Prof. Harini NagendraLink opens in a new window is well known for her research spanning over 30 years on forest conservation, and urban sustainability, with several seminal publications in both areas of work. Her interdisciplinary work on forests combines remote sensing, biodiversity studies and institutional analysis, and is recognised for elucidating the link between pattern and process in the human-dominated landscapes of South Asia. Her work on urban ecology and sustainability highlights the importance of urban ecosystems in contributing critical ecosystem services and impacting urban resilience and human well-being, especially of marginalised communities — an important global gap, especially for the Global South. For her interdisciplinary research and practice, she has received many awards including the 2009 Cozzarelli Prize from the US National Academy of Sciences, the 2013 Elinor Ostrom Senior Scholar award, and the 2017 Clarivate Web of Science award. She is an elected member of The World Academy of Sciences, Trieste, and the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi. She has written over 200 academic papers, including recent publications in Nature, Nature Sustainability, and Science, and is on Stanford University’s list of the top 2% cited scientists in the world. In addition to academic writing, she is deeply interested in public communication of academic research. She has written a number of popular books including Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present and Future; Cities and Canopies: Trees of Indian Cities; and Shades of Blue: Connecting the Drops in India’s Cities (the last two co-authored with Seema MundoliLink opens in a new window). She is a well-known public speaker and writer on issues of urban sustainability in India, with a monthly column The Green GoblinLink opens in a new window in the Deccan Herald newspaper, and anchors the University’s annual climate “festival of life” series. She also writes the acclaimed Bangalore Detectives Club series, a set of historical mysteries set in 1920s Bangalore — the first book in the series was shortlisted for the Anthony, Agatha, Historical Dagger and Left Coast Crime awards, and was on the New York Times 100 notable books of 2022 list. Harini has been a Lead Author on the IPCC AR5 reports, and a past Science Committee member of DIVERSITAS and the Global Land Programme. She engages with international science and policy through her involvement as a Steering Committee member of the Future Earth Programme for Ecosystem Change and Society, and the Future Earth Urban Knowledge Advisory Network. She is on the Advisory Board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s Climate-KIC and the WRI Ross Centre for Sustainable Cities, as well as co-editor-in-chief of the journal Global Environmental Change.

Justine Marchant is a highly experienced consultant facilitator with over 30 years’ professional experience of group, collaborative and participative working, Justine is the General Director of Soka Gakkai International-UK. A member of SGI since her teens, Justine has focused particularly on fostering and empowering young people and women within the SGI community, building dynamic teams and leading its youth movement and its women’s movement successively. As General Director of SGI-UK, a Buddhist network for inner change and social contribution, she is dedicated to the principle of servant-leadership and her core belief that all people have limitless potential. Inspired by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda’s vision of global citizenship, Justine is firmly committed to building human connections, human resilience, and human hope and action for positive change and transition to a society based on respect for the dignity of all life. Justine lives by the sea in southeast England with her family. Justine will be visiting Warwick to introduce The Seeds of Hope and Action (SOHA) Exhibition, which shows a vision for a sustainable society working to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Co-created by Soka Gakkai International (SGI)Link opens in a new window and the Earth Charter InternationalLink opens in a new window, it features panels serving as a catalyst for positive change and a platform to move communities towards a more sustainable future. The Soka Gakkai International is a non-governmental organization and has been in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 1983. The Seeds of Hope and Action Exhibition uses the “Learn, Reflect, Empower, Lead” formula outlined in Daisaku Ikeda’s proposal on education for sustainable developmentLink opens in a new window.

Wren JamesLink opens in a new window is the Carnegie-longlisted British author of many Young Adult novels as ‘Lauren James’, including Last Seen Online, Green Rising and The Quiet at the End of the World. Amazon MGM Studios is developing The Loneliest Girl in the Universe as a feature film. Joe Roth and Jeffrey Kirschenbaum will produce the film alongside Katherine Langford. They are a RLF Royal Fellow and the story consultant on Netflix’s Heartstopper (Seasons 2 and 3). Season 3 features guest star Jonathan Bailey in a role created by Wren. Wren is the founder of the Climate Fiction Writers League, editor of the anthology Future Hopes: Hopeful stories in a time of climate change. They work as a consultant on climate storytelling for museums, production companies, major brands and publishers, with a focus on optimism and hope. Their books have sold over two hundred thousand copies worldwide in seven languages. The Quiet at the End of the World was shortlisted for the YA Book Prize and STEAM Children’s Book Award. Wren’s writing has been described as ‘gripping romantic sci-fi’ by the Wall Street Journal and ‘a strange, witty, compulsively unpredictable read which blows most of its new YA-suspense brethren out of the water’ by Entertainment Weekly. Wren was born in 1992, and has a Masters degree from the University of Nottingham, where they studied Chemistry and Physics. They run a Queer Writers group in Coventry.