Charissa Tang is the Assistant Director (Mitigation Policy) at the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) under the Strategy Group in the Prime Minister’s Office. She oversees the team that coordinates across the Singapore Government to develop and implement Singapore’s response to climate change. During her 1.5 years at NCCS, she has also worked in the Technology and Global Partnerships teams. She is concurrently the Assistant Director (Corporate Planning and Organisational Development) at the Prime Minister’s Office Strategy Group.

Prior to this, she worked in various portfolios at the Defence Policy Office at the Ministry of Defence, and National Environment Agency. She holds an MSc in Spatial Planning and BSc in Geography and Economics from the University College of London.

Prof. Ahmed Ali Murad holds a doctorate in hydrogeology from Western Michigan University, USA. He is currently a professor of hydrogeology at the College of Science at UAE University and has more than ten years of academic experience, lecturing and supervising graduate students. Prof. Murad was chair of the Geology Department at UAE University from 2006 to 2010 and since February 2013, he was Vice Dean, College of Science at UAE University. In addition to that, he was Acting Dean for College of Science at the UAE University for academic year 2015-2016. Prof. Murad was appointed as Dean of College of Science, at UAE University since September 2016 to January 2020. In addition, he served as Acting Dean for College of Education at UAE University from September 2018- December 2019. Currently he is Associate Provost for Research at UAE University since January 26, 2020. Prof Murad was assigned as Acting Executive Director of Science and Innovation Park (SIP) at UAEU during August 2021- December 2021 and also assigned as Deputy Commissioner General of UAEU Pavilion at Expo since July 2020 until March 2022. Dr Murad is Chair of Advisory Board of Big Data Analytic Center at UAE University for 2021-2023 and also member of Board of National Space Science and Technology Center, UAE University since April 25^th 2022. Prof Murad was member of Emirates Scientists Council during February 2016-February 2018 and he is member of the Board of Trustees of UAE Water Aid Foundation (Suqia) since 2018.
Prof. Murad research interests are hydrogeology, water resources and isotope hydrology. Since July 2010, he has served as a member of the Advisory Board of the International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM), in Virginia, USA during the period of 2010-2015 and as head of the Finance Committee of the International Hydrological Program (IHP) during the period of 2010-2012.

In 2019, Mohamed started his tenure at the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation as an Economic Affairs Senior Specialist, specializing in the Asian Continent. Following 3 years of successful engagement with Emirati and Foreign investors, stakeholders, companies and fellow diplomats, Mohamed was appointed as the Head of Economic, Political and Media Affairs Section at the UAE Embassy in Singapore on l October 2022.

Prior to joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mohamed served in his capacity as a Senior Data Engineer under the previous Minister of Higher Education (Now Minister of Education). Mohamed holds a Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cardiff University, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering/Engineering Management from the University of Southern California, and a Masters in International Law, International Relations and Diplomacy from Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi.

[Moderator] Dr Aisha Al-Sarihi is a research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute. Dr Al-Sarihi’s areas of research expertise and interest include clean energy policy and climate economics, policies and governance, with a focus on the Arab region. Following her PhD,  she was a research officer at the London School of Economics and Political Science’s Middle East Centre. She was also a former visiting scholar at Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. Before joining MEI, Dr Al-Sarihi was a research associate in the Climate and Environment Program at King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC). She holds a PhD from the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London and a MSc and a BSc, with distinction, in environmental science from Sultan Qaboos University.