Dr. Jacqueline Lam obtained her PhD in Environmental Policy from the Centre of Urban Planning in Environmental Management, Faculty of Architecture, the University of Hong Kong in 2008. Her PhD study investigates theoretically appealing but practically inconclusive debates over the positive relation between superior environmental performance and company competitiveness with a focus on the public transport sector in Hong Kong and California. Her study examined how the design and implementation of environmental regulation can affect the relationship.

Her major research areas include low-carbon/clean energy and environment policy and behavioural study from an interdisciplinary perspective. Interdisciplinary research has increasingly been emphasized to tackle the highly complex and multi-faceted topic of clean energy and environment. Dr. Lam’s research philosophy is INTEGRATION, inspired by the effective and meaningful connection and complementation of different body parts. If God wills, she wants to demonstrate that such an approach is both necessary and fruitful in environmental studies. Her research is strongly driven by the conviction that clean energy and environmental policies should be carefully guided by scientific evidence, as well as expert-led, socially inclusive participatory processes. 

The specific topics Dr. Lam has been working on are: (1) conditions that govern the process of clean energy transitions in the society and the approaches for managing these transitions, (2) policies and strategies that can effectively stimulate the process of socio-technological change and their relative potentials, and (3) ways to engage the society and build trust for more effective energy governance. She has close connections with the industry, government and the society. The work carries a strong element of university-industry collaboration, community education and outreach.