Speakers 2015

Prof. Dr. Thomas Bieger (1961) is a full professor of Business Administration with a specialisation in Tourism (1999) and director of the Institute for Systemic Management and Public Governance at the University of St. Gallen. From 2003 until 2005 he served as the Dean of the Faculty of Management at the University of St.Gallen and from 2005 til 2010 he was Vice President. Since 2011, Bieger has served as the President of the University of St.Gallen. Since 1996, Bieger has held directorships in a variety of service companies (transport, hotel group, LTCs, international consulting, finance, retail trade, etc.). Currently, he serves as Chairman of the listed Jungfraubahn Holding, Chairman of the SociétéSuisse de Crédit Hôtelier and a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Swiss Aviation Foundation. Other international positions include serving as Secretary General of the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism (AIEST) from 1998 to 2010, and Chairman of the Academic Committee and, from 2010, Chairman of CEMS (Global Alliance in Management Education) from 2010 to 2014, a member of Equis Awarding Body (since 2013).

Dr. Jan Bodenmann is Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Swisspower Renewables AG. Swisspower Renewables is an independent investment company in the renewable energy sector. The company enables its shareholders, the public utility companies, to gradually expand their power production from renewable energies. Prior to joining Swisspower, Jan Bodenmann worked with Axpo and KPMG. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds a PhD from the University of St.Gallen.

Prof. Dr. René Bohnsack is assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam Business School, the Netherlands. His areas of research and teaching are in strategy and sustainability. His PhD thesis explored the role of car companies and governments in the evolution of low-emission vehicles. He has published in Journal of Product Innovation Management and Research Policy, and presented papers at several international conferences. Prior to starting his PhD project, he worked as a strategic controller for the GEA Group. For his studies, René attended the MLitt Programme for International Business at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland (with distinction).

Prof. Bernt A. Bremdal holds a PhD from NTNU in applied artificial intelligence and a MSc in mechanical engineering. He has worked for 20 years in the electricity domain as a software developer, consultant and business man. In SmartIO he is responsible for initiating and managing smart grid related projects. His fields of expertise encompass use flexibility in smart grids, prosumers and ICT. He is member of the management board of the EMPOWER project.

Since 2012, Ladina Caduff is Head of Sustainability at Raiffeisen Switzerland. She is responsible for the development and implementation of the sustainability strategy within the Raiffeisen Group. Before joining Raiffeisen, Caduff worked on the issues of Climate Change and Sustainability as well as Risk Services at Ernst & Young. Ladina Caduff holds a PhD in Political Economy from the University of Zurich. After completing her PhD, she held different academic positions. She was Assistant Professor at the ETH Zurich and has worked at the London School of Economcis and MIT in Boston on sustainability. Ladina Caduff is a member of the Executive Board of Swiss Sustainable Finance and Advisory Board of the Climate Foundation Switzerland.

Dominique Darne is Managing Director of Eurowatt, a European independent power producer using renewable energies. He is also President of the Economic Commission of France Energie Eolienne, the French wind association. He held positions in the financing sector and in the renewable energy sector in the US prior to founding Eurowatt in 1994. He has a bi-cultural education in France at Paris Sorbonne in law and Institut d’Etudes Politiques of Paris as well as an MA in international affairs from Johns Hopkins SAIS in Washington DC.

James W. Davis was appointed Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute of Political Science at the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland in April 2005. Dr. Davis holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University, was a postdoctoral fellow in the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University and was a member of the political science faculty of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany prior to his appointment to St. Gallen. Professsor Davis has published in leading journals on questions of international institutions, foreign policy, military strategy, arms control and bargaining. He is editor and contributing author of Psychology, Strategy and Conflict: Perceptions of Insecurity in International Relations published by Routledge in 2012. His first book, Threats and Promises: The Pursuit of International Influence,was published in 2000 by the Johns Hopkins University Press. In 2005, he published Terms of Inquiry: On the Theory and Practice of Political Science.

Florian Dehne is responsible for Corporate Development at Swiss Int. Airlines. He has far-fetching experience in the Airline-Industry. He worked for Lufthansa (Frankfurt and New York), British Midland and SWISS. He is responsible for the development and implementation of new strategy “Next Generation Airline of Switzerland”, with which SWISS wants to adapt to the rapidly changing market environment. Mr Dehne studied Business Administration in Munich.

Born in Genoa on 30 March 1963, Massimo Derchi graduated in Electrical Engineering in 1986. Since 2011, he is in charge of Erg’s renewable energy business, as CEO of ERG Renew. With about 1,4 GW installed over 6 European countries, Erg Renew is the largest wind power producer in Italy and one of top 10 onshore European wind producers. From 2005 to 2011, he took senior management positions in Erg : head of corporate procurement, head of refining planning and trading and Director of Refining. From 1999 to 2004 he was General Manager or Managing Director of Italian branches of European and US engineering companies; from 1996 to 1999 he was Director of Projects at Air Liquide Italia. Before 1996 he was Project Manager of international engineering projects in Erg. Derchi has more than 25 years of energy industry experience, including project management, development, M&A, planning and substantial P&L ownership.

After graduating in agronomy with specialization in Agricultural Economics at ETH Zurich, Roland Eberle was Managing Director of Thurgau Farmers' Association between 1984 and 1994. Having started his political career as a member of the Swiss People’s Party’s parliamentary group in the Cantonal Parliament in 1988, he was elected as a member of the Cantonal Council of the canton of Thurgau in 1994. After his resignation in 2006, he was CEO of sia Abrasives in Frauenfeld until 2011. Since then, he represents the Canton of Thurgau in the Council of States in Bern, where he is member of the Social Security and Health Committee (SSHC) and the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy Committee (ESPEC). Here, Eberle is particularly involved with the current challenge of the Energy Strategy 2050. In addition, Eberle works as a consultant and holds several directorships, among others on the Board of Axpo Holding AG.

Anna Ebers' research focuses on institutional investors, looking at drivers and barriers for investment in renewable energy. At the Chair for Management of Renewable Energies, she is responsible for the Customer Barometer for Renewable Energies. Before she joined the University of St.Gallen, Anna Ebers worked at a large commercial bank in Estonia, a solar research institute in Germany, and at State University of New York as a teaching and research assistant. Her other interests include social entrepreneurship and rural electrification in the developing world.

Samuel Enggist obtained a degree in political science at the University of St.Gallen in 2004. After starting his career in economic development, he moved to the international energy utility Repower in 2009. As a project manager, he was in charge of different projects in terms of market opening, before taking over as Sales Manager in 2011. Meanwhile, he is responsible for the marketing and sale of Repower in the Swiss market. Enggist has held various mandates and led different projects. In addition to his strategic responsibility for the subsidiaries SWIBI AG (meter2cash) and connecta AG (cable network operation), he is responsible for the management of Repartner production AG, a production subsidiary of Repower and eight other public utilities. In the context of his current range of tasks, the rollout of tiko in the Repower coverage area is noteworthy. With tiko, Repower wants to pursue new ways of customer loyalty and load control. tiko is a demande side management solution for end customers of the Repower-Swisscom joint venture Swisscom Energy Solution AG.

Matthias Fawer, Dr sc. Biotechnology, nat. ETH, has a doctorate in biosensor and enzyme technology. Fawer is lead auditor for environmental management systems certified according to ISO 14001 and for social accountability according to SA 8000. Since beginning 2014, he is sustainability analyst at Notenstein Private Bank in Basel with the responsibility for the areas of water, renewable energies and energy utilities. Since 2002. Fawer is author of many studies about renewable energies in general and solar energy in particular and regularly key speaker at solar energy conferences. Since 2010, Fawer is also a member of the board of directors of Solvatec Ltd.

Josias F. Gasser, lic.oec.publ., (* 17.11.1952, Zurich) is managing director of Josias Gasser Baumaterialien AG in Chur. After graduating in business administration (University of Zurich), he took over his uncle’s building materials trading company with 25 employees. Today, the Josias Gasser Baumaterialien AG is dedicated not only to conventional building materials, but also to sustainable building, and it currently employs 126 employees. Since 1998, Gasser is also president of the board of directors of the Gebrüder Gasser Holding AG. In 2008, Josias Gasser co-founded the Green Liberal Party of Graubünden. Since October 23, 2011, he is member of the National Council, where he is a member of the Committee on Transportation and Telecommunications CTT.

Markus Geissmann studied electrical engineering at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland and got a postgraduate diploma in environmental engineering. He has a broad range of work experiences in various fields. These include the telecommunications industry, public transport and research in agriculture. Since 2001 he works for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE as specialist for wind energy. His responsibilities include questions about the market development of wind energy, feed-in tariffs and the creation of legal frameworks in the field of wind energy. For the program SwissEnergy, Markus Geissmann accompanies and supervises various projects for the promotion of wind energy. Since 2013, Markus Geissmann is leading the Working Group "social acceptance of wind energy projects" of the International Energy Agency IEA.

Catherine Gross is a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University, Canberra. Catherine has a broad range of research interests including fairness and justice in environmental decision-making, the social and equity implications of adaptation to climate change, and the bigger picture of the human place in nature. Catherine’s research brings practical ideas of fairness and justice to environmental conflicts, such as wind farms and water allocation. She is the author of Fairness and Justice in Environmental Decision Making published by Routledge in 2014. Catherine's career has spanned three continents taking her from a farming background in Yorkshire, England to executive management in the information technology and healthcare industry in the USA and then to environmental research in Australia.

Dr. Matthias Gysler studied economics and econometrics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and earned his doctorate in the field of experimental economics from the same University in 2002 while working at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich as a research assistant. Before his studies he worked several years for an insurance company. Matthias Gysler started to work for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) in 2003. Since the end of 2004 he is the Head of the Energy Policy Section, since April 2011 head of the Market Regulation Section and since spring 2005 additionally Deputy Head of the Energy Economy Division. In 2008 Matthias Gysler was appointed as Chief Economist of the SFOE. Currently Dr. Gysler is responsible for energy market regulations for the electricity and gas markets, socio-economic energy research and economic analysis of energy policy topics.

Dr. Roland Hengerer is responsible for the assessment of corporate sustainability of utilities at RobecoSAM AG, an asset manager with exclusive focus on sustainability investing. He is also in charge of the continuing improvement of the globally recognized Dow Jones Sustainability Index for this sector. Previously, he worked for the German solar pioneer Solon AG and the world's largest PV manufacturer Trina Solar in business development. Roland Hengerer studied physics in Germany and the US and wrote his PhD thesis at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology on solar cells and Li ion batteries. He also worked as a consultant for Accenture in France, and received an MBA from IMD in Lausanne.

Andri Hinnen is the founder of Zense GmbH, a consulting firm focusing on complex communication. Mr. Hinnen advises various firms on how to most effectively implement their strategies. The focus of Zense is the sensualization and visualization of complex relationships. Mr. Hinnen holds a Master’s in Strategy and International Management from the University of St.Gallen

Andrew Hoffman is the Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan; a position that holds joint appointments at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the School of Natural Resources & Environment. Within this role, Andy also serves as Director of the Frederick A. and Barbara M. Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. Professor Hoffman's research uses a sociological perspective to understand the cultural and institutional aspects of environmental issues for organizations. He has published over 100 articles/book chapters and twelve books, which have been translated into five languages. His most recent book, How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate (Stanford University Press, 2015), presents the sociology and psychology of why people reject the science of climate change. He earned his PhD in both Management and Civil/Environmental Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Joachim Masur (born in 1965) is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zurich Switzerland since the beginning of 2012. Zurich is one of the largest insurance companies in Switzerland. The company serves the corporate and private banking business of Zurich Insurance Group in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein. Joachim Masur joined Zurich Insurance Group at the end of 2005. After working as Group Controller for several years, he became Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the Global Life segment in 2010. Prior to joining Zurich, Joachim Masur was a partner at KPMG in Germany.

Dr. Joachim Müller-Soares (born 1963) graduated in physics at Imperial College London and subsequently obtained a M.Sc. in Management from the London School of Economics. He worked for 16 years at Gruner+Jahr publishing, where he was Executive Assistant as well as correspondent for the business magazine Capital. His further positions as a journalist include dpa, Hessischer Rundfunk and Geo magazine. In 2012, Müller-Soares became publisher and chief editor of BIZZ energy today, the (newly formed) business magazine for decision makers of the energy future.

Martin Naef leads the Automation Department at the ABB Corporate Research Center in Baden-Dättwil. The department covers control research topics in the field of industrial automation and power systems, and information and communication technology applied to industrial and grid automation systems. He focused on the application of high-performance parallel computing and visualization techniques for network management applications and smart grids before moving into management roles. Martin Naef holds an MSc in computer science and a PhD specializing in computer graphics and collaborative virtual reality from ETH Zurich. He has spent 4.5 years at the Digital Design Studio of the Glasgow School of Art advancing the use of interactive immersive visualization for art and design.

Dr. Hartmut Nussbaumer studied Physics and made his PhD in 1996. Since 1991 he has dedicated his scientific work to photovoltaics. From 1998 until 2006 he was head of production and later on head of technology at Sunways AG. Since 2005 he was appointed as managing director of Sunways Production GmbH. From June 2006 to June 2008 he was managing director of centrotherm photovoltaics technology GmbH. In 2007 he was appointed as chairman of the advisory board of the International Solar Energy Research Center in Konstanz. In July 2008 he joined RENA as a managing director of the RENA Solar Technology Center GmbH. Since the end of 2010 he is CTO of RENA GmbH. In February 2014 he started as lecturer for Photovoltaics at the ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Science School of Engineering. He is member of the committee Solarpreis Schweiz and member of the scientific committee of the European Photovoltaic Conference.

John O’Brien is a Regional Technical Advisor who has been working on climate change mitigation for UNDP since 2009 focused on the Europe & CIS region. He has twenty years experience working globally with climate change and energy issues both with UNDP and in the private sector. This includes extensive experience in carbon finance and investment banking based in New York, London, and Moscow. His particular fields of experience include carbon trading, renewable energy policy and projects development, energy-efficiency policy and projects development, ESCO markets, and issues related to forestry and emissions trading. John has also has extensive experience in the design of financial support mechanisms to support renewable energy projects. Currently, John is responsible for supporting and advising 25 climate change mitigation projects in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Moldova, Turkey, and Georgia. John is based in Istanbul, Turkey at the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub.

Tom Osterwalder joined Zurich as investment controller in 2002, taking over the responsibility for the portfolios of Zurich Switzerland and Zurich Life Switzerland. Since 2006 he works for Zurich Invest AG, being responsible for investments, manager selection, product management and investment controlling. Tom Osterwalder is deputy managing director of Zurich Invest AG as well as Zurich Investment Foundation and a member of various internal and external investment committees. Before joining Zurich, he worked for Novartis, where he was responsible for various subsidiaries in different countries as Head of Controlling and Head of Treasury. Tom Osterwalder studied economics at the University of Zurich, is a CFA charterholder and completed an executive program at IMD in Lausanne.

Dr. Tobias Reichmuth is an expert on renewable energies and the financing of the energy transition. He has several years of experience as a Strategy Consultant with The Boston Consulting Group and has successfully sold his first enterprise after graduating from the University of St.Gallen (MA BA / MIM CEMS) and the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel (PhD in Business Administration). Before founding SUSI Partners he worked as a Director for an international foundation and consulted Fortune-500 companies on investments in renewable energies. Tobias Reichmuth has extensively travelled the world and is fluent in four languages. He is co-author of a standard reference on sustainable investments for institutional investors.

Gerard Reid has over two decades' experience in equity research and fund management. He is also a leading energy expert as well as lecturer, author and monthly columnist for BIZZ energy today, the German energy industry publication. Prior to founding Alexa Capital, he was Managing Director and Head of European Cleantech Research at Jefferies & Co. Before joining Jefferies, Mr. Reid managed a renewable energy fund. Prior to this he was Head of Research at First Berlin where he expanded the equity research operation to cover 50 companies. Gerard Reid has broad relationships across the institutional and private investor communities as well as amongst government policy makers, utilities and technology providers to the energy area. He has developed a reputation as a leading global expert in renewable energy and the wider energy space through his work in the wind, solar, biofuels, natural gas, utility and European industrials sectors.

Dr. Peter Richner studied chemistry and afterwards did his doctorate at ETH Zurich. After a postdoc in the USA, he built a new research group in the field of ultra-trace analysis at Empa and later headed the laboratory of corrosion and surface protection. Since 2002 he is head of the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering and since 2012 also Deputy Director of Empa. Peter Richner is active in various national and international bodies. He is head of the Swiss Competence Center for Energy Research “Future Energy Efficient Buildings & Districts” founded in June 2014. His research interests include energy-efficient construction and facilitation of technology transfer.

Wolfgang Schwarzenbacher has been CEO of Cofely AG in Switzerland since 2011. Cofely AG is the leading provider of energy-efficient solutions and systems relating to the life cycle of buildings. As a board member of the Swisscleantech trade association, he is also externally active in tackling energy efficiency issues. As a board member of Suissetec, he represents the interests of the building technology industry in politics and economic policy. He previously worked for major industry players such as Alpiq Intec and Hilti. Wolfgang Schwarzenbacher is from Liechtenstein and lives in Zurich and Liechtenstein. He studied business administration at the University of St. Gallen.

Pascal Steingruber graduated in environmental sciences with specialization in human-environment-systems at ETH Zurich and the University of British Columbia (CAN). He gained project-based work experience while working for Elektrizitätswerk der Stadt Zürich (ewz), Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB) and Geberit International AG. Since 2011, Pascal Steingruber works as a project leader for the Association for environmentally sound energy in Zurich and is co-responsible person for the naturemade certification of hydropower plants within the VUE office. Also, he is an Energiestadt consultant, currently engaged in projects in Switzerland, England and Eastern Europe

Stefan Truog, MSc, dipl. Arch FH SIA, studied architecture at the University of Applied Sciences St. Gallen and entrepreneurship at the University of Liechtenstein. He is 36 years old, lives in Abtwil SG and is winner of the prestigious Swiss Solar Prize. As a partner and head of architecture, he makes significant contributions to the success of Visiobau AG, which is an architectural firm founded in 2003. Visiobau stands for a contemporary, energy and cost-conscious architecture. Known lighthouse projects of Visiobau are the first Minergie-A-ECO MFA of eastern Switzerland in Abtwil and the „Wohnoase“ („residential oasis“) in Taegerwilen. It is common to all these projects that they produce more energy than they consume. In addition, Stefan Truog is Academic Director of the postgraduate program in construction, energy and environment at the Baukaderschule in St.Gallen as well as lecturer at different institutions. As a member of the Commission SIA 380/1, he contributes to the development of energy norms in the building sector.

James Watson is the CEO of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) based in Brussels. He joined EPIA in July 2014 after 7 years of working in the energy sector in Brussels with the consultancy Weber Shandwick. Prior to this he worked for the European Commission, posted for 2 years as an expert in Africa working on trade and sustainable development. Earlier in his career James worked for various UK government bodies in London and worked as a lecturer in Environmental Law at the University of Manchester.

Prof. Rolf Wüstenhagen is Director of the Institute for Economy and the Environment (IWÖ-HSG) and holds the Good Energies Chair for Management of Renewable Energies at the University of St. Gallen. He graduated in Management Science and Engineering (TU Berlin) and holds a PhD in Business. His thesis was on “Venturing for Sustainable Energy”. In 2005, 2008 and 2011, respectively, he held visiting faculty positions at University of British Columbia (Vancouver), Copenhagen Business School, and National University Singapore. He embarked on an academic career after retiring from one of the leading European energy venture capital funds. From 2004-2010 he was a member of the Federal Energy Research Commission (CORE). Since 2011, he is a member of the advisory board for the Swiss government’s energy strategy 2050. Professor Wüstenhagen is the academic director of St. Gallen University’s executive education programme in Renewable Energy Management.

From 2011 to 2014, Urs Wiedmer (*1965) was editor and moderator of the discussion program "Arena" of the Swiss television (SRF). Since 2014, Wiedmer is SRF editor at the Federal Palace in Bern. After working as a teacher, Wiedmer entered into journalism in 1993, first as an editor and presenter at Radio Förderband (Bern), later at Swiss Radio DRS. Between 1997 and 2007, he was presenter, producer and editor at the "Regional Journal Bern / Freiburg / Valais". Besides, he regularly presented the "Press review" for seven years and worked for the DRS sports desk. Since 2007, Wiedmer worked as a domestic correspondent for the Swiss television, reporting on politics, economy, society, culture and sports. He reported from various Federal elections. During the Soccer World Cup 2010, he was special correspondent in Cameroon, reporting about the country and its people, and he realized a documentary about Ivory Coast.

Hans Christoph Curtius is doctoral candidate at the Institute for Economy and the Environment at the University of St.Gallen and Program Manager of the Executive Diploma in Renewable Energy Management (REM-HSG). He studied geography, economics and politics at the University of Heidelberg. At the Chair for Management of Renewable Energies he analyzes the diffusion of solar photovoltaics, consumer preferences and peer effects. In teaching Hans Curtius organizes the Climate Change Strategy Role Play, a course that simulates the UN Climate Change negotiations.

Anna Ebers' research focuses on institutional investors, looking at drivers and barriers for investment in renewable energy. At the Chair for Management of Renewable Energies, she is responsible for the Customer Barometer for Renewable Energies. Before she joined the University of St.Gallen, Anna Ebers worked at a large commercial bank in Estonia, a solar research institute in Germany, and at State University of New York as a teaching and research assistant. Her other interests include social entrepreneurship and rural electrification in the developing world.

Dr. Stefanie Hille (born: Heinzle) is currently working as assistant professor at the Institute for Economy and the Environment (IWÖ-HSG) at the University of St.Gallen. From 2012-2014, she worked as policy officer on sustainable transport for BEUC - the European Consumer Organisation. During her PhD, she was several years a research associate at the IWÖ-HSG, was a visiting scholar at the National University of Singapore and completed both a traineeship in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Consumer Affairs and in the European Parliament. Her research interests lie in sustainable consumption, energy labelling and sustainable mobility.

Yuliya Karneyeva is a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute for Economy and the Environment at the University of St.Gallen. She is writing her Ph.D. thesis on the topic of renewable energy development in Eastern Europe. Yuliya Karneyeva got her bachelor degree from Belarusian State University (Belarus) and her Master’s from the University of Bologna (Italy). During her studies at Bologna University, Yuliya Karneyeva specialised in energy policy topic and wrote her Master’s thesis about energy policies in Eastern Europe. While doing her research, she went on exchange to Vilnius University (Lithuania) and attended summer school on renewable energy in Bonn (Germany). At the Institute for Economy and the Environment Yuliya Karneyeva studies factors affecting investments in renewable energy, and investors’perspective on local and international energy policies.

Moritz is traveling between two worlds. On the one hand, he is working at the Institute for Economy and the Environment (IWÖ-HSG) of the University of St. Gallen. Doing research with a current focus on business models and managerial decision-making, he had visiting positions in Vancouver, London and Los Angeles. On the other hand Moritz holds various responsibilities in an own family business in Germany. Within both worlds he co-­developed and co-­launched new business models: After an early career as a musician, Moritz graduated with a M.A. from TU Berlin and received a doctoral degree in management from the University of St. Gallen.

Sarah Salm is a Ph.D candidate and research associate at University of St. Gallen’s Institute for Economy and the Environment (IWOE-HSG). In her role as research associate, she holds the function of Programme Manager for the Executive Diploma in Renewable Energy Management (REM-HSG). During her academic studies of finance and power engineering in Munich and Buenos Aires, she focused on capital market related aspects of energy financing. She gained practical experience from large German and non-European companies in the financial sector. Within her research at the Chair for Management of Renewable Energies, Ms. Salm is a specialist for financing renewable energies in the European context. Her research particularly focuses on financial investment requirements of strategic and institutional investors.

Dr. Andrea Tabi has currently started her research in social acceptance of hydropower and wind energy at the Institute for Economy and the Environment at the University of St.Gallen. Her current research focuses on choice modeling regarding the trade-offs between economic, environmental, and social impacts of the expansion of hydropower production. She earned an PhD degree in Environmental Economics and Management and also a BSc degree in Biology.

Gieri Hinnen is co-responsible at Swiss Int. Air Lines for Environment- and Economic Policy and simultaneously writes his PhD at the Institute of the Economy and the Environment at the University of St. Gallen. His research focuses among others on path dependency in the transport sector. In his work at Swiss he deals with Biofuels, Emissions Trading and Intermodality.. He has studied Business Administration and International Affairs at the University of St. Gallen, the London School of Economics and the Schulich School of Business in Toronto.