Richard DUNCAN is a Professor in Conservation Biology at the University of Canberra's Science School and Department of Centre for Conservation and Ecology Genetics. His research focuses on the ecology of invasive species, particularly understanding how introduced species arrive, establish, and spread in new environments. Key areas include invasive weeds and pests, ecological community structure, and applying quantitative methods to address both fundamental and applied ecological questions. Education: PhD in Forest Ecology, University of Canterbury (1989, award date noted as 2024 in text) Research Interests: His work spans invasive species ecology, population dynamics, and restoration strategies. He employs diverse methods including field experiments, modeling, and genomics, with recent focus on grasslands and aquatic systems. Current projects address amphibian chytrid fungus, carp invasions, and rodent control. Articles Trends: Recent publications emphasize invasive species impacts on ecosystems, pathogen-driven niche contractions, and conservation tools like geospatial modeling and genomic simulations. Themes include species distribution modeling, pest management, and restoration ecology. Awards & Grants: Lead investigator on 35+ projects, including ARC Plant Biosecurity Training Centre and chytrid fungus mitigation efforts Associate Editor for Proceedings of the Royal Society B and Diversity and Distributions Advising: Accepting PhD students in invasive species ecology, with focus on using biological invasions to explore ecological theory and management applications. Labs/Teams: Collaborates widely on conservation genetics, aquatic invasions, and biosecurity, including work with the Biological Heritage Science Challenge and Indigenous Grasslands Trust.
Dr James Herbert-Read is an Associate Professor and Whitten Lecturer in Marine Biology at the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge. He serves as Deputy Head of Department (Postgraduate Education) and leads the Marine Behavioural Ecology Group. His research focuses on understanding how animals, particularly marine organisms, collect and process information from their environments to make behavioral decisions, with emphasis on social interactions, adaptation mechanisms, and ecological constraints. His group employs theoretical frameworks, controlled experiments, and quantitative field studies to investigate behavioral diversity in marine species. Key themes include collective behavior, predator-prey dynamics, camouflage strategies, and the impacts of environmental stressors on animal decision-making. Recent publications highlight work on lionfish vocalization mechanisms, cuttlefish camouflage, citizen science applications in marine research, and behavioral responses to visual and acoustic noise. Scientific awards and affiliations include: Whitten Lecturer in Marine Biology Associate Professor, University of Cambridge He has supervised research projects on topics such as: Social attraction in invasive fish species Evolution of coordinated movement Neurophysiological basis for leadership in shoals Maternal effects on offspring exploration
Brice Kuhl is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Oregon , where he leads the Kuhl Lab. His research focuses on the cognitive neuroscience of memory formation, retrieval, and forgetting , utilizing advanced neuroimaging techniques like fMRI and EEG combined with machine learning algorithms to analyze distributed neural activity patterns. His work explores mechanisms of memory interference resolution , forgetting , and neural representation transformation . Recent publications emphasize spaced learning , temporal memory dynamics , and memory-cognitive control interactions . The lab has received attention for decoding perceptual content from neural activity and reconstructing face images based on brain states. Current lab members include graduate students Anisha Babu , Tongle Cai , and America Romero , alongside postdocs like Soroush Mirjalili and Yoonjung Lee . The lab frequently presents at conferences like CNS and SFN , and maintains active collaborations in memory research and neuroimaging methodology . Notable projects include investigations into hippocampal pattern differentiation and parietal cortex roles in memory . The lab also contributes to open science initiatives with publicly available experimental codes and data .
Malay Banerjee is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) . His academic career is anchored in mathematical ecology and nonlinear dynamics, with a focus on modeling ecological and epidemiological systems. Education: Ph.D. (2005), University of Calcutta, India M.Sc. (1998), University of Calcutta, India Research Interests: His research spans Mathematical Ecology , Eco-epidemiology , and Nonlinear Dynamics . He applies differential equations and stochastic modeling to understand predator-prey dynamics, phytoplankton competition, and the impact of allelopathy and Allee effects on ecosystem stability. Publications Overview: His recent publications (2011–2014) focus on advanced modeling of ecological systems, including stochastic phytoplankton dynamics, bifurcation in predator-prey systems, and spatial self-organization. These works are published in leading journals like Mathematical Biosciences , Ecological Complexity , and Theoretical Ecology . Awards and Honors: Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), CSIR India Contact & Office: Office: FB-526, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur 208016 Phone: 0512-259-6157 (O) Email: malayb@iitk.ac.in
Dr. Araz Taeihagh is an Assistant Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (NUS), where he also serves as Principal Investigator at the Centre for Trusted Internet and Community (CTIC) and NUS Cities. He previously chaired the PhD Programme in Public Policy (2020-2023). Taeihagh holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford and has over two decades of consulting experience in energy, environment, transportation, and technology domains. His research focuses on policy design and governance of emerging technologies , with expertise spanning autonomous systems, AI governance, sharing economies, and smart cities. Key research areas include: Decision support systems and complexity approaches to public policy Infrastructure and sustainable development (energy/environment/transport) Socio-technical systems and technology governance Recent publications demonstrate strong focus on AI governance frameworks , autonomous systems regulation , and smart city development , particularly examining policy innovation in Singapore and comparative Asian contexts. Research frequently addresses tensions between technological innovation and regulatory oversight. Major recognitions include: Ranked Top 2% Scientist worldwide for energy (2023) and citation impact (2020-2022) Best Paper Award from Transport Reviews (2020) Research Excellence Awards (2019-2022) Faculty Research Fellowships from LKYSPP and NUS Humanities & Social Sciences He serves on editorial boards of Technological Forecasting and Social Change , Policy and Society , and other leading journals, and co-chairs scientific committees for AI Singapore's governance initiatives.
Dr. Shushu Chen is an Associate Professor in Sport Policy and Management at the University of Birmingham's School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, and also serves as a Visiting Professor at the Capital University of Physical Education & Sports in China, demonstrating her strong international academic presence. Education: PhD in Sport Policy and Management, Loughborough University (Centre for Olympic Studies & Research) MSc in Sport Management, Loughborough University BSc in Bioengineering Her research expertise lies in sport policy analysis and evaluation, particularly the legacy and societal impact of major sporting events such as the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games. She investigates how these events influence social inclusion, urban development, and public policy, with a strong focus on both the UK and Chinese contexts. Her methodological strengths include realist evaluation and meta-evaluation, applied to complex policy environments. Dr. Chen’s recent work centers on high-impact projects related to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, analyzing their legacies for disadvantaged communities and policy development. Her publications span top journals like the Journal of Sport Management and Sport Management Review , covering themes such as event leveraging, volunteering, policy development in China, and Olympic education. Her research consistently bridges academic rigor with practical policy relevance. Scientific Awards: British Academy Innovation Fellow Dr. Chen actively contributes to the academic community as an editorial board member for journals including Event Management , International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics , and Sport in Society . She supervises PhD students on topics such as women in sport in China, social integration through sport, and mental health. She has secured significant research grants from the British Academy, ESRC, World Anti-Doping Agency, and China National Social Science Foundation. Her work has been featured in major media outlets including the BBC, Financial Times, and The Guardian, highlighting her public engagement and policy influence. She is currently an Academic Advisor to the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and a Discipline Expert for Sport Management Digest. Her prior role as a member of the United Nations Expert Group on Inclusive Social Development further underscores her global impact in shaping inclusive sport policy.
Dr. Christina Leslie is a Research Professor and Member of the Computational & Systems Biology Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). She leads an active research laboratory focused on developing computational approaches to understand complex biological systems. Dr. Leslie earned her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley and has established herself as a leading computational biologist in cancer research and immunology. Computational & Systems Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Dr. Leslie's research focuses on developing novel computational methods to study cellular biological systems from a global and data-driven perspective. Her lab exploits diverse high-throughput functional and genomic data to understand molecular networks underlying fundamental cellular processes, including transcription regulation, pre-mRNA processing, signaling, and post-transcriptional gene silencing. Her algorithmic methods draw heavily on machine learning to build accurate predictive models from noisy and high-dimensional biological data. Key areas of interest include modeling cell-type specific transcriptional programs and dissecting co- and post-transcriptional regulation, particularly microRNA-mediated gene regulation. Analysis of Dr. Leslie's publication record over the last five years reveals a strong focus on computational approaches to cancer genomics, immunology, and epigenetics. Her work bridges multiple disciplines, with a particular emphasis on developing machine learning methods to interpret complex biological data. The publications demonstrate increasing sophistication in integrating multiple data types (genomic, transcriptomic, epigenomic) to understand cancer biology and immune responses. Recent work shows a growing emphasis on single-cell technologies and spatial analysis of tumor microenvironments. Introduction of string kernel methodology for SVM classification of biological sequences Development of algorithms for predictive modeling of gene regulation First systems-level analyses of competition between microRNAs and between target transcripts Dr. Leslie actively mentors numerous graduate students and research associates, with current lab members including Vianne Gao, Alireza Karbalaghareh, Erik Ladewig, and several others. Her lab has received significant research funding to support their work on computational approaches to cancer biology and immunology. The Leslie Lab maintains close collaborations with multiple experimental groups at MSK, facilitating the translation of computational insights into biological understanding. The Leslie Lab operates within the Computational & Systems Biology Program at MSK, with strong ties to both the research and clinical missions of the institution. The lab maintains state-of-the-art computational infrastructure for analyzing large-scale genomic and proteomic datasets and collaborates extensively with wet-lab researchers to validate computational predictions experimentally.
Lu Yi is a Professor at the Department of Economics, Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management , holding a CITIC Chair Professor since 2022. He is also Director of multiple research centers , including the Tsinghua University China Economic and Social Data Research Center and the Center for International Economics. A doctoral supervisor , he has guided students across institutions and academic programs. Lu Yi's education includes a BA from Fudan University's School of Life Sciences (1999) , an MA from Fudan University's School of Management (2003) , and a PhD from the University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Business and Economics (2007) . His research focuses on Chinese economy, public finance, and global economic governance , with particular emphasis on trade liberalization, institutional quality, and environmental policy. Key research areas : Trade policy impacts, productivity gains from trade, environmental regulation effects, and labor market responses to technological change Leadership roles : Editorial board member of American Economic Journal: Economic Policy , Co-Editor of China & World Economy , former Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Economic Journal Policy advisory : Expert for National Healthcare Security Administration's DIP payment system, National Council Member for Social and Economic Council His scientific awards span national and provincial levels , including the First Sun Shangqing Young Scholar Award , Pushan World Economics Outstanding Paper Youth Award , and multiple provincial social science achievement awards in Shandong, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Sichuan. His publications in top journals like the Journal of Public Economics , Review of Economics and Statistics , and Nature Climate Change demonstrate his influence in applied economics and policy research.
Kyeyoung Park is Professor of Anthropology and Asian American Studies at UCLA, holding the Korea Times-Hankook Ilbo Endowed Chair in Korean-American Studies. She is a sociocultural anthropologist whose work focuses on inequality, social justice, and the migration of people, particularly displaced populations and their relationship to political economy, critical race theory, and transnationalism. Her research spans Korean American communities in the United States and Korean diaspora communities in Latin America, examining how structural forces shape cultural beliefs and ideologies across different contexts. Ph.D., City University of New York (1990) Professor Park's research centers on urban anthropology, inequality across race, class, and gender dimensions, migration and diaspora studies, and transnational processes. She examines how structural imperatives of migration lead to transformations in gender, kinship, family, politics, and religion among Korean diaspora communities. Her work employs intersectional analysis to understand multi-ethnic relations, with particular focus on Korean communities in both the United States and Latin America, exploring how axes of inequality impact racial minorities and their relationships with each other in global contexts. Her recent scholarship demonstrates consistent focus on Korean diaspora communities across the Americas, bridging urban anthropology with critical race theory to examine how race, class, and gender intersect in immigrant experiences. She has made significant contributions to understanding Korean-Latino relations in Los Angeles and Korean immigrant entrepreneurship in South American textile industries, reflecting her broader interest in immigrant adaptation and inter-ethnic dynamics across diverse geographic settings. Professor Park has received numerous prestigious awards and grants for her scholarship: 1998 Outstanding Book Award from the Association for Asian American Studies for "The Korean American Dream: Immigrants and Small Business in New York City" 1997-98 Visiting Scholar Award from the Russell Sage Foundation 2016-19 Research Grant from The Republic of Korea's Ministry of Education and Korean Studies Promotion Service 2008-09 Translation Grant from The Overseas Korea Foundation for "The Korean American Dream" 2008-09 AAP Faculty Recognition Award from UCLA Professor Park has secured substantial research funding throughout her career, including multiple grants from The Academy of Korean Studies, Korea Foundation, and UCLA research programs. Her funded projects have examined Korean diaspora communities across the Americas, with particular focus on transnational connections between Korean American and Latin American contexts. She has served as Principal Investigator on projects exploring Korean routes of migration in the Americas and second-generation Korean American transnationalism, demonstrating her sustained commitment to understanding immigrant experiences through anthropological and interdisciplinary lenses. Professor Park has been actively involved with UCLA's Center for Korean Studies (CKS) and the International Institute, where she served as Deputy Program Chair for Korean Studies in Latin America from 2006-2011. Her collaborative work extends to research teams examining Korean diaspora communities across the Americas, including partnerships with scholars in Latin America. She has also participated in interdisciplinary initiatives such as UCLA's Urban Humanities Institute Faculty Research Seminar, reflecting her commitment to cross-disciplinary approaches to understanding migration, diaspora, and transnational processes.
Agnieszka Leszczynski is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at Western University. Her research focuses on digital geographies, platform urbanism, and the intersections of technology with urban development. She leads a SSHRC-funded project examining the visual aesthetics of urban platformization across Canada, Poland, and South Africa. Additional projects include studying digital experimentation in small Canadian cities and analyzing spatial relationships between urban platforms and gentrification. She teaches courses on GIScience, digital technology, and spatial research methods. Leszczynski actively supervises graduate students exploring topics like smart cities, platform urbanism, and spatial equity. Her work bridges theoretical and applied GIScience with critical urban studies. Education details are not explicitly listed in the provided text, but her academic contributions include over two decades of research output, including co-editing Digital Geographies (SAGE, 2019) and publishing widely in leading journals. She collaborates internationally on projects like the Esri Canada GIS Centre of Excellence and engages with equity, diversity, and decolonization initiatives in academia. Her research methodologies emphasize digital-visual approaches, glitch studies, and critical analyses of spatial technologies. Recent work explores how cities use digital aesthetics to achieve 'world-class' status, while other projects assess micromobility equity and conservation mapping in Patagonia. Leszczynski’s teaching portfolio includes graduate supervision on topics such as dockless micromobility systems and smart home analysis. Key funding sources include SSHRC grants supporting comparative urban studies and technology experimentation. She mentors students through Western’s Geography People’s Society and collaborates with interdisciplinary teams on spatial equity and platform urbanism challenges.
Juan Wang is an Associate Professor at McGill University, specializing in the study of the Chinese state, its institutional dynamics, and interactions between state and non-state actors. His research focuses on China's political economy of development, legal systems, and authoritarian governance. He holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins University and teaches courses on Chinese politics, contentious politics, and judicial systems. Research interests emphasize the construction of bureaucracy, local governance patterns, and epistemology of state power. Methodologically, he uses qualitative and historical approaches to explore topics like judicial corruption, police evolution, and cadre discipline. Recent work examines authoritarian cue effects and comparative citizen categorization systems in China and North Korea. His publications span journals such as American Journal of Political Science and China Law and Society Review , analyzing themes like state repression mechanisms, legal mediation practices, and subnational court empowerment. He has contributed a seminal book The Sinews of State Power (2017) on rural governance dynamics. Advising and grants information is not explicitly detailed in the provided text.
Jan K. Brueckner is a Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of California, Irvine, and a member of the Institute of Transportation Studies. He holds dual expertise in Urban Economics and Airline Economics, with affiliations spanning academia and policy research. His career includes roles at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and visiting positions at institutions like Sapienza University of Rome and Charles University in Prague. Education: PhD (Economics) from Stanford University (1976), A.B. (Economics) from UC Berkeley (1972). Research focuses on urban growth, fiscal federalism, transportation economics, and housing policy, with over 100 journal articles and 7 books. He has advised governments globally on land-use policies and airline regulations. Research highlights include analyzing urban sprawl, zoning regulations, airline alliances, and the impact of telework on cities. Awards include the John M. Quigley Medal (2015) and Walter Isard Award (2008). He chaired 49 doctoral committees and edited major journals like Journal of Urban Economics . Consulting experience includes advising the World Bank, U.S. Department of Transportation, and airlines on policy and market dynamics. His recent work explores post-pandemic urbanization, carbon reduction in aviation, and land-use regulation in China and India.
Sharat Ganapati is an Assistant Professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (Primary Appointment) and affiliated faculty in the Department of Economics at Georgetown University. He holds positions as a National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Faculty Research Fellow and a CESifo Research Affiliate. His expertise spans international trade, industrial organization, environmental economics, and spatial economics. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University (2017), following degrees from the University of Chicago (B.S. Mathematics, B.A. Economics, 2009). His research focuses on the interplay of trade policies, firm behavior, and spatial economic dynamics. Notable contributions include studies on transshipment hubs, urban welfare, and remote work trends. His work has been published in top journals like the American Economic Journal , Journal of Political Economy , and Journal of Economic Perspectives . Ganapati has received prestigious awards and fellowships, including the Yale Dissertation Fellowship and IBM Thomas J. Watson Scholarship. He advises graduate students such as Cam Healy and Philipp Ludwig and has held editorial roles in journals including the Journal of International Economics and Review of Economics and Statistics . His grants include NSF funding for research on firm heterogeneity. Professional activities include seminars at institutions like Harvard, MIT, and the Federal Reserve.
Richard Hornbeck is the V. Duane Rath Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is an economic historian and applied-micro economist whose research focuses on the historical development of the American economy, examining why some places and people have become wealthier while others have remained poorer. Hornbeck is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, affiliated with programs on the Development of the American Economy, Development Economics, and Environmental and Energy Economics. Hornbeck's research spans multiple critical areas of economic history, with particular emphasis on slavery and emancipation economics, environmental history (especially the Dust Bowl migration), gender dynamics in 19th-century manufacturing, railroad development, and agricultural economics related to the Ogallala Aquifer. His work frequently utilizes newly digitized historical data to provide fresh insights into longstanding economic questions, connecting historical events to contemporary economic issues of wealth distribution and regional disparities. His publication record shows strong trends in American economic development research, with recent work focusing on the economic impacts of emancipation, historical manufacturing patterns by gender, and urban economic development. Many of his papers have been published as lead articles in top journals including the Journal of Political Economy, American Economic Review, and Review of Economics and Statistics. Hornbeck has received several prestigious honors including the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship in 2014 and selection for the 2009 Review of Economic Studies Tour. His NBER affiliations demonstrate his standing in multiple subfields of economics research. Prior to joining Chicago Booth in 2015, Hornbeck was the Dunwalke Associate Professor of American History in the Economics Department at Harvard University. He received his PhD in economics from MIT in 2009 and a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Chicago in 2004. His teaching includes courses on applied microeconomics in economic history and business in historical perspective, with course schedules extending through 2026.
Professor Vasyl Stepanovych Kravtsiv is a distinguished academic and researcher at the Institute of Regional Studies named after M. I. Dolishnyi, part of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He serves as both the Director of the Institute (from 2014 to July 2025) and Head of the Department of Regional Environmental Policy and Nature Management. With a career spanning over four decades in regional studies, environmental policy, and economic development, Professor Kravtsiv has established himself as a leading expert in regional economics and environmental management in Ukraine. Professor Kravtsiv's educational background includes a degree in Geography from Ivan Franko Lviv State University (1980). His academic achievements include becoming a Candidate of Economic Sciences (1987), Senior Researcher (1994), Doctor of Economic Sciences (2007), and Professor (2010). He has also been honored as a 'Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine' for his significant contributions to the field. His scholarly work examines the theoretical and practical aspects of regional environmental policy formation, particularly during Ukraine's transition to a market economy. Professor Kravtsiv's research primarily focuses on regional economics, environmental policy, spatial development, and cross-border cooperation. His work examines the intersection of economic development and environmental sustainability, with particular emphasis on the Carpathian region of Ukraine. He pioneered economic methods of environmental quality management in Ukraine, which now operate as pollution fees. Professor Kravtsiv has developed numerous regional environmental safety programs approved by Western Ukrainian authorities and contributed significantly to Ukraine's State Regional Policy Concept. His recent publications address contemporary challenges including the impact of the war and pandemic on tourism, spatial economic development amid European integration, and sustainable growth in decentralization contexts. His scholarly contributions include over 100 scientific works, with 18 monographs exploring regional development, environmental policy, and cross-border cooperation. Professor Kravtsiv's work demonstrates consistent evolution from theoretical foundations to practical policy implementation, with recent publications showing adaptation to Ukraine's wartime conditions and European integration requirements. Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine Editor-in-chief of the journal 'Regional Economy' Editor-in-chief of the collection 'Socio-economic problems of the modern period of Ukraine' Author of over 100 scientific works including 18 monographs Key contributor to Ukraine's environmental policy framework As Director of the Institute of Regional Studies, Professor Kravtsiv oversees extensive research activities, coordinates international collaborations through Erasmus+ and Visegrad Fund programs, and guides scholarly publication efforts. His leadership has positioned the Institute as a key contributor to Ukraine's regional development policies and environmental management strategies. He actively participates in developing Ukraine's adaptation to European standards and contributes to reconstruction planning amid wartime conditions, demonstrating both academic rigor and practical policy relevance.
