Galina Churkina, a guest senior scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, has won the inaugural Aquila Capital Transformation Award.
The €20,000 ($24,221) award, given by European real asset manager Aquila Capital Investment GmbH, Hamburg, Germany, is intended to support research for mitigating climate change.
Ms. Churkina's research paper "Buildings as a Global Carbon Sink" was selected as the winning entry, according to a Dec. 17 news release.
The award was open to younger scientists worldwide whose work relates to sustainability, climate change and the transformation of energy systems, with a particular geographic emphasis on Europe. The theme of the inaugural award was "Accelerating Decarbonization in Europe."
Ms. Churkina holds a doctorate from the W.A. Franke College of Forestry & Conservation at the University of Montana in Missoula.
"The conclusions of Dr. Churkina's paper match Aquila Capital's philosophy very well," said Roman Rosslenbroich, co-founder and CEO of Aquila Capital, in the news release. "They present a practical application of research and address two of our firm's investment themes, timber and real estate. In its first year, the award has already been very well received with numerous excellent and valuable submissions. We at Aquila Capital want to make an active contribution to combat climate change — be it directly through our investments in renewable energy or by promoting academic research."
Aquila Capital intends to give the award biennially. An Aquila Capital spokesman could not immediately provide further information.
