and Jacobi, as well as the first English translation of Jacobi’s On Divine Things and Their Revelation. I am currently under contract with Cambridge University Press for volumes on Hegel’s philosophy of religion and Platonism in classical German philosophy.
Having held positions in Italy, Canada, Germany, Japan, and the UK, my research is intrinsically international and committed to fostering dialogue across philosophical traditions.
Ivar Maas, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands
Ivar Maas is Head of Sustainability at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where he leads the implementation of the university’s sustainability strategy. He is also a PhD candidate at the Institute for Environmental Studies. His overarching research interest: What is the role of the university in times of the climate crisis? He approaches this question from the perspective of Environmental Psychology and uses both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
His current research focuses on scientific activism and the perceived tension between scientific neutrality and advocacy. Should scientists contribute primarily by generating and communicating knowledge while maintaining an (assumed) neutral stance? Or does the urgency of the climate crisis justify more explicit forms of advocacy, protest, or even civil disobedience? He examines how scientists navigate these questions, with particular attention to the psychological drivers and barriers underlying engagement in scientific activism and advocacy.
In addition, he works on deliberative democratic innovations, exploring the potential of Citizens’ Climate Assemblies within university settings. By examining factors such as perceived fairness, urgency, and legitimacy, his research investigates whether deliberative processes can foster broader institutional change and support for climate policy.
His broader research interests include sustainability in higher education, sustainability governance, and organizational change management.
John Szabo, Institute of World Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungary
John Szabo is a Research Fellow at the Institute of World Economics, CERS-ELTE and an Assistant Professor at the Department of Global and Development Studies, ELTE in Budapest. He recently completed a project on European hydrogen markets at DIW Berlin, prior to which he had worked on the role of hydrogen in the UK at Brunel University London. His work generally focuses on the historical role of gaseous energy carriers, including town gas, natural gas, and hydrogen. He has published extensively on the role of natural gas in the energy transition and the EU’s approach to constructing a hydrogen market. Through his work, he explores the relation between ideas and material forces, and has recently led inquiries on the construction of futures.