Phoebe Koundouri is a world-renowned environmental economics professor and global leader in sustainable development. She is widely recognized as a pioneer in innovative, human-centric, interdisciplinary systems for the sustainable interaction between nature, society, and the economy. She is an elected member of the World Academy of Art & Science and president of the European Association of Environmental and Natural Resource Economists, the oldest and largest scientific association in the field, with members from 85 countries worldwide. She has received numerous international awards for academic excellence, including the prestigious European Research Council Synergy Grant (2020). With more than 100 European/Global research projects/initiatives and a team of 200 researchers, her work defines policies and supports human well-being across the globe. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and held academic positions at Cambridge, UCL, University of Reading, LSE. Since 2006, she is a professor at the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), founding director of ReSEES Research Laboratory at AUEB, founding director of Sustainable Development Unit at ATHENA Information Technology Research Center and the EIT Climate-KIC HUB Greece of the European Institute of Innovation and
Technology, the latter focusing on innovation acceleration and research commercialization. She co-chairs the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network – Europe, and SDSN Greece. She chairs the International Center for Research ICRE8 and the Scientific Advisory Board of European Forest Institute.