Prof. Yong Sik Ok has been felicitated as a Highly Cited Researcher (HCR) in three fields, namely Environment and Ecology, Engineering, and Biology and Biochemistry in 2022, which places his name among 32 influential scientists worldwide.

Prof. Ok is a Full Professor and the Global Research Director at Korea University, Seoul, Korea. He currently serves as the Director of the Sustainable Waste Management Program for the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), and he is the Co-President of the International ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) Association. Prof. Ok has been felicitated as a Highly Cited Researcher (HCR) in three fields, namely Environment and Ecology, Engineering, and Biology and Biochemistry for the year 2022. Web of Science (WoS) developed by Clarivate Analytics evaluates 21 Essential Science Indicators (ESI) to identify scientists and social scientists who have had a significant impact in their fields of research on an annual basis. These HCRs have consistently demonstrated their influence via publication of multiple highly cited academic papers over the past decade. In fact, on the day that the HCR statement was released, Prof. Ok’s publication profile included 107 highly cited articles (HCP), the highest ever by a South Korean researcher. As much as 95% of his papers are the result of international collaborative research programs, and 91.4% of his publications have been accepted by the top 10% of journals in each research category.

A total of 3981 researchers were declared HCRs in the year 2022 by Clarivate Analytics in 21 ESI fields. Among them, 219 (5.5%) scientists were present in two ESI fields, and only 32 (0.8%) including Prof. Ok were listed in three or more fields. As per WoS data, 303, 153, and 202 researchers across the globe received the honor of being named HCRs in the fields of Biology and Biochemistry, Engineering, and Environment and Ecology, respectively, in 2022. Prof. Ok has made history by being the only HCR in all three of these three ESI fields till date, which is abundant evidence of his outstanding contribution to research. Notably, he was declared an HCR in Cross Fields in 2018, and became the first Korean HCR in Environment and Ecology in 2019. Additionally, he was also ascertained as the first Korean HCR in Environment and Ecology as well as Engineering in 2021.

Prof. Ok has served on the Scientific Organizing Committee of the P4G Nature Forum: Climate Change and Biodiversity, and the Nature Forum: Plastics and Sustainability. He has also chaired several major conferences, including the Engineering Sustainable Development series (ESD series), organized by the APRU and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Prof. Ok hosted the first Nature conference in Seoul that was attended by representatives from several South Korean universities, on waste management and valorization for a sustainable future, in collaboration with the Chief Editors of Nature Sustainability, Nature Electronics, and Nature Nanotechnology in 2021. Further, he also partnered with Nature journal to host the first Nature Forum on Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) for Global Sustainability: The “E” Pillar for Sustainable Business in August 2022.

Prof. Ok is working at the vanguard of global efforts for the development of sustainable waste management strategies and technologies that will address the rising crises of electronic and plastic waste, as well as soil and air pollution by particulate matter. He has served in several prestigious positions worldwide, including as honorary professor at the University of Queensland (Australia), visiting professor at Tsinghua University (China), adjunct professor at the University of Wuppertal (Germany), and guest professor at Ghent University (Belgium). He maintains a worldwide professional network by serving as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology (CREST, five-year IF:13.2) at Taylor and Francis, an extremely distinguished and highly ranked international journal that publishes leading research on UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ESG. Further, he is a member of the editorial advisory board of Environmental Science & Technology, as well as an editorial board member of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews and Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology among several other journals of repute.