Marie Jürisoo appointed as SEI Asia’s new Centre Director

Marie Jürisoo became SEI’s global Operations Director in 2018, and most recently took on the position of SEI global Deputy Director in 2023, a role she will continue to hold while serving as SEI Asia Centre Director. Through these roles, she has gained expertise across research, science to policy engagement, strategic foresight, finance, and knowledge systems. Jürisoo also brings extensive experience and networks from fundraising, strategic leadership and implementation at SEI – having worked closely with SEI global leadership, its Board of Directors, and its largest funder Sida – as well as impact assessment and follow up.

She originally joined SEI in 2008 as a research associate to work on a landmark analysis of China’s climate policies for the Swedish Prime Minister. Her work since has covered a range of climate and energy-related issues, focusing on negotiation strategies of large emitters, climate finance, and how to develop and uphold changing habits in the context of introducing sustainable technologies.

As she steps into the role of SEI Asia’s Centre Director, she emphasizes SEI’s legacy of strong partnerships towards delivering scientific solutions. “I think all the work we do in SEI, regardless of whether you’re in Asia or Africa or Europe, is about partnerships,” Jürisoo said.

A return to the region

This appointment is a homecoming of sorts for Jürisoo, who has a long personal and professional history in Asia. She spent her adolescence in Hong Kong and her early adulthood in Ningxia in China, living in the middle of the Gobi Desert in a coal-producing region. She later completed a BSc in Politics and Chinese language followed by a MSc in Asian Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and has since worked extensively in China, South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as Sub-Saharan Africa.

Through these experiences, Jürisoo said that she “learned how environmental issues in Asia are closely intertwined with identity, economy, local livelihoods and daily lives”. They also helped her to find her passion: working on solutions for environmental and development challenges.  

The road ahead

Marie assumes leadership as SEI Asia is preparing a new 5-year strategy aiming to prioritize timely, fit-for-purpose, and relevant science that addresses environment and development challenges and contributes to justice, equity and resilience in the region.

This new strategy comes at a crucial time when regional and global crises require grounded and interdisciplinary solutions. A border conflict between neighbors Thailand and Cambodia is threatening peace in mainland Southeast Asia, while isolationism and nationalism are on the rise globally, limiting much-needed climate action and international cooperation. The funding for science and critical scientific institutions that safeguard public health and ecosystems is on the decline as spaces of influence are shrinking for academia, civil society and the media.

Jürisoo is fully aware of the scale of the challenges facing the region, but she shows an optimism based on her deep institutional knowledge and experience using science to resolve environmental challenges and dialogue to bridge political divides.

She says her vision as the new Centre Director is to build partnerships rooted in trust towards seeking solutions together, while striving to continuously improve operations and better understand the long-term impacts and relevance of SEI’s work in the region.

“I feel excited and privileged to join SEI Asia. SEI Asia has a 25-year legacy of partnerships and a passionate team,” she said.