Victor Ibeanusi, Ph.D.; Dh.C (Honoris Causa) Dean and Professor, FAMU School of the Environment In the face of the challenges set by global climate change impacting access to safe water, procurement of sustainable energy, and food security, there is only one path ahead, a transformative innovation built on open science with integration of novel applications and new technologies. The particular processes and applications of this path would allow a truly disruptive and accelerated transformation to sustainable development. Dr. Ibeanusi, Florida A&M University-Dean School of the Environment, is leading and advancing this global effort, the nexus science enterprise addressing this vexing global challenge.

In 2019, Dr. Ibeanusi was honored with a Dh.c (Honoris causa) from the University of Miskolc, Hungary. He is a recipient of the Fulbright Specialist Program in Germany and a Senior Fulbright Fellow designed to support curricular and institutional planning at academic institutions. Dr. Ibeanusi is one of the six pioneering recipients of the AT&T Foundation Industrial Ecology Fellow, a program that seeks to eliminate or reduce environmental impacts at every stage of a product’s life cycle- from design, to manufacture, to use, to disposal or re-use. Dr. Ibeanusi’ s Fellowship training includes those at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems (SPAWAR), San Diego CA; Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site at Aiken, SC; Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Lab; United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) National Exposure Research Lab, Athens GA; USEPA’s Superfund and Land Chemical Divisions, Chicago; and the Research Triangle Park, NC. Dr. Ibeanusi holds a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Microbiology, focused on microbial systems biotechnology.

Dr. Gang Chen is a professor of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida A&M University-Florida State University. He obtained his Ph.D. from University of Oklahoma in 2002 and joined Florida State University in 2005. He has abundant experience in nutrient management, land use, and environmental impact characterization. He also has broad experience in watershed modeling and using system approaches to access agroecosystem functions.

Josh Sisco is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience bridging technology solutions with government initiatives, particularly within the international climate change and geospatial domains. With a strong foundation in federal contracting, he possesses a proven ability to secure and manage multi-million-dollar programs, including SBIR grants, driving technological advancement. Josh's expertise in Geospatial, Remote Sensing, and Unmanned Aircraft Systems has been instrumental in past roles, such as leading the Northwest Geospatial Center of Excellence at Northrop Grumman Information Systems and serving as the Geospatial Subject Matter Expert for AirMap's product roadmap. His international experience, including extensive work in Latin America and bilingual proficiency in Spanish, further enhances his capacity to navigate global climate-related projects and partnerships. Josh combines strategic vision with practical execution, making him well-equipped to lead initiatives at the intersection of international climate challenges and advanced geospatial technologies.

Dr. Leslie Nwoke is a physician, development consultant, and founder of HeartWork EQ, a company specializing in professional development for high performers in academia and corporate. She has a robust background in the sciences, learning and development, and public health and uses this to create unique and innovative learning experiences that leaders increase productivity and emotional intelligence skills. She has an affinity for working with unique client situations including navigating failures, highly sensitive persons, and neurodivergent/ twice exceptional populations.

Dr. Leslie believes our ability to make impact on others begins with emotional recovery and mastering our mindsets. She believes heartwork is the first step to help you get there. Other than her love for all things EQ, she loves a good slice of chocolate mousse cake, every album by Celine Dion, and her 3 kids.

Lisa Williams received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Prairie View A&M University and a master’s degree in manufacturing management from The Pennsylvania State University. Lisa joined Dow as a design and construction engineer for capital projects. After a few years she transitioned to Supply Chain in global planning and improvement leadership roles. In 2010, she led a team in Supply Chain I/T supporting Dow’s $1B SAP upgrade in 3 regions. In 2015, Lisa transitioned into Global Procurement as senior category leader for equipment, logistics, and terminal services totaling more than $1.1 B in spend. In 2021 Lisa was selected to lead a corporate team to create Dow’s first-generation contract labor strategy, governance system, and operating model to govern a multi-billion-dollar annual contract labor investment. In 2024, after a successful contract labor strategy launch Lisa’s role was expanded to develop a globally comprehensive strategy for Dow M&E Operations talent impacting over 22,000 employees and future employees. In addition, Lisa’s team is still responsible for implementation of the contract labor strategy for 25,000 contract labor workers. Lisa is a Six Sigma Black Belt, APICS CPIM and CSCP, and Prosci ADKAR change leadership certified. She is also the Dow University Champion for Florida A&M University and leads the corporate HBCU engagement strategy. Lisa is the recipient of the Florida A&M University 2024 Nexus Sustainability Summit International Thought Leader Award and 2024 Staffing Industry Analysts Game Changer award. Lisa advocates for employee inclusion and professional development, is a published author, and TEDx speaker.

Prof. Dr. Árpád Bence Palotás is a renowned Hungarian engineer and researcher specializing in energy systems, combustion, and soot particle analysis. He earned degrees from the Technical University of Heavy Industry (1991) and MIT (1995), and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Miskolc in 1997. He has held academic and leadership roles at the University of Miskolc since graduation, becoming a full professor in 2011 and serving as Dean of the Faculty of Materials and Chemical Engineering since 2014. His international research experience includes postdoctoral work at MIT and the University of Utah, as well as a research fellowship at EPFL in Switzerland.

Dr. Palotás has led more than HUF 1.5 billion in R&D projects and played a key role in the university’s HUF 1.4 billion infrastructure development. He has published 270 scientific works, with over 800 independent citations and a Hirsch index of 14. His pioneering research on using nanostructure-based image analysis to trace soot particle emission sources has gained international recognition. Among his many honors are the Officer’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit, the Pro Scientia Honoris Causa, and most recently, the Herman Ottó Scientific Award of the Municipality of Miskolc County (2025).

Assoicate professor and head of Institute of Water Resources and Environmental Management and Vice Dean for Research and International Affairs, Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Miskolc. Holds Msc in geologist engineering, completed his PhD in the field of risk management in contaminated site remediation. In the past 15 years have been involved in the risk assessment of more than 30 site remediation projects and have been project manager and/or senior researcher of more than 25 European Union  RIA, CSA and domestic TÁMOP, GINOP, National laboratory and MTA FTT projects in the field of water resources management, natural resource management and geothermics.

Endre Dobos made a PhD. in Digital Soil Mapping at Purdue University, Agronomy Department, USA, in 1998; an MSc. in GIS and Environmental Survey at the Technical University of Budapest, Faculty of Civil Engineering in 1996, and MSc. in Agronomy from the University of Agricultural Sciences at Gödöllő. He is a Professor at the University of Miskolc, Dept. of Physical Geography and Environmental Sciences. His educational activity covers soil science and GIS related courses. His research activity focuses on digital soil mapping, field scale soil mapping and interpretation supporting precision agriculture and the development of global, small scale soil databases. He is the chair of the IUSS Commission 1.3. Soil Genesis and the President of the Hungarian Soil Science Society. He is very active in soil science dissemination for the farmer’s community.

Dimitri Corpakis, an engineer and planner by training, is an independent expert, writing and talking on innovation, growth and technological change. Cumulating today more than 30 years on the European Integration process, Dimitri started working for the Greek civil service before joining the services of the European Commission in Brussels in the early ‘90s for a career on science and innovation policy planning and delivery. His work covered many policy areas including Education and Training, Information and Communication Technologies, Social Sciences and Humanities, and Regional Innovation Ecosystems with an emphasis on interactions and synergies between the European Union’s Research and Innovation Framework Programme and Cohesion Policies (European Structural and Investment Funds). Prior to retiring from the European Commission in late 2016, Dimitri led the Unit on the Regional (sub-national) Dimension of Innovation (Directorate General for Research and Innovation). As of 2018, Dimitri co-founded FoSS (Friends of Smart Specialisation) an informal advocacy group. Dimitri is a former member of the Executive Committee of the International Triple Helix Association and a Fellow of the Regional Studies Association (RSA). His current research interests focus on the links between Smart Specialisation and Industry 4.0, Global Value Chains and Regional Innovation Ecosystems.

Klaus Maas was born in 1962 and is Professor of Environmental Information Systems at the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Germany. His teaching focuses on geoinformation systems, surveying and remote sensing. His professional background is mining, especially its environmental impact (diploma at TU Berlin, state examination in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, PhD at TU Clausthal). In his research, he deals with measures against heavy rainfall and transformation processes in rural areas against the background of climate change. He is the founding director of the Department of Technology and Systems at the Graduate School for Applied Research in North Rhine-Westphalia (PK NRW) and founding director of the Center for Future Development Holzminden-Hoexter (ZZHH). He is also an ombudsperson at PK NRW and a university mediator. Since 2002 he has been external examiner, reviewer, guest professor and PhD-Supervisor at the University of Venda, Republic of South Africa. He led a feasibility study in Mongolia on the capturing of mining activities using remote sensing.

Dr. Fadong LI is a professor at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (IGSNRR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), a doctoral supervisor, a professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), the director of the Shandong Yucheng Agro-ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, the director of Yucheng Comprehensive Experimental Station of the CAS, and the deputy director of the Center for Agroecosystems Research (CERAE). He graduated from the Department of Agro-meteorology of the China Agricultural University in 1996, Shijiazhuang Institute of Agricultural Modernization of CAS in 2002, and IGSNRR-CAS in 2005, with a Bachelor of Science, Master of Ecology and Ph.D. of Physical Geography, respectively. He returned to China with the support of the Overseas Talents Support of CAS from Japan in 2010. He is mainly engaged in the research of ecosystem processes and environment, and has made important achievements in the ecosystem processes of farmland, the impact of agriculture on the environment, ecohydrology and water environment. He is currently on the editorial board of Carbon Research, Sustainability, Resource Science, Journal of Ecology and Environment, Chinese Journal of Ecological Agriculture, Journal of Agricultural Resources and Environment, South-to-North Water Diversion and Water Resources Science and Technology, and People's Pearl River. In recent years, as leader PI, he has hosted 5 projects funded by National Science Foundation of China (NSFC), 3 by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), and more than 10 by CAS or other funding sources. He has published 150+ papers, including 100+ SCI papers, 10+ patents, and 2 software copyrights.

Dr. Hefa Cheng is currently a Boya Distinguished Professor in the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University. He holds a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a Ph.D. minor in Geological and Environmental Sciences from Stanford University, and M.S. (University of Oklahoma) and B.S. (Summa Cum Laude, East China Normal University) degrees in Environmental Science. His research interests focus on characterizing the environmental behavior of organic pollutants and heavy metals in soil and aquatic environment based on laboratory and field investigation, and understanding the environmental problems arising from energy use through system analysis. He is the author/co-author of over 260 papers in SCI-indexed journals, including Nature Climate Change, Nature Communications, Environmental Science & Technol., and Water Research. He received the SCOPE-Zhongyu Young Scientist Award from the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) in 2012, and the Hou Defeng Award from the Chinese Society of Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry in 2014. He was named as one of Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers in 2024. He was also a recipient of the Outstanding Oversea Talent program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2009), the National Program for Support of Top-notch Young Professionals (2012), the Research Fund for Excellent Young Scholars from the National Natural Science Foundation (2013), the Changjiang Young Scholar by the Ministry of Education (2015), and the National Natural Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (2017). He currently serves as an Associate Editor of Environment International, Environmental Pollution, and Heliyon.

Dr Titus Mathe is a South African who is passionate about the development of Africa. He has an in-depth understanding of the various energy sources and technologies, their utilization, and benefits. Titus has more than 26 years of industrial and academic work experience, of which 8 years has been spent at General Manager Executive level, in various portfolios. He is currently a Chief Executive Officer at the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI), since October 2022. Titus has repositioned SANEDI to play a crucial role in energy matters, both locally and globally.

Dr Mathe has several academic qualifications, most notably is a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cape Town (UCT) obtained in 2001, Master’s degree in Business Leadership (MBL) from the University of South Africa (UNISA) obtained in 2007, BSc in Chemical Engineering obtained from Howard University, USA, obtained in 1995, and a National Diploma in Chemical Engineering obtained from Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) in 1989. Dr Mathe is registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) as a Professional Engineer, a Member of the South African Institute of Chemical Engineers (SAICHE), A Member of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM), a Fellow member of the South African Academy of Engineering (SAAE), a Council member of SAICHE, a member of various Academic Institutions Advisory Boards. He is also a former member of the Engineering Council of South Africa, and a former Council for Built Environment (CBE) Council member.

Sicelo G. Xulu is a seasoned Executive Engineering Technologist and strategic leader with over 29 years of experience in South Africa’s energy and infrastructure sectors. A registered professional with the Engineering Council of South Africa, he has held key roles in both public and private entities—most notably as CEO of City Power Johannesburg, where he led transformative initiatives including smart metering, electrification programs, and load-shedding mitigation. He is currently the Chairperson of the Board at SANEDI and heads the Results Management Office at the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), driving innovation and sustainable service delivery nationwide.

Mr. Xulu is also CEO of PWD Xperts, where he consults on municipal turnaround strategies, asset care programs, and regulatory alignment. His academic credentials include an MPhil in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Cum Laude), and executive training from Wits Business School and the Institute of Directors South Africa. Among his many honors are the African Utility Executive of the Year Award (2015), Nexus International Thought Leader Award (2024), and multiple recognitions from SAIEE and MUT.