On Tuesday, March 28, 2023, CGS Director Nate Hultman, Research Director Ryna Cui, and Senior Fellows Yueming 'Lucy' Qiu, Anand Patwardhan, and Shanna Pearson were honored at the University of Maryland Research Excellence Celebration for their exemplary research and commitment to making Maryland a global leader on climate action.
At this celebration, the dean of each college and school selects one faculty member who best exemplifies research excellence. Notably, CGS Director Nate Hultman was honored as a University of Maryland Exemplary Researcher for his cutting-edge research, policy engagement, and collaboration for enhanced global climate ambition.
Learn more about all of CGS’s awardees!
Exemplary Researcher
Nate Hultman, Professor; Director, CGS
- Nate Hultman is the Founder and Director of the Center for Global Sustainability
- Expert on developing and assessing policy strategies to target and achieve ambitious climate goals, including nationally determined contributions and long-term strategies under the Paris Agreement and the role of sub-national action in raising ambition and enhancing implementation. In his academic research, he was the lead author of several recent assessments of U.S. national climate strategies and emissions targets. With this research, Hultman utilizes and pioneers the all-of-society approach to addressing climate change.
- Leading work for the State of Maryland to support achievement of its ambitious 2031 and 2045 climate goals.
- Recently Senior Advisor for Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry at the U.S. Department of State, where he led the writing of the 2021 U.S. Long Term Strategy report and helped negotiate the U.S.-China Joint Glasgow Declaration at COP26. Previously worked in the Obama White House on climate and energy policy team, where he helped develop the U.S. 2025 NDC, supported bilateral engagements with China and others, and participated in the international climate negotiations in Paris.
- Has been featured frequently in print and broadcast media including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Politico, the Hill, CNN, and BBC.
Research Honoree
Ryna Cui, Assistant Research Professor; Research Director, CGS
- Prof. Ryna Cui is a globally recognized expert in coal phaseouts, integrated assessment modeling, and international and national climate and energy policies.
- She leads the Global Fossil Transition Project at CGS that focuses on rapid, just coal phaseout pathways both globally and in key countries of interest, including China, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and others, and recently served as a contributing author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, focusing on global coal transition.
- Director of the CGS China Program
Research Honoree
Yueming 'Lucy' Qiu, Associate Professor; Director of Strategic Research Initiatives; Senior Fellow, CGS
- Lucy Qiu is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy and serves as the School's Director of Strategic Research Initiatives.
- Qiu’s main research focuses on energy economics and policy and has worked on extensive research projects on renewable energy, energy efficiency, electricity pricing experiments, and energy in the transportation sector.
- Since 2013, Qiu has received over $3 million in research grant funding and is currently the principal or co-principal investigator of three ongoing research projects.
- In the past five years, Qiu has been an author of 50 peer-reviewed publications.
Research Honoree
Anand Patwardhan, Professor; Senior Fellow, CGS
- Anand Patwardhan is a Professor at the School of Public Policy and Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland.
- Patwardhan’s research focuses on mitigation and adaptation responses to climate change including the diffusion and adoption of clean technology and broader issues of science, technology, and innovation policy.
- He is a member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF); and a coordinating lead author for the Fourth and Fifth Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
- Patwardhan is currently co-chair of the executive committee of the Global Energy Assessment and is a member of the steering committee of the Programme of Research on Vulnerability, Impacts, and Adaptation (PRO-VIA) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Research Honoree
Shanna Pearson, Saul I. Stern Professor of Civic Engagement and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs; Senior Fellow, CGS
- Shanna Pearson is a Professor and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs in the School of Public Policy, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland.
- Pearson’s research and teaching interests focus on land use and housing policy, public opinion, political polarization, racial and economic inequality, and state and local government.
- Pearson’s research has been funded by the Russell Sage Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Rhode Island Foundation, and the Rhode Island State Government.
