Simron J. Singh, Ph.D.

Simron Singh is a Professor and University Research Chair (URC) in the Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Canada. His uses systems-based approaches to understanding island vulnerability to climate risks, in particular questions surrounding resource security such as materials, energy, and critical infrastructure. Using the analogy that islands function like living organisms, he investigates how small island economies utilize (or metabolize) materials and energy, and how such patterns of resource use can be leveraged by islands to transition to a more sustainable, circular resource-use model, thereby bolstering their overall resilience to climate risks. His partnerships extend to several island nations in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific. He is the founder and lead of the research program “Metabolism of Islands”.

• Social and human ecology

• Island Industrial Ecology

• Socio-metabolic risks, cascades, and tipping points

• Material and energy flow analysis

• Material stock analysis

• 2004 Doctorate, Human Ecology, Lund University, Sweden

• 2023 - 2030 University Research Chair (URC), Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Canada

• 2023 Faculty Research Award, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Canada

• 2017 Outstanding Performance award, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Canada

• 2016 - 2022 Associate Dean, Graduate Studies, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Canada

• 2015 - 2016 Faculty Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Canada

• 2014 - 2016 Associate Director (Graduate Studies), School of Environment, Enterprise, and Development (SEED), University of Waterloo, Canada

• 2014 - 2017 Program Director, Masters of Development Practice (MDP), School of Environment, Enterprise, and Development (SEED), University of Waterloo, Canada

• DEVP 609 - Sustainability Concepts, Applications and Key Debates
  • Taught in 2026
• ENBUS 204 - Principles of Industrial Ecology
  • Taught in 2026
• INDEV 101 - Issues in International Development
  • Taught in 2023
• INDEV 607 - Methods for Sustainable Development Practice: A Systems Approach
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
• INDEV 609 - Sustainability Concepts, Applications and Key Debates
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
• PLAN 675 - Special Readings on Selected Planning Topics
  • Taught in 2023

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• Singh, S.J., Sabrina, L., Charvi, C. et al. (2026). Material requirements for adapting to climate change in the Maldives. Nature Sci Rep. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-61428-3

• Thakur, B. S., Singh, S. J., & Wood, M. O. (2026). How prepared is Fiji to climate and geopolitical risks? Insights from a socio-metabolic risk (SMR) analysis. Journal of Industrial Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44498-026-00037-9

• Singh, S.J. & Azfa, A. (2024). Drought in the Ocean. The case of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In: UNCCD (2024). World Drought Atlas. https://www.unccd.int/resources/publications/world-drought-atlas

• Singh, S. J., Elgie, A., Noll, D., & Eckelman, M. J. (2023). The challenge of solid waste on Small Islands: Proposing a Socio-metabolic Research (SMR) framework. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 62, 101274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2023.101274

• Zisopoulos, F. K., Fath, B. D., de Oliveira, B. M., Toboso-Chavero, S., D’Assenza-David, H., de Souza, V. M., Huang, H., Scrieciu, Ş., Clark, O. G., Noll, D., Singh, S.J., Stefanakis, A., Boyd, G., Schraven, D., & de Jong, M. (2025). Towards an ecological metaphor for regenerative circular economies. Ecological Economics, 231, 108545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108545

• Zisopoulos, F. K., Fath, B. D., Toboso-Chavero, S., Huang, H., Schraven, D., Steuer, B., Stefanakis, A., Clark, O. G., Scrieciu, S., Singh, S.J., Noll, D., & de Jong, M. (2025). Inequities blocking the path to circular economies: A bio-inspired network-based approach for assessing the sustainability of the global trade of waste metals. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 212, 107958. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107958

• Hasan, S. T., Wood, M. O., Rus, H. A., Singh, S. J., & Wu, T. (2025). Incorporating social indicators for an equitable carbon budget allocation among different geographical regions. Environmental Research Communications, 7(8), 085013. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/adf8ad

• Grabher, H. F., Erb, K., Singh, S., & Haberl, H. (2024). Household energy systems based on biomass: Tracing material flows from source to service in rural Ethiopia. Ecological Economics, 217, 108057. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.108057

• Martin del Campo, F., Singh, S. J., Fishman, T., Thomas, A., Noll, D., & Drescher, M. (2023). Can a small island nation build resilience? The significance of resource-use patterns and socio-metabolic risks in The Bahamas. Journal of Industrial Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13369

• Singh, S. J., Huang, T., Nagabhatla, N., Schweizer, P.-J., Eckelman, M., Verschuur, J., & Soman, R. (2022). Socio-metabolic risk and tipping points on islands. Environmental Research Letters, 17(6), 065009. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac6f6c

• Noll, D., Petridis, P., Gingrich, S., Skoulikidis, N., Singh, S. J., Jongen, M., Papaioannou, G., & Fischer-Kowalski, M. (2024). Insights into 15 years of transdisciplinary research on a small Greek island. GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 33(1), 35–43. https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.33.S1.6

• Zisopoulos, F. K., Fath, B. D., de Oliveira, B. M., Toboso-Chavero, S., D’Assenza-David, H., de Souza, V. M., Huang, H., Scrieciu, Ş., Clark, O. G., Noll, D., Singh, S.J., Stefanakis, A., Boyd, G., Schraven, D., & de Jong, M. (2025). Towards an ecological metaphor for regenerative circular economies. Ecological Economics, 231, 108545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108545

• Martin del Campo, F., Singh, S. J., & Mijts, E. (2023). The resource (in)sufficiency of the Caribbean: Analyzing socio-metabolic risks (SMR) of water, energy, and food. Frontiers in Climate, 5. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2023.1085740

• Martin del Campo, F., Singh, S. J., Fishman, T., Thomas, A., & Drescher, M. (2023). The Bahamas at risk: Material stocks, sea-level rise, and the implications for development. Journal of Industrial Ecology.

• Martin del Campo, F., Singh, S. J., Fishman, T., Thomas, A., Noll, D., & Drescher, M. (2023). Can a small island nation build resilience? The significance of resource-use patterns and socio-metabolic risks in The Bahamas. Journal of Industrial Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13369

• Rahman, S., Singh, S.J., & McCordic, C. (2022). Can the Caribbean localize its food system? Evidence from biomass flow accounting. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 26 (3), pg. 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13241

• McCordic, C., Mohammadi, E., & Singh, S. (2022). The priorities and coping strategies of severely food insecure households in Beira in response to Cyclone Idai. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 83, 103423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103423

• Bahers, J.-B., Singh, S.J, & Durand, M. (2022). Analyzing Socio-Metabolic Vulnerability: Evidence from the Comoros Archipelago. Anthropocene Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44177-022-00017-1

• Mohammadi, E., Singh, S. J., McCordic, C., & Pittman, J. (2022). Food Security Challenges and Options in the Caribbean: Insights from a Scoping Review. Anthropocene Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44177-021-00008-8