Researchers
Meet our Energy Centre members and learn more about their research from their staff profiles.
Research centre members
Dr Lingli Qi
Lingli holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Auckland for which she carried out environmental impact assessments, based on the principles of economics and environmental science and climate change-related policies using dynamic computable general equilibrium models.
Her current research includes assessing the effects of the carbon emission trading market and carbon tax, forestry sequestration, and renewable energy. In addition, she is also concentrating on developing the New Zealand Integrated Energy System Model to analyse green hydrogen energy in New Zealand.
Dr Erwann Sbai
Erwann holds a PhD in Economics (University of Toulouse, 2003). His main research interests are in the field of econometrics, in particular developing models for estimating empirical game models. One example can be to empirically characterise generators strategic behaviour in New Zealand electricity wholesale market. Erwann is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics, which he joined in 2004.
Dr Selena Sheng
Selena holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Auckland. She comes with expertise in applied economics/econometrics, and advanced data analysis especially in the field of transport economics. Before joining the Energy Centre, she was one of the lecturing team members for CIVIL770 at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Her current research focuses on intelligent transport systems, road safety issues and spatial econometrics.
Dr Bart van Campen
Bart has a background in electrical engineering (MSc - Eindhoven University of Technology) and public administration (MA - Erasmus University Rotterdam and Université Catholique de Louvain) and more than 10 years of work experience in the energy sector: working for the United Nations in Latin America and Italy on small-scale renewable (hydro and solar) projects and policies; as well as in the private sector in the Netherlands and Germany as a consulting engineer. His research includes the impact of distributed generation, integration of renewables, smart metering and demand side response.
View Bart van Campen's profile
Dr Le Wen
Le holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Auckland. She comes with expertise in theoretical and applied economics, econometrics, and advanced data analysis. Before joining the Energy Centre, she lectured resource economics in the Economics Department in AUT. Her current research interest includes the impact of wind power on electricity price.
Dr Zeya Zhang
Zeya holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from Virginia Tech. His main research interests are in the field of development economics with a focus on Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries and environmental economics with a focus on agricultural policy in United States. His current research interest includes the energy hardships and electricity demand in New Zealand.
PhD students
Simon Tao is a PhD candidate at the Energy Centre, University of Auckland Business School. His doctoral research focuses on New Zealand's carbon market, examining its design, effectiveness, and implications for sustainable development. With numerous publications in leading academic journals, Simon's expertise spans energy economics, environmental economics, digitalization, and innovation. He is currently supervised by Associate Professor Stephen Poletti and Dr. Selena Sheng.
External research associates
- Dr Anna Berka, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
- Dr Bobby Du, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
- Assoc. Professor Ali Ghaffarian, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
- Professor Nadia Gkritza, Purdue University, Indiana, United States
- Professor Richard Green, Imperial College, London, UK
- Fengtao Guang, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, China
- Yishuai Ren, Hunan University, China
- Dr Milan Ščasný, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
- Dr Iain Staffell, Imperial College, London, UK
- Professor Julian Wright, National University of Singapore
- Professor Ming Yi, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China
- Mingbo Zhen, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi, China