John Robinson

John Robinson is the Associate Provost, Sustainability of the UBC Sustainability Initiative, responsible for leading the integration of academic and operational sustainability on the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus. He is also a professor with UBC’s Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability department as well as the Department of Geography. John holds a B.A. in Geography from the University of Toronto, a master’s in Environmental Studies from York University and a PhD in Geography from the University of Toronto.

Dr. Robinson’s own research focuses on the intersection of climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainability; the use of visualization, modelling, and citizen engagement to explore sustainable futures; sustainable buildings and urban design; creating partnerships for sustainability with the private, public, non-governmental and research sectors; and, generally, the intersection of sustainability, social and technological change, behaviour change, and community engagement processes. The Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability, on the UBC campus, is a major project.

Dr. Robinson is on the Board of the Fraser Basin Council; a member of the BC Hydro External Advisory Committee on Electricity Conservation and Efficiency, and the Steering Group of HELIO International; and on the editorial boards of the journals Ecology and Society, Building Research and Information, and the Journal of Industrial Ecology. He was a Fellow of the Trudeau Foundation from 2008 to 2010, a member of the program committee of the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions from 2008 to 2011, and was a Lead Author in the last three reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. In 2012, Dr. Robinson was designated Environmental Scientist of the Year by Canadian Geographic Magazine.

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