Prof. dr. Robert MALINA

I am a Full Professor for Environmental Economics at Hasselt University and Director of the Centre for Environmental Sciences (CMK), a multidisciplinary institute with >200 researchers from a broad set of academic disciplines (environmental biology, epidemiology, zoology, toxicology, applied chemistry, nuclear engineering, environmental economics, environmental law). I am also a Research Affiliate in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The research in our reseearch institute addresses challenges of high societal urgency that require analyses that span across the boundaries of different scientific domains and disciplines and necessitate fundamental as well as applied research. My own research is focused on holistic economic assessments in the field of energy, transport, and the environment, such as, for example, the impact of climate change on ecosystems and the services they provide, the tension between economic growth and environmental sustainability; and the challenge to marry the need of the aviation sector to significantly reduce emissions with our desire to fly. One of my core areas of research for almost a decade now are sustainable aviation fuels, in particular with regard to assessments on their economic and environmental viability and with regard to designing methods to appropriately account for those fuels in international climate regulation. The work that I do aims to be a source of robust science-driven advice for governmental agencies and businesses, to help improve technological and environmental decision-making.