Canada’s Energy Future: Boom or Bust?

Larry Hughes (Chair)
Dr. Larry Hughes is a professor at Dalhousie University where he teaches undergraduate Computer Engineering courses and an interdisciplinary graduate course in energy systems analysis. His research interests focus on the means by which a jurisdiction can identify, quantify, and mitigate the risks to the energy security of its energy system while transforming to a low-carbon economy.

He has written reports on electric vehicles for Nova Scotia Power and been an intervener at several UARB hearings on electricity rates and the Maritime Link.

Larry Hughes on why Policy Matters
"Policy matters because it describes a plan or course of action for an entity to follow to meet or achieve certain goals. Ideally, both policy and the entity are able to adapt to changing circumstances.

For example, in an industrial or post-industrial society, energy policies govern the actions of an energy system so that it can provide customers with access to an uninterrupted, affordable supply of energy that is considered socially, politically, or environmentally acceptable."

Kirsten Zickfeld
Dr. Kirsten Zickfeld is an Associate Professor in the Geography Department at Simon Fraser University, which she joined in 2010. She holds a PhD in climate physics (2004) from the University of Potsdam in Germany. Her primary research interests are in the long-term effects of human activities on climate. She is internationally known for her research on the reversibility of human-induced climate change, carbon budgets consistent with climate targets and climate feedbacks. She served as a Lead Author of the recently released IPCC Special Report on the Global Warming of 1.5 degrees and is a Lead Author of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report.