The University of the West Indies (UWI) has announced a key leadership transition at its Global Institute for Climate-Smart and Resilient Development (GICSRD), appointing Professor Preeya S. Mohan as the institute’s new Executive Director and Dr Ronald Roopnarine as Deputy Director. Both appointments officially went into effect on August 1, 2024, the university confirmed in an official press release.
Founded in October 2021, GICSRD operates through a region-wide virtual operating model that unites specialized expertise across all UWI campuses, affiliated research institutes, and international partner networks. Its core mission is to advance climate-smart, disaster-resilient development across the Caribbean, and to accelerate the region’s progress toward meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Professor Mohan, who counts among the youngest tenured professors ever appointed by UWI, currently holds a position as Professor of Environment and Development Economics at the UWI St Augustine Campus. She also serves as a Fellow and MPhil/PhD Programme Coordinator at the campus’ Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES). Her research agenda centers on investigating the economic impacts of climate change and other systemic external shocks on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), with a specific regional focus on the Caribbean.
A globally recognized scholar in climate economics, Mohan has an extensive publication record, including more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and 13 book chapters. Her work has been featured in leading academic publications such as *Nature Climate Change*, *Energy Policy*, *Food Policy*, *WIREs Climate Change*, and the *Journal of Environmental Management*. Beyond her research, she holds prominent leadership roles in global climate governance: she is a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Seventh Assessment Report, contributing to the chapter on Adaptation Finance, and sits on the International Finance Expert Working Group for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Dr Roopnarine, the new Deputy Director, is currently Deputy Dean for Outreach and Internationalization at the UWI St Augustine Campus’ Faculty of Food and Agriculture, where he works as a Senior Lecturer specializing in Disaster Risk Resilience. He also holds the position of Network Manager for Caribbean WaterNet/Cap-Net UNDP, a regional water governance network.
Roopnarine’s work spans multiple critical areas of climate and development action, including disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, sustainable land and water resource management, nature-based climate solutions, and geospatial climate risk assessment. His hands-on project experience ranges from developing community flood early-warning systems and conducting flood and landslide hazard assessments to designing wastewater reuse frameworks, implementing water safety planning, addressing land degradation, and scaling climate-resilient agricultural practices across the Caribbean.
He also serves on multiple high-level national and international scientific bodies, including the Scientific Committee of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk Programme and the Scientific Committee for the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) Islands Water Congress.
As the institute welcomes its new leadership, GICSRD formally recognized the contributions of outgoing Director Dr John Charlery and former Deputy Director Dr Evangeline Inniss-Springer, thanking both for their foundational leadership and service during the institute’s early growth phase. Additional public information about GICSRD and its full Management Committee is available on the institute’s official website: www.uwi.edu/gicsrd.