Dr. Maksud Bekchanov joined CMCC@Ca-Foscari as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow-Environmental Economist. Before joining CMCC, he worked as a researcher for Universities of Hamburg and Bonn in Germany and International organizations such as IWMI/CGIAR in Sri Lanka and IFPRI/CGIAR in Washington DC. He developed and applied integrated environmental-economic models to find solutions to reduce adverse effects of global climate change, eradicate global hunger, improve nutrition and energy security through wider adoption of bio-economy innovations, enhance land and water productivity in dry areas, optimize water uses for irrigation and hydropower generation, and decrease deforestation in tropics. In his new role as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow he works to fulfill the objectives of SIMARIS project. The main goal of the SIMARIS project funded by EU is development of long-term investment strategies to enhance innovations in water, energy and food systems for effectively coping with environmental risks.