Mark Howells directs and holds the chair of the Energy Systems Analysis division (KTH-dESA) at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. KTH-dESA spearheads the development of some of the world's premier open-source energy, resource and spatial electrification planning tools.  

Prior to joining KTH-dESA, Mark had an award-winning career with the International Atomic Energy Agency. He is an Honorary Affiliate Professor at the University of Technology in Sydney and Editor-in-Chief of Energy Strategy Reviews. He has been published in Nature Journals, coordinates the European Commission's think tank for energy, is regularly used by the United Nations as a science-policy expert, and is a key contributor to UNDESA's Modelling Tools for Sustainable Development Policies.  

Mark's graduate and post-graduate studies were undertaken at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. During that time, he was also an international research affiliate at Stanford's Program on Energy and Sustainable Development and a spokesperson for the World Energy Council's student programme, and led RSA's Integrated Energy Planning (IEP) process as well as other national initiatives.