Overview
Yijun GAI is a Ph.D. candidate at the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IHSS), the University of Hong Kong, and jointly trained at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). From 2025 to 2026, Yijun is also a visiting fellow in the Harvard-Yenching Institute’s “STS in Asia” program at Harvard University.
Her doctoral thesis, tentatively titled “Between Green Prosperity and Green Surplus: Involuted statecraft and the technopolitics of China’s solar power regime (1970s–Present),” examines the political, social, and environmental dimensions of solar development in China. Through extensive fieldwork tracing the different life stages of solar power technology, she explores its role in shaping the Anthropocene narrative, China’s eco-developmental agenda, and the socio-economic lives of local communities.
Holding an educational background (B.A. and M.A.Sc.) in environmental engineering from the University of Toronto, Yijun has also published research articles in academic journals on environmental policies and renewable energy technologies. She also brings several years of experience working and volunteering with environmental NGOs in China and Canada, where she has initiated various public engagement and policy advocacy initiatives.
Research Interests
Technopolitics and Infrastructure Studies; Renewable Energy and Just Transition; Environmental Humanities; Global China and Political Economy; Rural Transformation;
Thesis Project
Between Green Prosperity and Green Surplus: Involuted statecraft and the technopolitics of China’s solar power regime (1970s–Present)
Publications
Journal Papers (first author)
- 2020 Gai, Y., Minet, L., Posen, I. D., Smargiassi, A., Tetreault, L., & Hatzopoulou, M.* (2020). Health and climate benefits of Electric Vehicle Deployment in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Environmental Pollution. 265, p. 114983.
- 2019 Gai, Y., Wang, A., Pereira, L., Hatzopoulou, M., & Posen, I. D.* (2019). Marginal greenhouse gas emissions of Ontario’s electricity system and the implications of electric vehicle charging. Environmental Science & Technology, 53(13), 7903-7912.
Journal Papers
- 2020 Wang, A., Tu, R., Gai, Y., Pereira, L. G., Vaughan, J., Posen, I. D., Miller, E. J., & Hatzopoulou, M.* (2020). Capturing uncertainty in emission estimates related to vehicle electrification and implications for metropolitan greenhouse gas emission inventories. Applied Energy, 265, 114798.
- 2020 Minet, L., Chowdhury, T., Wang, A., Gai, Y., Posen, I. D., Roorda, M., & Hatzopoulou, M.* (2020). Quantifying the air quality and health benefits of greening freight movements. Environmental Research, 183, 109193.
- 2020 Tu, R., Gai, Y., Farooq, B., Posen, I. D., & Hatzopoulou, M.* (2020). Electric vehicle charging optimization to minimize marginal greenhouse gas emissions from power generation. Applied Energy, 277, 115517.
- 2018 Wang, A., Stogios, C., Gai, Y., Vaughan, J., Ozonder, G., Lee, S., Posen, I. D., Miller, E. J. & Hatzopoulou, M.* (2018). Automated, Electric, or Both? Investigating the Effects of Transportation and Technology Scenarios on Metropolitan Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Sustainable Cities and Society, 40, 524-533
Thesis Supervisor
- Primary supervisor: Professor David A. Palmer
- Co-supervisor: Professor Angela Ki Che Leung
