Mark B.N. Hansen is the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Literature at Duke University, affiliated with the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. He holds roles such as Director of the Literature Program and previously served as Director of Graduate Studies and Undergraduate Studies in Literature. His academic journey includes a Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine (1994), an M.A. (1989), and a B.A. from New York University (1987). Hansen’s research explores the intersection of technology, human agency, and social life, spanning literary studies, media theory, phenomenology, and cognitive neuroscience. He emphasizes the role of technological exteriorization in defining human experience, with notable contributions to digital media aesthetics, media ontology, and the environmental turn in media studies. His publications reflect a focus on 21st-century media’s impact on perception, temporality, and embodiment. Recent works include analyses of deepfake technology, feed-forward agency, and technical feeling. Hansen’s teaching spans special topics in literature, visual studies, and computational media, reflecting his interdisciplinary approach. Recipient of prestigious awards like the National Humanities Center Fellowship (2014) and a Fulbright Senior Specialist designation (2012), Hansen also serves on editorial boards and professional organizations. His research has been supported by grants such as Duke’s Global Humanities Seed Grant (2022).
Joshua Socolar is Professor of Physics at Duke University specializing in collective phenomena in condensed matter systems. His research explores exotic material structures including quasicrystals and granular systems. Education: Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania (1987) B.A., Haverford College (1980) Research Focus: Non-periodic structures, self-assembly of colloidal particles, shear jamming in granular matter, and topological properties of mechanical lattices. Leadership: Served as Chair of Duke's Academic Council (2013-2015) and Trinity College Arts & Sciences Council (2021-2024).
Dr Rita Borgo is a Professor in Data Visualization and Head of the Human Centred Computing Group at King's College London's Department of Informatics. She holds a leadership role within the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences and is affiliated with the Centre for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) London. Her research focuses on interdisciplinary visualization challenges, including human-computer interaction, AI trust calibration, and epidemiological modeling. Education details are not explicitly stated in the provided text. Her work spans over 58 publications, emphasizing visualization techniques for large datasets, trust in AI systems, and urban science applications. Key projects include RAMPVIS (visual analytics for pandemic response) and Trusted Autonomous Systems Hub (AI ethics and human-machine partnerships). Research interests include data visualization, human factors, generative AI, and policy simulation. Recent articles explore trust calibration in AI, time-series visualization, and ethical clinical decision support systems. She has led grants totaling £multi-million, including EPSRC-funded initiatives. Collaborations with organizations like ContactEngine Limited highlight her industry engagement. Labs/Teams: Leads the Human Centred Computing Group and contributes to CUSP's urban data initiatives. Supervised student work includes a notable BSc thesis by Munkhtulga Battogtokh. Current projects address visualization in nuclear policy, social media mental health correlations, and trustworthy autonomous systems.
Amanda Morris is a Research Professor and Director at the CDU Academy of the Arts within Charles Darwin University's Faculty of Arts and Society, specializing in Creative Industries and Innovation. She holds a PhD from The University of Sydney (1989) and a Graduate Diploma in Direction from The National Institute of Dramatic Art (1984). Her research integrates performing arts, interdisciplinary studies, and emerging technologies, focusing on pedagogical systems design, screen-based drama, and ecological arts. She has supervised postgraduate research and led innovative projects such as CellF, a neuron-driven synthesiser in performance. Education: PhD (University of Sydney), Graduate Diploma in Direction (NIDA) Key Roles: Editorial board member for The New Platform Papers , Member of Creative Industries Ministerial Advisory Council Notable Activities: Organised Voice and Speech Teachers Association (VASTA) conference (2017), delivered invited talks on online learning design (2021) Her awards include multiple Gold Medals for interactive multimedia (1998–2000) and recognition for educational technology innovations. Morris’s work bridges arts, technology, and pedagogy, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration in higher education.
Alice C Helliwell is an Assistant Professor in Philosophy at Northeastern University London, specializing in AI art and computational creativity. Her research addresses philosophical questions about machine creativity, AI ethics, and the aesthetics of AI-generated art. She holds a PhD from the University of Kent and has held roles including Interim Director of the Doctoral Research School at NU London (2023-24). Her current projects include a Visiting Fellowship at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität exploring AI responsibility frameworks. Education includes: PhD in History and Philosophy of Art (University of Kent) MA in History and Philosophy of Art (University of Kent, Paris) PGCert in Occupational Psychology (Birkbeck, University of London) MA(Hons) in Philosophy and Psychology (University of Edinburgh) Her research spans: Philosophy of technology Creativity theory Applied AI ethics Landscape of AI ethics in creative industries Recent publications focus on AI alignment problems, cluster accounts of art, and Wittgensteinian analyses of AI governance. She co-edited volumes on Wittgenstein and AI (2024) and authored key works linking Darwinian creativity models to computational systems. Awards include the Paris Scholarship and Vice Chancellor’s Scholarship. Professional roles include Associate Editor at AI & Society (2024–present) and Trustee of the British Society of Aesthetics. Teaching focuses on AI/data ethics and aesthetics at NU London, with supervision of dissertations in AI art, technology ethics, and aesthetics. She holds Fellowship of Advance HE (2024).
Kathrin Ellieroth is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Colby College, part of the College of Arts and Sciences. She teaches courses such as Principles of Macroeconomics, Computational Macroeconomics, and Gender in the Macroeconomy. Her research focuses on macroeconomic dynamics, gender disparities in labor markets, and household economic behavior. She holds office in Diamond 347 and can be reached at kathrin.ellieroth@colby.edu. Her research interests emphasize understanding how macroeconomic policies and business cycles affect labor supply decisions, particularly among married women. She explores topics like spousal insurance mechanisms, precautionary savings, and the cyclicality of labor hours through a gender lens. Her work bridges computational methods with traditional macroeconomic analysis. Recent articles (2017–2024) reveal a focus on labor market responses to economic fluctuations, gendered macroeconomic outcomes, and household-level risk management strategies. Though no scientific awards are listed, her work contributes significantly to debates on equitable economic policy design. No grants or student advising records are explicitly mentioned in available data. She appears to be actively involved in teaching and research without noted lab/team affiliations.
Jindrich Zapletal is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Florida, affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He holds a Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University (1995), advised by Thomas Jech. His research focuses on set theory, mathematical logic, and their applications, with specializations in descriptive set theory, combinatorial set theory, and forcing techniques. He is a core member of the UF Logic and Set Theory Group, which organizes the annual South Eastern Logic Symposium (SEALS), funded by the NSF. He teaches advanced courses like Invariant Descriptive Set Theory and has advised numerous graduate students. His work frequently explores consistency results under ZF set theory, chromatic numbers of hypergraphs, and interactions between forcing and topology. He actively contributes to conferences and has co-authored influential textbooks and monographs in set theory and logic. Education: Ph.D., Mathematics, The Pennsylvania State University, 1995 Research Interests: Choiceless set theory, descriptive set theory, forcing with ideals, and combinatorial structures in set theory Professional Roles: Organizer of SEALS conferences, instructor for graduate-level logic courses Grants: NSF Award 1945890 and multiple University of Florida grants Zapletal’s research emphasizes foundational questions in set theory, particularly under weaker axioms like ZF+DC, and their implications for algebra, topology, and combinatorics. His recent work includes studies on chromatic numbers of geometric hypergraphs and the structure of sigma-ideals in Polish spaces. Collaborations span topics like permutation models, game determinacy, and measure-theoretic forcing.
Joel Krueger is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Exeter, affiliated with the Department of Sociology and Philosophy and Egenis, the Centre for the Study of Life Sciences. He specializes in phenomenology, philosophy of mind, and cognitive science, with a focus on embodied cognition, emotions, social cognition, psychopathology, and human-AI interactions. His research also encompasses Asian and comparative philosophy, philosophy of music, and pragmatism. Education: PhD in Philosophy from Purdue University (2010), MA in Philosophy from San Francisco State University (2006), and BA in Philosophy from the University of California, Davis (2003). Research Interests: Krueger’s work bridges philosophy and cognitive science, addressing topics such as loneliness, psychiatric disorders, AI ethics, and the role of music in affective scaffolding. He explores how technologies like AI chatbots influence grief and social interactions, and how embodied cognition shapes mental health and sociality. Editorial Roles: Associate Editor of Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences and Passion: Journal of the European Philosophical Society for the Study of Emotion . Labs/Teams: Active in Egenis (Mind, Body, and Culture), contributing to interdisciplinary studies on life sciences and their societal implications.
Andrew F. Read is the Senior Vice President for Research and Evan Pugh University Professor of Biology and Entomology at Pennsylvania State University. He holds affiliations with the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and the Department of Entomology. His research focuses on the ecology and evolutionary genetics of infectious diseases, particularly vaccine and drug resistance in pathogens like malaria and Marek’s disease. Read has been recognized with prestigious awards, including membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and The Royal Society. Education: Ph.D., University of Oxford (1989); B.S., University of Otago (1984). Research Interests: Investigates how pathogens evolve to evade control measures, including drug and vaccine resistance. Current projects include studying drug resistance in hospital pathogens, vaccine-driven virulence evolution in malaria, and ecological factors influencing infectious disease dynamics. His work integrates experimental and computational methods across disciplines like evolutionary biology, microbiology, and genomics. Recent Contributions: His lab explores strategies to slow resistance evolution, such as adjunctive therapies and optimized drug regimens. Key findings include demonstrating how antibiotic use patterns influence resistance emergence and identifying mechanisms of pathogen transmission. Awards and Honors: Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2018) Penn State President’s Award (2018) Fellow, The Royal Society (2015) Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology (2014) Advising and Grants: Supervises a dynamic research group, including undergraduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Active in securing funding for studies on malaria, myxomatosis, and antibiotic resistance. Collaborates with institutions globally on projects spanning ecology, virology, and public health. Labs and Teams: Leads the Read Lab at Penn State, focusing on interdisciplinary approaches to infectious disease control. Collaborates with the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics and the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.
Professor Peta Mitchell is a leading scholar in digital media and geographies at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), where she holds a Professorship in the School of Communication and the Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC). She leads the Urban Media and Digital Geographies Research Group and serves as Director of Research Training for QUT's Faculty of Creative Industries, Education, and Social Justice. In 2023, Professor Mitchell was appointed to serve a three-year term on the Australian Research Council's College of Experts, recognizing her significant contributions to research in digital media and geographies. Professor Mitchell earned her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Queensland. Her academic journey has established her as a prominent voice in the interdisciplinary field bridging geography, media studies, and digital culture. She has received prestigious fellowships including a Vice Chancellor's Research Fellowship from QUT (2014-2018) and a visiting fellowship from the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh (2009). Professor Mitchell's research explores the complex connections among space, place, society, and the digital. Her work focuses on digital and media geographies, everyday digital and data cultures, digital inclusion, and network contagion. She has made significant contributions to understanding how digital technologies reshape our relationship with space and place, particularly in urban environments. Her research examines how location-aware technologies influence social dynamics, cultural practices, and power relations, with particular attention to issues of inclusion, privacy, and justice in digital contexts. Professor Mitchell has investigated how digital media practices shape experiences of belonging, particularly among marginalized communities, and how geospatial data is produced, circulated, and contested in contemporary society. Her extensive publication record reveals a trajectory of increasingly interdisciplinary work that bridges humanities, social sciences, and spatial sciences. Recent publications show a growing focus on the intersection of digital technologies with environmental concerns, multispecies justice, and urban governance. Professor Mitchell's work has evolved to address emerging challenges related to generative AI, smart city technologies, and the ethical implications of location-aware applications. Her research consistently engages with questions of power, equity, and social justice in digital spaces, making significant contributions to both theoretical frameworks and practical applications in the field. Vice Chancellor's Research Fellowship, Queensland University of Technology (2014-2018) Faculty research fellowship, Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies, University of Queensland Visiting fellowship, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH), University of Edinburgh (2009) Professor Mitchell has successfully supervised numerous doctoral students whose research explores diverse aspects of digital media and geographies. Her current and former students have investigated topics including smart urban governance, digital privacy, diaspora media practices, digital inclusion, and the cultural dimensions of location-based technologies. She has secured substantial research funding through competitive grants, including multiple ARC Discovery and Linkage Projects. Her current projects include "Generative AI and the Future of Academic Writing and Publishing" (2025-2028) and "Promoting Low-Income Parents' Digital Media Literacies" (2025-2028), demonstrating her ongoing commitment to addressing pressing contemporary issues at the intersection of technology, society, and space. As leader of the Urban Media and Digital Geographies Research Group within QUT's Digital Media Research Centre, Professor Mitchell fosters interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers examining how digital technologies reshape urban spaces and social relations. Her research group brings together scholars from geography, communication, design, computer science, and the humanities to investigate the spatial dimensions of digital culture. The group's work has particular relevance for understanding the implications of smart city technologies, location-aware applications, and digital inclusion initiatives in contemporary urban contexts.
Dr. John Lehrter is a Professor of Marine Sciences and Associate Director of the Stokes School of Marine & Environmental Sciences at the University of South Alabama, as well as a Senior Marine Scientist at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. He holds a Ph.D. in Marine Sciences from the University of Alabama (2003). His research focuses on coastal biogeochemistry, ecosystem modeling, and satellite ocean color remote sensing, with an emphasis on understanding eutrophication, hypoxia, and multiple stressor impacts on coastal ecosystems. Dr. Lehrter has advised numerous graduate and undergraduate students and leads a lab engaged in field studies, numerical modeling, and satellite data analysis. His work addresses societal challenges in coastal management and climate change adaptation. Research Interests: Multiple Stressor Impacts to Coastal Ecosystems, Marine Biogeochemistry, Ecosystem Modeling, Satellite Remote Sensing, and Hypoxia Dynamics. His lab develops tools to quantify nutrient pollution effects and predict ecosystem responses to management actions. Advising and Grants: Dr. Lehrter oversees a dynamic lab with graduate students, postdocs, and technicians. Current projects include modeling nutrient dynamics, satellite data applications for water quality, and experimental studies on multiple stressors (e.g., temperature, pH) impacting marine organisms. His lab collaborates with agencies like the EPA and NOAA, contributing to coastal policy and restoration efforts. Labs/Teams: Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) and the University of South Alabama’s Stokes School of Marine & Environmental Sciences. The lab recently established a state-of-the-art facility for multiple stressor experiments on marine species.
Paolo Noto is an Associate Professor at the Department of the Arts, Università di Bologna. He specializes in film studies, focusing on post-war Italian cinema, genre transformations, and intertextuality. He holds a PhD in Theatre and Film Studies from the University of Bologna. His research explores the interplay between national and foreign cinematic models, particularly in 1950s Italian cinema. He has presented at conferences such as the NECS Conference 2012 (Lisbon) and contributed to journals like The Italianist and Bianco e nero . His publications include works on Italian neorealism, digital media, and television history. Noto has collaborated with institutions like the University of Bristol and Harvard University through academic exchanges and research projects. His work bridges historical analysis with contemporary media practices, emphasizing cultural and technological intersections.
Chet C. Sherwood is a Professor of Anthropology at George Washington University (GW) and a core faculty member of the Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology (CASHP). He also directs the National Chimpanzee Brain Resource and is affiliated with the GW Mind-Brain Institute. His research focuses on evolutionary neuroscience, particularly brain evolution in primates and other mammals, emphasizing how brain structure relates to behavior, development, and genetics. Education: Ph.D. (2003), M.A. (1998, 1996), and B.A. (1995) from Columbia University, with an additional M.A. from New York University (1996). Teaches courses such as ANTH 1001: Biological Anthropology and ANTH 3413: Evolution of the Human Brain. Research interests include comparative neuroanatomy of the cerebral cortex, human brain evolution relative to other primates, and the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying cognitive evolution. He explores how brain differences across species correlate with ecological and behavioral traits, leveraging neuroimaging, transcriptomics, and fossil reconstruction techniques. Recent work investigates aging-related brain changes in primates and elephants. Notable achievements include membership in the National Academy of Sciences (2021) and the AAAS Fellowship (2022). His lab’s studies on chimpanzee brain plasticity and the genetic basis of primate cognition have advanced understanding of human uniqueness and shared evolutionary traits. Chet’s interdisciplinary collaborations span paleontology, genomics, and neuroscience, with a focus on bridging evolutionary and medical insights. His leadership in the National Chimpanzee Brain Resource underscores his commitment to advancing comparative neurobiology through resource development and ethical research practices.
Jonathan Roberts is a researcher at Bangor University, UK, with a focus on data visualization, visual analytics, and educational technology. His work bridges computer science and creative design, particularly in data art exhibitions and authentic learning. Key research areas: Data Visualization, Visual Analytics, Educational Technology, Digital Art Recent publications explore generative AI in visualization design, multiple-view patterns for time series data, and frameworks for creative learning. His collaborations span institutions like QUT, University of Manchester, and University of Cambridge. Notable awards include VAST 2012 Honorable Mention and VAST 2010 Analytic Process Recognition. He contributes to visualization pedagogy and has co-authored works on haptic interfaces, immersive analytics, and coastal data modeling.
Prof. Dr. Pablo Valdivia Martin is a Full Professor of European Culture and Literature at the University of Groningen, leading the Research Centre for the Study of Democratic Cultures and Politics (DemCP) . He holds affiliations including Research Associate at Harvard University's Paulson School and Academic Director of the Netherlands Research School for Literary Studies (OSL). His expertise spans cultural narratives, digital humanities, AI, and applied physics. He has supervised 9 PhD candidates and completed 7 PhD and 4 postdoc projects. Awards include the 2018 Lecturer of the Year and 2022 PIEoneer Award. Current research focuses on AI-enabled cultural analysis and crisis narratives. Education: BA (Hispanic Studies, Granada), BA (Comparative Literature, Valladolid), MA (UNED), PhD (University of Nottingham, 2007). Research interests: Cultural Analytics, Technology & Society, Computational Literary Studies, and University Innovation. Key projects include the INNOVALAB Erasmus+ initiative and leadership in the 'Humour in Court' NWO VIDI grant. Awards: Recognized for contributions to teaching and innovation, with international impact through advisory roles at NIAS-KNAW and Chilean research networks. Advising: Overseeing 9 active PhD projects on topics like AI systems for metaphor analysis, sensorial perception in former detainees, and legal narratives in media.
