Dr. Madeleine Orr (she/her) is researcher, educator, and advocate working at the intersection of sport and climate change. After earning her PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Minnesota in 2020 and a postdoc in strategy at University of British Columbia, Orr joined the Institute for Sport Business at Loughborough University London where she developed the world’s first MSc in Sustainable Sport Business. In the Fall of 2023, she is joining the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor.
Maddy is the founder and co-director of The Sport Ecology Group, an international consortium of academics who drive climate action in the sport sector through research and public education initiatives. Her research in sport ecology examines the impacts of climate change on the sport sector, with a focus on resilience and adaptation. She has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and several industry-facing reports that have gained global attention. Her work has been covered by the BBC, Time Magazine, ESPN, Sky Sports, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, and more. Her first book Warming Up: How Climate Change is Changing Sports (for Bloomsbury) will publish in 2024.
For her contributions to the sport sector, Orr has been recognized by Forbes’ 30 Under 30, Corporate Knights’ 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leaders, and NAAEE’s 30 Under 30 Environmental Educators. She was the 2022 recipient of the Rising Alumni Award from the University of Minnesota and was named a Future of Canada Fellow in 2023.
