Madeleine Karlsberg Schaffer

Maddy is the coordinator of SilverLining's Global Youth Initiative, which aims to drive greater engagement with young people across the world on issues regarding climate intervention science and policy. Originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, she is now based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands where she is following a 2-year MSc in Governance of Sustainability at Leiden University - a 50% natural science, 50% social science program that trains students in bridging the governance gap between sustainability science and policy. Her MSc thesis investigates the barriers faced by Malawian and South African researchers in conducting climate modeling research within their countries, and what opportunities there are to address these barriers.

Previously, she was a researcher for the Scottish Communities Climate Action Network (SCCAN) and a member of the grassroots pressure group Fossil Free Glasgow which was responsible for a campaign that resulted in the University of Glasgow becoming the first academic institution in Europe to divest from fossil fuels. She holds a First Class Honours degree in Geography (BSc) from the University of Glasgow and has also studied at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she was admitted onto the Dean’s Honour Roll in 2018. In addition to her studies and work on climate, she has assisted PhD research on wildlife conservation initiatives in Costa Rica and Madagascar, and has worked for a zero-waste grocery start-up in France.