Dr. Catherine Wong
Fellow (Alumni)
- On Social Media
Catherine Wong is a sociologist at the University of Luxembourg and Research Fellow at the IASS. She specialises in risk governance in the policy sectors of energy, climate change, and global urbanisation. Her research examines the recursive relationships among energy technologies, global environmental politics, international finance and public policy. These issues are framed within the discourse of social and political risk and uncertainties; and what this means for mobilising socioecological change, transitions to a low-carbon economy, and responsible innovation. Her book, "Energy, Risk and Governance", published by Palgrave and Macmillan in 2018 addressed the difficulties of striking a balance between energy security and sustainable development at the policy level. By unpacking the underpinning logics of risk among the nuclear policy and industry elites in India, she provided a more nuanced explanation for why nuclear energy is still considered by some as a rational choice in spite of its risks.
Catherine received her PhD in Sociology from the Australian National University (ANU) and her Masters in Global Studies from the University of Freiburg, Germany. She did her first post-doc at The Cairns Institute, James Cook University on climate governance in Australia, China and the UK. She is now based at the University of Luxembourg, working on global cities and systemic risk with a focus on international financial centres. Prior to pursuing her academic interests, Catherine worked as a business planning analyst at Hewlett Packard in Ireland, project manager at the Global Development Network in India, and reporter at the The Straits Times and The Business Times in Singapore.