We are delighted to share several recent changes to our Steering Committee. In 2025, we welcomed Hermione McCallum (Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi) as our newest member. In 2026, we are pleased to congratulate Bregje van Veelen (Lund University) on her appointment as Vice-Chair, while Amy Janzwood continues in her role as Chair.
We would also like to thank Suzanne Chew, Irmak Karakislak, and Angela Rojas for their work over the past year. We looking forward to what the upcoming year has in store!
In 2025, WISER members raised the question of exploring gender parity and representation on the Editorial Boards of journals publishing sustainable energy research. In response, the WISER Steering Committee, with the support of WISER members, invited 29 journals in this interdisciplinary field to participate in a short online survey to assess the current landscape of gender diversity on Editorial Boards, including challenges and priorities towards gender parity. Here we share a summary of the results:
Members of the Editorial Boards for 6 journals completed the survey. In these boards, women's representation ranged from 22% to 55%, with an average of 40%. Across these 6 boards, there were either no members or no knowledge of members who identified as non-binary.
Survey results, while limited due to the small sample size, indicate that journals in sustainable energy research may include gender diversity as a selection criterion for the Editorial Board alongside several other considerations (which may be prioritized), including subject matter expertise, diversity in geographic representation and career stage, and prior experience with the journal. Key challenges shared by board member respondents in recruiting women and non-binary members towards gender parity representation include:
Perceived lack of suitable candidates, particularly in male-dominated fields such as STEM.
Work practices within academia that do not support service through Editorial Boards, particularly by women and non-binary people.
Policy void where there are no specific guidelines or priorities for gender parity and diversity on Editorial boards.
Values misalignment with publishers, which may support EDI commitments (such as gender parity) in name, but not in practice.
In 2025, we launched the first-ever WISER mentorship and peer-support initiative, and we are very pleased with how it went! This initiative was spearheaded by Steering Committee member and incoming Vice-Chair, Bregje van Veelen.
We had over 20 folks participate, across three different continents. We asked the cohort to complete a short survey on their experience — we had a very high response rate, and the vast majority of the respondents found the initiative helpful!
Here’s some feedback from participants:
“As a first-time mentor, I had a very positive experience with the initiative and found it genuinely valuable. I would really encourage others not to feel that they need to be “far ahead” in their careers to take part as mentors. Even being a few steps further along can make a difference and the exchange is rewarding for mentors as well. I hope this encourages more members to consider getting involved in future calls.”
“It was a real pleasure getting to know my mentee and supporting them in this small way. And while I certainly have lots of (un)learning to do myself, I've benefited from incredible mentorship, and I hope I can do the same for others. It's wonderful and vital that WISER can offer this initiative, especially in such difficult times (political attacks on EDI, and it seems evermore challenging institutional contexts, job markets, etc.)”
We are excited to announce that the mentorship and peer-support initiative will return in 2026. Apply to be a mentor or a mentee at the link here(due March 20th).
Join us on Tuesday, October 7th, for our upcoming webinar: From Research to Impact: Mobilizing Knowledge for an Inclusive Energy Future.
WISER and Canadian Science Publishing invite you to join us for a webinar and panel on knowledge mobilization. Learn how to identify your audience, write clear, plain language summaries, and discover tools that can help amplify your research impact. You’ll also hear from practitioners and researchers about their experiences with knowledge mobilization. This session is designed to give researchers strategies to make their work more impactful—by moving it beyond academia and into the hands of those who can use it to improve policies, practices, and lives.
What: Presentation followed by a panel + Q&A discussion
Suzanne Chew, Angela Rojas,Irmak Karakislak,and Bregje van Veelen
We are pleased to welcome our newest Steering Committee members: Suzanne Chew (University of Toronto), Irmak Karakışlak (United Nations University), Angela Rojas (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), and Bregje van Veelen (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies). And we are pleased that Runa Das and Amy Janzwood will remain as Chair and Vice-Chair.
We extend our gratitude to Neelakshi Joshi, Tamara Knittel, Georgia Savvidou and Laura Tozer for their great support and contributions to our network during 2023.
Join us for a virtual coffee! We regularly host virtual coffee dates for WISER members to build relationships and get to know each other. We try to alternate time zones to reach all of our members (though if you have a special request for a time zone, please be in touch This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). For more information about the next coffee date, stay tuned for details via member email. And if you are not a WISER member, consider joining us!
