Subarna Sivapalan

Subarna Sivapalan serves as Associate Professor and Head of the School of Education at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, concurrently holding the position of Associate Dean of Research and Knowledge Exchange for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. With 20 years of experience in Malaysian higher education, she previously directed the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at a leading STEM-focused private university before joining Nottingham in May 2022.

Her educational background includes a PhD in Education from the University of Nottingham, where she contributed to the university's first MOOC on sustainability. This foundational work continues to influence her current research trajectory.

Sivapalan's research operates at the critical intersection of sustainability and education, with core expertise in Environmental/Climate Change Education and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). She pioneers approaches integrating sustainability across engineering education, technology-enhanced learning environments, and community-based initiatives—particularly focusing on Indigenous climate adaptation strategies. Her work emphasizes practical implementation through scholarship of teaching and learning frameworks.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications (2016-2022) reveals a strong interdisciplinary focus on sustainability in higher education, with increasing attention to pandemic-related educational shifts and community climate action. Her work consistently bridges theoretical frameworks with practical implementation strategies across Malaysian and international contexts, often addressing policy development and institutional transformation.

Her significant recognition includes:

• WWF Malaysia's National Eco-Lecturer Award
• Effective Education Delivery and Academic Leadership Awards
• Acumen Fellowship (global social change leadership)
• United Nations University Pro.SPER.Net Leadership Fellowship

Sivapalan leads the Sustainability and Transformational Education Research Cluster at Nottingham Malaysia and co-leads the university's interdisciplinary Sustainability Research Cluster. She founded Malaysia's first scholarship of teaching and learning research group and established the inaugural student-led eco-campus initiative that earned WWF Malaysia's Bronze Eco Campus award. Her national influence extends through leadership roles in the National Education for Sustainable Development Association and WWF Malaysia's Eco Schools Programme.

She actively cultivates partnerships across academic, governmental, and community sectors to advance sustainability implementation, with particular emphasis on translating research into campus operations and community engagement initiatives that embody Nottingham's sustainability commitments.