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Three UVic researchers receive national Clean50 awards for climate leadership

October 15, 2026

amara Krawchenko, Madeleine McPherson and Janna Wale
Left to right: Clean50 recipients Tamara Krawchenko, Madeleine McPherson and Janna Wale

Three University of Victoria researchers have been recognized with Clean50 awards, a national program that identifies, celebrates and connects leaders whose work is advancing climate action, clean energy and sustainability. Through their research, these recipients are helping communities, governments and organizations accelerate Canada’s transition to low carbon.

UVic celebrates three recipients of this national honour:

Tamara Krawchenko is an associate professor in the School of Public Administration, a research lead in Accelerating Community Energy Transition (ACET) and associate director of the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems at UVic (IESVic).

She identified and now advances an emerging clean-energy paradigm that offers a practical, place-based approach to regional energy-economy planning linking decarbonization with regional development, industrial strategy and community benefit. The priorities identified by hundreds of participants in northern BC anchor Power for People, a collaborative research program developing tools, training and policy guidance to help northern and Indigenous-led communities shape clean energy on their own terms.

Madeleine McPherson is an associate professor of Civil Engineering and leads UVic’s Sustainable Energy Systems Integration and Transitions (SESIT) research group. She is also a research lead in ACET and associate director of IESVic.

McPherson co-founded the Energy Modelling Hub, a national initiative that led the development of the M3 Platform, Canada’s first open-source integrated energy modelling system, and convenes more than 500 policymakers, utilities and researchers annually. Her research on interprovincial transmission, referenced in the recent National Electricity Strategy, is driving policy in Canada. 

Janna Wale (Gitxsan/Cree-Métis) with the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) is responsible for design, implementation and delivery of community-codesigned programming and research, which supports Indigenous-led and partnered projects across BC.

Her work has fundamentally advanced conversations around Indigenous climate leadership by challenging colonial approaches to climate adaptation and elevating Indigenous laws, governance systems, relationality and land-based knowledge as essential foundations for sustainable futures. Through both scholarly and public-facing outputs, she has helped bridge academic research, policy, community knowledge and public education.

Read more about this year’s Clean50 recipients