Ian Rowlands is a Professor at the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability at the University of Waterloo and is cross-appointed to the Global Governance Program.
Dr. Rowlands has research and teaching interests in the areas of energy management strategies and policies, international environmental relations, and international education. His research has been published in many international journals, including Energy Policy, Energy Research & Social Science, Environmental Politics, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, and Review of Policy Research.
Dr. Rowlands has participated in international, national, and provincial consultations convened by organizations including the International Energy Agency, Natural Resources Canada, and the Ontario Power Authority. Locally, he was one of the founders of Reep Green Solutions, served on the Board of Sustainable Waterloo Region for six years, and is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Waterloo Region Community Energy.
Dr. Rowlands’s current research activities investigate the sustainable energy transition and multi-level climate governance, with projects focusing upon, for instance, community engagement with prospective energy infrastructure projects, climate change mitigation policies at provincial and federal levels, community coalitions for energy transitions, and international networks in higher education.
Dr. Rowlands received his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Science (specialising in Chemical Engineering) from the University of Toronto, his Diploma in International and Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and his doctorate in International Relations from the University of London (London School of Economics and Political Science). Before joining the faculty of the University of Waterloo in 1998, he was a researcher at the United Nations Collaborating Centre on Energy and Environment in Denmark (1996-97) and a lecturer in International Relations and Development Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science (1991-96). Prof. Rowlands has also been a Visiting Fellow at the Robert Schumann Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Italy (2003), a Senior Research Fellow with the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (2009-2011), and a Special Advisor with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (2020). He was also previously the University of Waterloo’s Associate Vice-President, International (2016-2019, 2021-2023).