Dr Linda Anne Stevenson takes the helm as the APN Secretariat’s Acting Director, while the Secretariat welcomes Dr Hiroaki Shibuya as the Deputy Director, effective 1 April 2024.

Dr Linda Anne Stevenson has over two decades of experience in global change research and sustainability with the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research. She plans dialogues that cross the science-policy interface; and engages with international organisations including UNFCCC via SBSTA and the Nairobi Work Programme (NWP), IPCC and IPBES. Most recently she headed an activity that culminated in the publication of a Special Issue in Elsevier Environmental Research in 2020 of 14 APN projects. She has over eight years of lecturing experience in Japanese universities on “Global Environmental Systems” and holds a doctorate degree in Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde, UK.

Her career has been marked by a commitment to positive change and fostering stakeholder collaboration. Dr Stevenson is passionate about developing the capacity of early-career professionals and mentoring them to become the next generation of leaders in the field. She has also been involved in planning and facilitating dialogues across the science-policy-practitioner interface, ensuring that research findings are translated to assist the development of actionable policies.

On the other hand, Dr Hiroaki Shibuya has conducted collaborative international research on the biogeochemical cycles related to global warming. After transitioning from academia, he spent over a decade in government service, primarily at the Ministry of the Environment Japan, engaging in post-earthquake reconstruction, environmental and health surveys and research funding. At the Cabinet Office, he contributed to developing ocean policy and promoting science and technology innovation. Dr Shibuya is an alumnus of Waseda University with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and has advanced degrees from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Environmental Science, specializing in isotope geochemistry and the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen.