Find Academic Supervisors

Étienne-Marie LassiView profile

Professor

• Francophone African Literature
• Francophone African Cinema
• Postcolonial Theories
• +4 more

Étienne-Marie Lassi is a Professor in the Department of French, Spanish and Italian at the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Arts. His research focuses on Francophone African literature and cinema, postcolonial theories, ecocriticism, and posthumanism. PhD (Francophone Literature and Cinema), University of Ottawa, 2009 MA (Francophone African Literature), University of Calgary, 2005 Licence (Bilingual Studies), University of Yaoundé, 1990 His work explores interactions between humans and non-humans in African literature, ecological implications of postcolonial narratives, and urban/rural dichotomies in Francophone African fiction. Recent research examines posthuman societies and environmental social imaginaries. Publications and Google Scholar entries (2012-2025) demonstrate expertise in Francophone African ecocriticism, cinematic adaptation, and postcolonial urban/rural dynamics. Key themes include ecological imperialism, plantations, and environmental justice in literature. Falconer Emerging Researcher Award, Humanities Category (2016) Étienne-Marie Lassi is currently accepting graduate students for Master's and PhD supervision in Francophone African literature and cinema studies. His teaching includes courses on African cinema, postcolonial French literature, and written expression.

Marco Antonio CasanovaView profile

Professor

• Database Systems
• Conceptual Modeling
• Semantic Web
• +5 more

Marco Antonio Casanova is a Full Professor at the Department of Informatics and Coordinator of the Central Planning and Evaluation Office of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). He has held significant leadership positions at PUC-Rio including Graduate Program Coordinator (2005-2007) and Director of the Department of Informatics (2007-2011). His research interests concentrate on database conceptual modeling, construction of database management systems, and applications of Large Language Models. Dr. Casanova's work focuses on technologies that facilitate the dissemination and interpretation of data on the Web, with particular emphasis on techniques for designing databases to facilitate interoperability. His academic journey began with a degree in Electronic Engineering from the Military Institute of Engineering (1974), followed by an M.Sc. in Informatics from PUC-Rio (1976), and culminated with an M.Sc. (1978) and Ph.D. (1979) in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University. His recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate a strong focus on the intersection of Large Language Models with database technologies, particularly in developing advanced Text-to-SQL and Text-to-SPARQL systems. His research spans both theoretical database concepts and practical applications across various domains including engineering, healthcare, and cultural heritage. Dr. Casanova has been particularly active in exploring how LLMs can enhance traditional database query interfaces while addressing real-world challenges in complex database environments. Scientific Recognition: Recipient of the Scientific Merit Award from the Brazilian Computer Society (2012) CNPq Level 1B Productivity Grant recipient Dr. Casanova maintains an active research program with numerous collaborations across Brazil and internationally. His work bridges theoretical database research with practical applications, particularly in the evolving landscape of AI-enhanced database systems. He has contributed significantly to the field of semantic technologies, knowledge graphs, and natural language interfaces to databases, with a recent emphasis on leveraging Large Language Models to solve longstanding database interoperability challenges. His laboratory and research team at PUC-Rio focus on developing innovative approaches to database management that incorporate cutting-edge AI techniques while maintaining strong theoretical foundations in database systems.

Valerie GunterView profile

Associate Professor

• Social Theory
• Scholarly Writing
• Sociology of Knowledge
• +5 more

Dr. Valerie Gunter is an Associate Professor in the Department of School Psychology, Special Education, and Sociology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), within the College of Education and Human Services. Her academic background includes a PhD in Sociology from Michigan State University, an MS from Texas A&M University, and a BA from Southwestern Oklahoma State University. She teaches core undergraduate and graduate theory courses, including Sociological Theory, Qualitative Research Methods, and Contemporary Social and Organizational Theory. Her research focuses on Social Theory, Scholarly Writing, Environment and Society, Political Sociology, and Diversity and Inclusion. She has developed innovative courses like SOC 300: Skills for Using Sociology in Your Career and Community, emphasizing practical applications of sociology. Her recent work includes a dissertation proposal workbook under review by Sage Publications, exploring themes like generalized trust and placed-based identity, alongside ongoing interests in social constructionist approaches to human-environment systems. Gunter serves on the University-Wide Graduate Curriculum Committee and the Department's Undergraduate Education Committee. She has pioneered new teaching techniques, such as integrating media analysis and historical archives in qualitative research. Her scholarship spans environmental controversies, disaster recovery, and media representation of scientific issues, reflecting a commitment to bridging theoretical frameworks with real-world applications.

Akshayaram SrinivasanView profile

Assistant Professor

• Cryptography
• Secure Multiparty Computation
• Zero-Knowledge Proofs
• +3 more

Akshayaram Srinivasan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto and the Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences at the University of Toronto Mississauga. He is a member of the Theory Group, with a focus on foundational cryptography. Previously, he was at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and earned his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley under Prof. Sanjam Garg. His research emphasizes Secure Multiparty Computation, Zero-Knowledge Proofs, and Post-Quantum Cryptography. He has received awards such as the Eurocrypt 2018 Best Paper Award and the Google India Research Award (2022). He teaches courses like Cryptography from Lattices and has advised students including Ziyang Jin and Siddharth Agarwal. He serves on program committees for major cryptography conferences and contributes to cryptographic inference systems like Delphi and Muse.

• Systems Engineering
• Control Systems Design
• Thermal Management Systems
• +5 more

James Allison is an Associate Professor in both the Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering and Aerospace Engineering departments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also affiliated with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. His research focuses on systems engineering, control systems design, thermal management systems, and optimization methodologies. Dr. Allison has contributed to advancements in fluid-based thermal management systems, floating offshore wind turbine control co-design, and AI-driven design optimization. His work emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches, blending mechanical, aerospace, and computational engineering principles. Key research areas include design automation, graph neural networks for system architecture exploration, and reliability-based co-design of complex systems. He has pioneered methodologies for extracting design knowledge from optimization data and advancing multifunctional structures for attitude control in aerospace systems. Awards: NSF CAREER Award (2017) Labs/Groups: Involved in the development of tools like LGR-MPC and SS-MPC for Model Predictive Control, and the WEIS toolset for offshore wind turbine analysis. Dr. Allison’s recent publications highlight contributions to thermal management system configurations, control strategies for offshore renewable energy systems, and topology optimization techniques. His research bridges theoretical advancements with practical applications in aerospace, energy, and manufacturing sectors.

Diana Galvan SosaView profile

Researcher

• Natural Language Processing
• Knowledge Acquisition
• Applications of NLP in Education
• +3 more

Diana Galvan Sosa is a Researcher at the University of Cambridge, affiliated with the ALTA Institute (Automated Language Teaching and Assessment) and the NLIP group. She holds a doctoral degree in Information Science from Tohoku University (Japan). Her research focuses on Natural Language Processing (NLP), particularly knowledge acquisition and applications of NLP in education, including feedback generation systems for second language (L2) learners. She also contributes to clinical text analysis and hate speech detection research. Education: PhD in Information Science from Tohoku University, Japan. Research Interests: Grammatical Error Correction Educational Technology Clinical NLP Explainability in AI Temporal Relation Extraction Multimodal Reasoning Recent Work Trends: Her most recent publications (2023-2025) emphasize advanced NLP applications like GPT-4 analysis for error correction, hate speech detection leveraging platform guidelines, and evaluation frameworks for AI explanations. Earlier work includes foundational studies on clinical text analysis and addiction treatment populations. Labs/Groups: Active member of the ALTA Institute and NLIP group at Cambridge. Also contributes to open-source projects like the GECToR framework for grammatical error correction, reflected in her GitHub repositories.

Liming ChenView profile

Professor

• Computer Vision
• Pattern Recognition
• 3D Face Analysis
• +2 more

Liming Chen is a Full Professor and Director of the Department Mathématiques - Informatique at École Centrale de Lyon, Université de Lyon. As a member of the Laboratoire d'Informatique en Image et Systèmes d'Information (LIRIS, UMR 5205), his research spans computer vision, pattern recognition, and multimedia computing. His extensive research portfolio includes 3D face analysis, image/video categorization, affect analysis, and biometric systems. He has led significant projects such as ANR 3D Face Analyzer, ANR Videosense, ANR Omnia, and ANR FAR3D, focusing on advanced recognition systems and multimodal analysis. Professor Chen supervises multiple PhD students and has developed open-source tools for 3D model processing. His work has received recognition through best performance awards at international competitions including SHREC 2011 (3D face recognition) and ImageCLEF 2011 (photo annotation).

• Environmental Anthropology
• Conflict Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• +3 more

Bridget Guarasci is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Franklin & Marshall College, specializing in environmental anthropology with a focus on the entanglement of war, conflict, and ecological transformation in the Arab-majority world. Her research interrogates how war shapes environmental systems, challenging the dichotomy between nature and violence. Her first book, Warzone Ecology: Iraq's Marshes as Battlegrounds , analyzes how post-2003 U.S. occupation and UN-led reconstruction efforts in Iraq's Mesopotamian Marshes enabled multinational resource extraction while framing conservation as a geopolitical tool. Her second book project, Adrift: Voyages of Discovery and Survival in the Mediterranean , connects her great-grandfather's early 20th-century migration journey from Sicily to Tunisia and New York with contemporary North African migrant struggles under restrictive Italian policies. Guarasci's work has been supported by prestigious institutions including the Wenner-Gren Foundation, ACLS, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Her research emphasizes intersectional approaches to ecology, blending historical analysis with contemporary environmental justice concerns.

Giancarlo CrocettiView profile

Assistant Professor

• Data Science
• Distributed Analytics
• Web Data Mining
• +2 more

Giancarlo Crocetti is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, Mathematics and Science at the Collins College of Professional Studies, St. John's University. His teaching focuses on data science, distributed analytics, and web data mining. He holds a Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.) in Applied Computing from Pace University, along with Master's degrees in Data Mining (Central Connecticut State University) and Computer Science (La Sapienza University, Rome). Education: D.P.S., Applied Computing, Pace University M.S., Data Mining, Central Connecticut State University M.S., Computer Science, La Sapienza University - Rome His research interests span cognitive science and semantic representation of knowledge. Crocetti actively contributes to cutting-edge fields like telemedicine analytics, biomarker development for Parkinson's disease, and ensemble models in histological examination. His work bridges computer science with healthcare applications through innovative data mining techniques. Notable research includes developing algorithms for social conversation analysis in NSCLC patients and creating a think tank simulator for virtual expert consultations. His publications demonstrate expertise in both foundational computer science and applied biomedical informatics.

Pierre JourlinView profile

Professor

• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Programming Languages
• +3 more

Pierre Jourlin is a Professor at Avignon University, specializing in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. He actively contributes to academic events such as workshops on programming education and AI ethics. His research focuses on areas like natural language processing, machine learning, and the societal impact of AI. Jourlin has organized events like a programming workshop for high school students (2022) and authored numerous articles on topics ranging from rule-based event extraction to generative AI in creative writing. His academic contributions include work on semantic disambiguation, medical literature tools (SIMI), and foundational studies in speech recognition and multimedia retrieval. He critiques AI limitations, emphasizing the importance of human oversight in code generation and advocating for accessible education to counteract underfunding in public schools. Jourlin's recent publications (2024–2025) address AI's role in creative fields and the evolution of programming languages. His work often bridges technical innovation with ethical considerations, as seen in his analysis of code-producing AI tools like Copilot. He remains an active member of the academic community, blending research with pedagogical outreach.

Alex ZhangView profile

Research Professor

• Legal Information Management
• Interdisciplinary Research Methods
• Comparative Lawmaking
• +2 more

Alex Zhang is the Archibald C. and Frances Fulk Rufty Research Professor of Law, Associate Dean of Information Services, and Director of the J. Michael Goodson Law Library at Duke University School of Law. She co-founded Chinalab@DukeLaw and previously held leadership roles at Washington and Lee University School of Law, University of Michigan Law School, and Stanford University Law School. Education: J.D. from University of Kansas M.S.I. from University of Michigan Member of New York State Bar Her research examines legal information systems, law library management, and comparative lawmaking, with regional expertise in Chinese law. She employs interdisciplinary methods to analyze legal infrastructures and policy frameworks. Recent publications focus on AI applications in legal research, sustainable access to legal information, and comparative analyses of Chinese legal systems. Her work consistently addresses technological innovation in legal services and transnational legal frameworks. Awards: 2022 Reynolds & Flores Publication Award for Global Animal Law Research She teaches Advanced Legal Research and Research Methods in Chinese Law, advising graduate students in legal information science. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of Legal Reference Services Quarterly and on advisory boards for legal research initiatives. As co-president of the Chinese American Forum on Legal Information, she fosters international collaborations between U.S. and Chinese legal scholars and librarians.

Francisco RuizView profile

Associate Professor

• Fuel Atomization
• Internal Combustion Engines
• Regenerative Thermodynamic Cycles
• +2 more

Dr. Francisco Ruiz is Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology's Armour College of Engineering, specializing in thermal sciences and energy systems. Education: Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (1987) M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (1985) B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (1983) His research investigates fundamental mechanisms of fuel atomization, cavitation effects in injection systems, and advanced internal combustion concepts including regenerative cycles and natural gas engines. He pioneers computational modeling approaches for combustion optimization and has developed innovative curriculum frameworks for engineering innovation. Publications demonstrate enduring focus on adaptive thermodynamic cycles, combustion stability, and fluid atomization physics. Recent work examines novel engine architectures and combustion modeling techniques for efficiency improvement. Awards recognize research and educational innovation: Tanasawa Award for atomization research (1988) SAE Teetor Award (1990) Chicago Tribune All-Professor Team (1993) He leads the Invention Center pedagogy initiative transforming engineering education through design thinking methodologies. Professional memberships include SAE, Tau Beta Pi, and Pi Tau Sigma.

• Knowledge Graphs
• Semantic Web
• Data Quality
• +5 more

Elena Simperl is a Professor at King's College London, UK, with former affiliations at the University of Southampton and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Her work focuses on knowledge graphs, semantic web technologies, and AI-driven data management. She leads research in collaborative knowledge engineering, dataset search, and AI ethics, contributing to projects like the TheyBuyForYou platform for public procurement transparency. Her research interests span knowledge representation, crowdsourcing, and human-AI collaboration. Notable contributions include advancing methods for knowledge graph construction, improving data quality via crowdsourced and automated approaches, and exploring the societal impact of AI systems. She has co-edited major conferences such as ISWC and ESWC, and her work bridges technical innovation with practical applications in public policy and information systems. Key projects include developing frameworks for dataset usability, AI-ready data infrastructure, and systems for fact-checking visual content. Her collaborations span academia and industry, addressing challenges in data governance, misinformation detection, and ethical AI deployment.

Gordon UlmerView profile

Assistant Professor

• Environmental Studies
• Anthropology
• Climate Change
• +4 more

Gordon Ulmer is an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Studies Department at California Polytechnic State University, Humboldt. His research focuses on environmental anthropology, resource extraction dynamics, and the socio-ecological impacts of development in Amazonian regions. He holds a dedicated interest in studying Indigenous communities' responses to climate change, mining activities, and state-led environmental policies. Ulmer's work critically examines issues like labor precarity, environmental justice, and the intersection of digital technologies with fieldwork methodologies. His research spans Peru's Madre de Dios region and Mexico's Oaxaca, addressing topics such as gold mining consequences, deforestation, and the tensions between conservation and extractive economies. He is affiliated with the Environmental Studies Program located at Founders Hall Room 180, Arcata, CA. Contact details include his office at BSS 522 and the departmental phone: (707) 826-3379.

Jennifer VeilleuxView profile

Assistant Professor

• Water Sovereignty
• Environmental Justice
• GIS and Counter-Mapping
• +4 more

Dr. Jennifer Veilleux is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cultural Geography at Wageningen University & Research. Her research focuses on water sovereignty, environmental justice, and the intersection of climate change with Indigenous knowledge systems. She employs interdisciplinary methods combining GIS, qualitative/quantitative data analysis, and participatory research with local communities to address water security challenges in transboundary watersheds such as the Nile, Mississippi, and Mekong Rivers. Veilleux emphasizes decolonizing spatial narratives through counter-mapping efforts to restore Indigenous placenames and perspectives. Her work examines how scale and colonial histories influence policy impacts on frontline communities, particularly in dam development projects and extractive capitalism. She collaborates with governments, militaries, and international organizations to evaluate development project efficacy while advocating for equity-centered approaches. Recently, she led the Mindmapping Climate Change and Research Intersections Symposium , showcasing frameworks for integrating art-based methods and participatory visual communication into climate research. Veilleux teaches courses on gender and diversity in transnational contexts, geopolitics, and climate entanglements. Her expertise spans environmental justice, human rights, and spatial policy analysis across Ethiopia, the USA, and other transboundary regions. She actively engages in policy advocacy through interdisciplinary research projects designed within the Sector Plan Spatial Issues framework at WUR.