Dr. Ryna Cui is an Assistant Research Professor and Co-Director for the China Program at the Center for Global Sustainability (CGS), University of Maryland School of Public Policy. Dr. Cui is an expert in global coal transition and climate and energy policies in China. She leads the Global Coal Transition Project at CGS that focuses on rapid coal phaseout pathways both globally and in key countries of interest, including China, India, and other coal-heavy economies. As the China Program co-lead, Dr. Cui also manages the development and implementation of CGS's China program portfolio.
Her current research focuses on coal phaseout and energy transition, global and national long-term mitigation strategies in China, India, and the Unites States with integrated assessment modeling, low-carbon strategies through the "Belt and Road Initiative'', and subnational climate actions. She is currently serving as a contributing author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, focusing on global coal transition. Dr. Cui also holds a joint appointment at the Joint Global Change Research Institute, a collaboration between the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Maryland. Her prior research has focused on long-term food security under climate change mitigation, international agriculture trade and food demand, integrated assessment of energy-food-water nexus, and international carbon markets. She holds a PhD in Environmental Policy from the University of Maryland, a Master's degree in Public Policy from the College of William and Mary, and a Bachelor's degree in Management Science and Engineering from Renmin University in Beijing.
- Coal transition
- Climate change mitigation
- China climate and energy policy

The China Program at CGS integrates scientific research, education, policy analysis, and stakeholder engagement to help understand and inform the development and deployment of China’s climate, energy, and environment strategies across international, national, and local contexts.
Learn More about China Program
CGS is taking a leadership role in research to advance collaborative, innovative climate action and policy through the third installation of its America’s Pledge: expanding our unique research and analysis, strategic engagement and communications to inform the US strategy leading up to 2030.
Learn More about America’s Pledge: Building a Comprehensive American Climate Policy
Through our research on the state of global coal, CGS conducts analysis on the trends of global coal power -- leveraging and building on new global datasets to paint a global and country-specific picture of coal power worldwide.
Learn More about Accelerating the Global Coal TransitionSchool Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Maureen Cropper, Sarath Guttikunda, Puja Jawahar, Yongjoon Park, Xinlu Yao, Xiao-Peng Song
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman, Haewon McJeon
Other Authors: Jon Sampedro, Steven J. Smith, Linlang He, Arijit Sen, Rita Van Dingenen, Ignacio Cazcarro
School Authors: Leon Clarke, Sha Yu, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman, Jiehong Lou, Jiawei Song
Other Authors: Sha Fu, Xuan Du, Zhenhua Feng, Xuecheng Wang, Lingyan Chen, Zhuoxiang Yang, Junling Liu, Li Yang, Nicklas Forsell, Fei Guo, Volker Krey, Minpeng Chen, Ke Wang, Qimin Chai, Qiang Zhang
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui
School Authors: Nathan Hultman, Leon Clarke, Haewon McJeon, Morgan Edwards, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Christina Bowman, Jiehong Lou
Other Authors: Carla Frisch , Kevin Kennedy, Tom Cyrs, Pete Hansel, Paul Bodnar, Michelle Manion , Jessie Lund , Michael I. Westphal, Andrew Clapper , Joel Jaeger , Arijit Sen , Devashree Saha, Wendy Jaglom, Koben Calhoun, Kristin Igusky, James deWeese, Kareem Hammoud, J.C. Altimirano, Margaret Dennis, Chris Henderson, Gill Zwicker, John O'Neill
School Authors: Sha Yu, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Haewon McJeon, Nathan Hultman, Leon Clarke
Other Authors: Brinda Yarlagadda
School Authors: Sha Yu, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Haewon McJeon, Nathan Hultman, Leon Clarke
Other Authors: Brinda Yarlagadda
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Jiawei Song, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Diyang Cui, Morgan Edwards, Haewon McJeon
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Jiawei Song, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Diyang Cui, Morgan Edwards, Haewon McJeon
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman, Morgan Edwards, Christina Bowman, Leon Clarke
Other Authors: Kejun Jiang, Haewon McJeon, Sha Yu, Diyang Cui, Arijit Sen , Kaihui Song, Junjie Kang, Fuqiang Yang, Jiahai Yuan, Weirong Zhang
School Authors: Nathan Hultman, Leon Clarke, Christina Bowman, Morgan Edwards, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui
Other Authors: Carla Frisch, Kevin Kennedy, Paul Bodnar, Pete Hansel, Tom Cyrs, Michelle Manion, Jessie Lund, Joel Jaeger, Andrew Clapper, Arijit Sen, Devashree Saha, Michael Westphal, Wendy Jaglom , Juan Carlos Altamirano, Maggie Dennis, Kareem Hammoud, Christopher Henderson, John O'Neill, Emily Goldfield
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman, Morgan Edwards, Kavita Surana
Other Authors: Linlang He, Arijit Sen , Haewon McJeon, Gokul Iyer, Pralit Patel, Sha Yu, Ted Nace, Christine Shearer
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Morgan Edwards, Christina Bowman
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Kavita Surana, Shannon Kennedy







