Cool Champions Evaluation Committee Unveiled

Dr Omar Abdelaziz is an Associate Professor of thermofluids with more than two decades of experience in research, development, and project management in energy-efficient buildings and sustainable heating and cooling technologies. His expertise includes alternative heating and cooling systems and low global warming potential refrigerants. He has held senior research roles at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he led the building equipment research group and managed a large multidisciplinary research programme, and previously served as a Senior Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office. Dr Abdelaziz is a co-chair of the Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, and Heat Pump Technical Options Committee of the United Nations Ozone Secretariat’s Techno-economic Assessment Panel and an active member of professional organisations including ASHRAE.

Stela Drucioc is an environmental and climate policy expert with extensive experience in air quality, climate governance, and international cooperation. She has held senior roles within the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Moldova, including as Head of the Directorate for Air and Climate Policy Development, where she led the development of the National Adaptation Programme, the Low Emissions Development Programme, and their Action Plans to 2030. She has worked closely with international partners including the World Bank, the Stockholm Environment Institute, and Japanese climate institutions on climate finance, emissions reporting, and cooperative approaches under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. Ms Drucioc also contributes to biodiversity protection through her involvement with the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. She holds academic degrees in Biology and Chemistry.

Stephanie Egger Haysmith is a Communications and Information Officer with the Montreal Protocol Ozone Secretariat, where she leads communications and public information and serves as focal point for sustainability management, multilateral environmental agreements, youth engagement, and the Cooling Cluster. Prior to joining the Secretariat in 2019, she worked with UNICEF in Somalia and at the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, focusing on planning and partnerships development, and previously served with diplomatic missions including the Embassy of Switzerland. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Politics and a Master’s degree in Global Diplomacy from SOAS, University of London.

Ankit Kalanki is a Principal at RMI, where he leads the Global Cooling Initiative, focusing on scaling super-efficient air conditioning solutions and advancing lifecycle refrigerant management. He plays a central role in the Global Cooling Efficiency Accelerator, supporting industry and policy efforts to improve real-world performance of cooling technologies. His background spans corporate energy management, cooling innovation, and technical leadership, including leading energy and sustainability operations at Nestlé’s industrial campus in India and supporting early-stage cooling innovators through Third Derivative. He has also led technical operations for the Global Cooling Prize. He holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and IIT Roorkee.

Dr Radhika Khosla is an Associate Professor at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford, Research Director at the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development, and Programme Leader for Zero Carbon Energy Use at Oxford’s ZERO Institute. Her interdisciplinary research sits at the intersection of science and policy, with a focus on extreme heat, cooling demand, and urbanisation in the Global South. She is Principal Investigator of the Oxford Martin School’s programme on the Future of Cooling. Dr Khosla is a lead author of UNEP’s Global Cooling Watch reports and has served as Special Scientific Advisor to the UK Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee on heat resilience and sustainable cooling. She is Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Research Letters and has contributed to major international assessments including the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report. An urban climatologist by training, she holds a PhD from the University of Chicago and degrees in Physics from the University of Oxford.

Dr Eleni “Lenio” Myrivili is the Global Chief Heat Officer for the United Nations Environment Programme, and the Atlantic Council’s Climate Resilience Center, and a Senior Adaptation and Resilience Advisor to the Global Covenant of Mayors. She serves on the boards of the European Union Mission on Adaptation and the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report. Previously, she was elected Deputy Mayor of Athens for Urban Nature, Urban Resilience, and Climate Adaptation. Dr Myrivili is internationally recognised for her leadership on climate resilience and extreme heat, including being named among Nature’s 10 people who helped shape science in 2023, Politico’s 28 most influential Europeans, and Earth.Org’s women leading the fight against climate change. She has delivered a TED Talk and has been featured by outlets including CNN, Al Jazeera, NHK World, and The New York Times. A former university professor, she holds a PhD in Anthropology from Columbia University.

Kimberly Roseberry is an Economic Affairs Officer in the Energy Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), where she works on advancing SDG 7 through sustainable cooling, energy efficiency, and inclusive energy transition strategies. She leads ESCAP’s regional work on cooling and supports countries in the development of National Cooling Action Plans, building energy codes, and related policy frameworks. She has contributed to and led regional energy assessments, including ESCAP’s Regional Trends Report on Energy for Sustainable Development, supporting intergovernmental processes and regional cooperation on low-carbon and resilient energy systems. She holds degrees from Dartmouth College and Harvard University and has prior experience in the private sector in bioenergy and building design and engineering.