Advisory Board

Prof. Nicholas A. Robinson

University Professor on the Environment Gilbert and Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law Emeritus Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Pace University, New York

Professor Robinson is widely recognized in the U.S. and globally as a pioneer of modern environmental law. He began developing environmental law in 1969, when he was named to the Legal Advisory Committee of the President’s Council on Environmental Quality. During his career, he drafted New York’s wetlands and wild bird laws and was inaugurated as the first chairman of both the statutory Freshwater Wetlands Appeals Board and Greenway Heritage Conservancy for the Hudson River Valley. He has also contributed extensively to international law, including editing the proceedings of the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has engaged in drafting treaties and counselling different countries on preparation of environmental laws.

Professor Nicholas A. Robinson has been a distinguished member of the faculty at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University since 1978. In 2009, Pace University conferred the prestigious position of University Professor for the Environment on Professor Robinson for his significant contribution to scholarship in the field of environmental law, both in the USA and abroad. He holds the title of inaugural Gilbert and Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law Emeritus.

Professor Robinson is a prolific legal scholar with hundreds of books, chapters, law review and scholarly journal articles and citations to his credit on pressing topics including conservation, historic preservation, climate change, sustainable development, zoonosis, human rights, international environmental law and more.

Prof. Kirk W. Junker

Vice Rector for Sustainability at the University of Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Prof. Kirk Junker is Director of the Environmental Law Centre. In 2023 he was elected to become University of Cologne’s first vice rector for sustainability. He studied philosophy and political science at Pennsylvania State University and received his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law (1984) and the University of Pittsburgh (1996). He has worked as a lawyer for the Pennsylvania Superior Court and the European Commission. He has taught at universities in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland and Germany. Professor Junker’s research interests include US law, international law, comparative law, environmental law, European law, law and the natural sciences, and law and rhetoric. Since 2009, he has held the Chair of American Law at the University of Cologne.

Prof. Armin Rosencranz

Lawyer and Political Scientist, Founder, Jindal School of Environment and Sustainability, O.P. Jindal Global University, India
Armin Rosencranz is a renowned lawyer and political scientist. He is the founder of Jindal Global School of Environment and Sustainability at OP Jindal Global University, in Sonipat, India. In 1987, he founded the international environmental NGO, Pacific Environment, which he led until 1996. He has also had a long-standing association with Stanford University, where he also served as a Trustee. He also taught climate, energy and global environmental law at Boalt Hall – UC Berkeley. Owing to his enormous contribution to legal practice and academia, he has received five Fulbright grants – two to India, and one each to Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Prof. Rosencranz is the author of several books, including Environmental Law and Policy, published by Oxford Publications, and considered a key textbook in its field.

Mr. Aayush Anand

Sustainability and Climate Risk Expert
Aayush Anand is a sustainability and climate risk expert with over 15 years of experience in the energy and infrastructure sector. He has led key projects with multilateral and public sector organisations with a strong focus on green buildings, renewable energy integration and decarbonization policy development. He holds an Engineering Degree from MIT Manipal and an MBA from IIM Ranchi, complemented by the prestigious GARP Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR) certification. A highly acclaimed author, he has written several notable articles, including a widely read op-ed in The Hindu titled “The Union Budget as a Turning Point for Climate Action”, where he emphasized the urgency of aligning fiscal policy with India’s Net-Zero ambitions. His experience in ESG and Sustainability is further strengthened by his work with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, as well as his OPFA Fellowship, where he has contributed to national-level clean energy strategies.

Dr. Anandajit Goswami

Energy economist and Sustainability Scientist

Dr. Anandajit Goswami is an acclaimed energy economist and sustainability scientist with over 22 years of experience in climate-resilient green growth, sustainable development, and energy policy. He is a Research Fellow at the Ashoka Centre for A People-Centric Energy Transition, and Honorary Visiting Professor at the IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, as well as Director of the Manav Rachna International Institute of Research & Studies.

Dr. Goswami has significantly contributed to research and policy design at both national and sub-national levels in India. He has led several major projects funded by organizations such as the Global Green Growth Institute and the Atomic Energy Commission, focusing on the integration of energy, economy, and climate models. Among his numerous commendable contributions to the field of sustainability, he has advised NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, on the implementation of progressive sustainable development growth plans across states, as well as on India’s sustainable development commitments at a global level.

Prof. Dr. Abhiroop Chowdhury

Professor & Dean, Jindal School of Environment and Sustainability O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India
Dr. Abhiroop Chowdhury is Professor and Dean at Jindal Global School of Environment and Sustainability. He completed his graduation in Botany (Hons.) and M.Sc. in Environmental System Management and earned his PhD degree from Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) on the research question ‘how development and climate change is impacting mangrove ecology at Indian Sundarbans?’ He has published around 25 Scopus/ Web of Science indexed journal articles between 2016-22 with over 500 citations. He was awarded with Inder Mohan Thapar best researcher award- 2016 by IIT for his research contributions. His areas of expertise are: Climate-change Ecology, Pollution assessment and management, blue carbon sequestration, Mangrove restoration, and Environmental Social Work. As an environmental scientist, Abhiroop had explored various biodiversity conservation sites (Kachchh Biosphere Reserve, Sundarban Ramsar wetland site), river systems (Subarnarekha and Damodar) and mining regions (Sukinda Chromite mine and Jharia coal fields). He is also actively involved in conservation and alternative livelihood initiatives at Indian Sundarbans.

Prof. Aliya Naz

Assistant Professor, Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India

Dr. Aliya Naz is an Assistant Professor at ‘Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities’, O.P. Jindal Global University, India. She has completed her Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) Dhanbad with an MHRD fellowship in Environmental Science. Her research topic focused on hexavalent Chromium pollution in water, soil and plants at Sukinda (the largest chromite mine of India) and its impact on human health in the mining belt. Along with her Ph.D. research she has been involved in enviro-social work project in the Indian Sundarbans (the world’s largest delta), working towards achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), primarily- SDG 1,2,3,6,7,8,10,13,15. She has also worked in the Indian Sundarbans for different projects from 2017-2021 as an environmental consultant.
She has also worked as a Project Scientist at the Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology in Bhuj, Gujarat on different socio-environmental issues such as pollution assessment, health risk assessment, and ethno-medicines along Kachchh biosphere Reserve in India. She also worked at IIT Kanpur on the status of water pollution along middle reach of Ganges river basin and its impact on human health. Dr. Naz’s research focuses on environmental pollution, human health, and Sustainable developmental goals. She has expertise in environmental and human health risk assessment models and has published more than 15 research articles in different national and international SCOPUS indexed journals.

Mahak Agrawal

Urban Planner, Climate Scientist, Public Policy and Sustainability Expert

Mahak Agrawal is an urban planner, climate scientist, public policy and sustainability expert, with deep experience advancing sustainability, equity, and climate resilience across sectors and continents. She is the initiator of All Bits Count (ABC)—a creative climate action project launched at the UN Summit of the Future and UN Climate Change Conference COP29—and serves on the Steering Board of the ITA-AITES Committee on Underground Space (ITACUS) and the Board of the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP). She is also a LinkedIn Top Green Voice, TEDx Fellow, and former United Nations fellow.

In 2024, Mahak was nominated by the Government of India to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a climate science and urban sustainability expert. She has twice served as an expert reviewer for the IPCC and continues to shape global discourse through scientific publications and international speaking engagements, including at the United Nations. Mahak holds dual master’s degrees: an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy as a Shardashish Scholar and Environmental Fellow at Columbia University in the City of New York, where she led pioneering research on the future of food systems; and a Master’s in Urban Planning from the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi.

Her expertise spans climate and environmental policy, ESG and carbon management, urban resilience, and inclusive development. Over the years, Mahak has advised and collaborated with leading global institutions, including the OECD, UNEP, World Bank Group, European Climate Foundation, Institute of Transport Economics (Norway), and multiple ministries of the Government of India. She was nominated for the Gates Foundation’s 2021 Goalkeepers Global Goals Award for her efforts in accelerating the Sustainable Development Goals in India through public health and urban policy innovations.