doc. dr. sc. Sandro Cergna is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Italian Literature (Katedra za talijansku književnost) within the Faculty of Humanities (Filozofski fakultet) at Juraj Dobrila University in Pula, Croatia. His academic work focuses on Italian dialect studies, particularly the Istrian dialects of Valle d'Istria and Rovigno, with a strong emphasis on linguistic analysis, cultural heritage preservation, and historical documentation. Teaching Roles: Lecturer for courses like Dante's Divine Comedy: Paradise , Italian Culture and Civilization , and Italian Poetry at undergraduate and graduate levels. Research Interests: Dialectology and phonological analysis of Istrian dialects Linguistic aspects of historical manuscripts and folk narratives Cultural studies focusing on regional identity, migration, and culinary history Textual analysis of 18th-20th century Istrian literary sources Publications Highlights: Authored Vocabolario del dialetto di Valle d'Istria (2015) Edited and analyzed historical manuscripts like those of Giovanni Obrovaz and Pietro Stancovich Explored topics ranging from WWI refugee narratives to 18th-century espionage Labs/Teams: Participates in interdisciplinary research projects at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Landscape Archaeology and collaborates with regional cultural institutions.
Łukasz Moll is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wrocław, affiliated with the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Department of Urban and Rural Sociology. His academic work focuses on critical political theory, border studies, and migration, with a strong emphasis on Marxist philosophy and the dynamics of commons. He serves as an editor for the journal Praktyka Teoretyczna and has led research projects funded by the National Science Centre, including a study on the 'Idea of Europe in the context of migrant crisis' at the Polish Academy of Sciences. Moll's research explores transformative themes in European politics, including: The reconfiguration of borders and migration regimes Grassroots movements and 'commoning' as resistance to neoliberalism Historical and contemporary critiques of capitalism through Marxist lenses Decolonial approaches to post-socialist transitions His publications consistently engage with crises of European identity, border metamorphoses, and emancipatory politics. Recent works analyze the Ukrainian refugee crisis, care extractivism in migration flows, and the rise of populism in Eastern Europe, reflecting a deep commitment to understanding how marginalized communities navigate and challenge structural inequalities. Moll is also involved in significant editorial projects, shaping scholarly discourse through his role at Praktyka Teoretyczna , where he has co-edited special issues on topics ranging from anti-communism to mobile commons.
Keith Barney is an Associate Professor and Head of the Resources, Environment & Development Group at the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy. He specializes in political ecology, economic geography, and agrarian change in Southeast Asia, with a focus on Laos and broader regional dynamics. His research addresses resource-making processes, property rights, territorialization, and the intersection of authoritarian governance with environmental policy. His work critically examines China's economic influence in Laos, including debt sustainability, Belt and Road infrastructure projects, and hydropower development's social/environmental impacts. He also studies informal economies like artisanal mining, plantation forestry, and transnational labor migration. Barney contributes to policy debates on sustainable resource governance through his roles at the ANU Southeast Asia Institute and as Associate Editor of Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies . Recent publications analyze Laos' sovereign debt crisis, the political ecology of hydropower dams, and the socio-economic consequences of tree plantations. His work bridges critical theory with empirical fieldwork, emphasizing experiential and spatial understandings of socio-ecological crises.
Dr. Soimart Rungmanee is a Research Fellow at the Resources, Environment and Development Department of the Australian National University (ANU). She holds a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Sydney, an MA in Political Economy, and a BA in Political Science, both from Chulalongkorn University. Her research focuses on critical agrarian studies, intergenerational migration, rural development, and land conflicts in Thailand and Laos. She leads Thai research in an ARC-funded project analyzing the broiler chicken industry's socio-environmental impacts globally. Education: PhD in Human Geography, University of Sydney MA in Political Economy, Chulalongkorn University BA in Political Science, Chulalongkorn University Her work explores themes such as migration’s role in rural transformation, smallholder agriculture dynamics, and conflicts arising from boom crops. She contributes to comparative global analyses of agrarian systems and environmental policy implications. Grants & Projects: Currently leads Thai research in the ARC project on broiler chicken industry impacts.
Rebecca Sharpless is a Professor in the Department of History at Texas Christian University's AddRan College of Liberal Arts. Her academic work centers on American history with a focus on gender, sexuality, and regional specificity in Texas and the South. Education: Ph.D. in American Studies/Women's Studies, Emory University (1993) MA in American Studies, Baylor University (1983) BA in English, Baylor University (1978), Magna cum Laude Her research explores intersections of gender, labor, and regional identity through historical lenses, particularly examining Southern and Texas women's experiences across diverse contexts including food production, domestic work, and wartime loyalties. She contributes to scholarly discourse through monographs and edited volumes that analyze underrepresented narratives in U.S. history. Recent publications demonstrate thematic continuity in analyzing gendered material culture (baking, foodways), marginalized Southern communities, and the complexities of gender solidarity across racial and class divides. Her work often contextualizes personal narratives within broader socio-political frameworks. Professor Sharpless teaches courses spanning U.S. history surveys, specialized topics in women's history, Texas history, and intersections of food, gender, and regional identity. She has co-edited significant academic volumes including Texas Women: Their Histories, Their Lives (2015) and Work, Family, and Faith: Rural Southern Women in the Twentieth Century (2006).
Jaromír Balcar is a historian affiliated with the University of Bremen's Department of Modern and Contemporary History as a Private Lecturer (Privatdozent). He earned his doctorate from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in 2002 and completed his habilitation at Universität Bremen in 2010. His academic career includes extended research positions at the Institute of Contemporary History in Munich and Universität Bremen, where he led the project "Fiscal Persecution of Jews and Restitution in Bremen" (2012-2014). His research focuses on: Economic and social history of Nazi Germany and Communist Czechoslovakia Industrial transformations under totalitarian regimes Jewish persecution and post-Holocaust restitution Regional development in postwar Germany Administrative history under occupation Balcar's publications demonstrate consistent focus on economic systems in transition, particularly industrial management in Central Europe during political upheavals. His recent work examines Nazi exploitation of Czech industry, postwar nationalization policies, and bureaucratic mechanisms of Jewish persecution. He has directed significant research projects including DFG-funded studies on managed economies in Bohemia-Moravia and the Bremer Landesbank-supported investigation into fiscal persecution of Jews. Balcar maintains editorial responsibilities at the online review journal "Sehepunkte" and has coordinated digital historical document collections.
Noaman G Ali is a Lecturer in the Department of Social & Policy Sciences at the University of Bath, affiliated with the Centre for Development Studies and Centre for Climate Adaptation & Environment Research (CAER). He joined Bath in 2023 after holding academic positions at Lahore University of Management Sciences and Forman Christian College in Pakistan. His research centers on the politics of underdevelopment and dependency , with a regional focus on Pakistan and South Asia. Key areas include: Agrarian political economies and ecologies Social bases of politics among working classes/marginalized groups Political ecology and social movements Radical liberation theories (Marxism and decolonization) Colonial land allocation legacies Current projects involve investigating Pakistan's rice value chain (funded by Association of Asian Studies) and colonial land allocation's developmental implications. His publications reveal strong trends in Marxist political economy , agrarian class struggle , and decolonial approaches to Global South development, frequently analyzing power relations through historical materialist frameworks. Ali actively supervises doctoral students in political economy/ecology of agrarian change, rural politics, and critical development histories. His academic service includes conference presentations at Bocconi-Columbia Political Science events, European Political Science Association meetings, and Yale-UB Historical Political Economy Workshops. Based at Wessex House 8.61, he contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals through work on poverty reduction and sustainable development in Global South contexts.
GIGA German Institute of Global and Area StudiesGermany
Dr. Lodewijk Van Dycke is a Research Fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) , specializing in legal frameworks for agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa. His work focuses on the intersection of intellectual property law , seed sector regulation , and climate change adaptation in agrarian economies. Key Research Themes : Regulatory capture in agricultural sectors, plant variety protection systems, and colonial legal legacies in African seed policies. Recent Publications : 2023: Analysis of colonial institution impacts on African seed business law 2023: Empirical study on regulatory capture in Kenya’s maize seed sector 2023: Critique of plant variety protection failures in Kenyan maize innovation 2017: Examination of Bt cotton patent law in India through socio-political contexts Contact : lodewijk.vandycke@his-online.de
S. Ryan Isakson is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) , with cross-appointments as Associate Chair in the Department of Global Development Studies since 2021. His work bridges political economy, agrarian studies, and environmental geography. PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst BA, University of Utah Isakson's research focuses on: Political economy of food systems and agrarian development Financialization of agriculture and climate risk management Land/water control dynamics in Latin America Agroecology and peasant livelihoods in Guatemala His publications highlight the interplay between market forces, climate vulnerability, and smallholder agricultural practices. Key themes include financial inclusion, commercialization impacts, and biodiversity conservation. Current affiliations: University of Toronto Scarborough, Department of Global Development Studies.
Michael Ekers is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Geography at the University of Toronto. His work bridges environmental and economic geography through the lens of political ecology, focusing on the social production of nature, property regimes, and colonial legacies in land management. Education: D.Phil from Oxford University His research interrogates the politics of forest lands and agrarian landscapes, particularly in British Columbia, Canada. Key themes include: Colonial and neoliberal enclosures of land Indigenous sovereignty and jurisdiction Capital flows in environmental management Property law and Indigenous title This work is highlighted in his Great Land Grab project, analyzing the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Land Grants’ transformation of Coast Salish and Nuu-Chah-Nulth territories. His publications explore the metabolism of spatial fixes, settler colonial capitalisms, and the legal contestations of private forest ownership. Collaborators include Sarah Morales (University of Victoria), Estair Van Wagner (Osgoode Hall Law School), and Indigenous communities in British Columbia.
David Kneas is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography; Earth, Ocean and Environment at the University of South Carolina, affiliated with the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on political and cultural dimensions of resource conflicts and environmental change in Latin America, particularly in Ecuador's Intag region and global mining industries. Education: Ph.D. (2014), Combined Anthropology and School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University Masters in Environmental Science, Yale University B.A. in Biology and Spanish, DePauw University Research Interests: Examines resource conflicts through lenses of human geography, cultural anthropology, and political ecology. Current projects include junior mining companies' knowledge production and historical ethnography of Ecuadorian landscapes. Specializes in subsoil resource ontologies, agrarian histories, and infrastructure temporalities. Teaching: Offers courses in environmental studies, globalization's cultural impacts, and nature-resource consumption frameworks. Publications Trends: Recent work explores mining industry dynamics, infrastructure temporalities, and Ecuadorian resource discourses. Themes include resource fetishism, corporate prognosis performances, and the interplay between geological science and political economy. Advising & Grants: No specific grants or advisees listed. His academic profile emphasizes field-based research and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Labs/Teams: Active in the School of Earth, Ocean & Environment's research network, though no dedicated lab is explicitly mentioned.
Manuel E. López-Medel Bascones is a Professor of Civil Law at the Universidad Camilo José Cela (UCJC), where he teaches in the Faculty of Law. He contributes to multiple programs, including the Bachelor's Degree in Law, the Master’s Degree for Access to the Legal Profession, and the Master’s in Digital Marketing, Communications, and Social Media. He also teaches in the Diploma of Specialization in Law and Compliance in IT. His academic expertise spans civil, business, and digital law, with a strong focus on compliance and European legal frameworks. Universidad Camilo José Cela – Faculty of Law Specialization in Digital Law and Compliance Active teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate law programs His educational background includes a Law degree from Complutense University of Madrid (1985), doctoral coursework, and advanced training in arbitration and mediation from institutions like Instituto de Empresa and the University of La Rioja. He has also completed specialized programs in administrative litigation and compliance. Graduate in Law – Complutense University of Madrid (1985) Doctoral Courses – Complutense University Advanced Arbitration Practice – Instituto de Empresa (2009) Certification in Civil and Commercial Mediation – University of La Rioja Foundation (2019) Manuel López-Medel’s research centers on civil law, human rights, corporate governance, regulatory compliance, arbitration, and European Union jurisprudence. His work bridges theoretical legal analysis with practical applications in business and digital environments. He has published extensively on topics such as e-contracts, agrarian justice, and the interaction between national and EU legal systems. The 15 most recent scholarly articles reflect a sustained engagement with evolving legal challenges, particularly in digital law, compliance, and arbitration. Keywords across these works include European Union Law , Arbitration , Digital Rights , and Human Rights , with subfields such as Platform Economy Regulation , Institutional Arbitration , and Horizontal Property . His publications demonstrate a trend toward interdisciplinary legal analysis, integrating business, technology, and constitutional principles. His scientific awards and honors include: Cruz Distinguida de Primera Clase de la Orden de San Raimundo de Peñafort (2019) Internationally Certified Compliance Professional (CESCOM@) Académico Correspondiente of the Royal Academies of Jurisprudence and Legislation in Spain and Aragon Manuel López-Medel has held significant leadership roles in legal and academic institutions, including as Secretary General of the Madrid Chamber of Commerce and Legal Advisor to several corporate entities. He has mentored students through his teaching and tutoring roles at UCJC and has served as a professor in various academic forums across Spain, Latin America, and Germany. His professional experience includes participation in arbitration bodies such as the Madrid Court of Arbitration and the Spanish Court of Arbitration. While no formal grants are mentioned, his sustained scholarly output and institutional affiliations indicate deep engagement in legal research and education. He is affiliated with key professional organizations, including the Madrid Bar Association (since 1986), the Spanish Association of Agrarian Law (as Board Member), and compliance and arbitration institutions. Though no dedicated lab or research team is described, his role as an academic and practicing lawyer suggests collaborative legal scholarship and policy influence.
Andrés León Araya is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Studies at Indiana University Bloomington, affiliated with the Hamilton Lugar School. His interdisciplinary scholarship bridges political science and anthropology, focusing on Central America, especially Honduras and Costa Rica. Department: Department of International Studies School: Hamilton Lugar School University: Indiana University Bloomington Education: B.A. in Political Science, Universidad de Costa Rica, 2006 M.Sc. in Political Science, Universidad de Costa Rica, 2008 Ph.D. in Anthropology, Graduate Center, City University of New York, 2015 Andrés León Araya's research centers on plantation economies, agrarian conflict, state formation, and political violence in Central America. He employs conjunctural analysis and political ecology to understand how historical processes of dispossession, monoculture expansion, and militarization shape contemporary crises. His work draws from both ethnographic and historical methods, revealing the deep roots of exclusion in the region’s political institutions. His recent publications show a strong thematic focus on monocrops (such as palm oil and pineapple), land grabbing, extractivism, and the intersections between agrarian change and security. Articles like 'Monocrops' (2023) and 'The politics of dispossession in the Honduran palm oil industry' (2019) highlight the political economy of agribusiness and its role in displacing communities. His book The Coup and the Palm Trees (2023) synthesizes these themes, arguing that Honduras’ current instability stems from long-term patterns of violence and exclusion. Scientific Awards: No awards mentioned in the provided text. Andrés León Araya advises on issues related to agrarian politics and security in Latin America. While no formal students are listed, his collaborative work with scholars like Marc Edelman and María José Guillén indicates active academic mentorship and research partnerships. His current projects explore the links between monoculture agriculture and drug trafficking, as well as the continuity between Cold War counterinsurgency and the current war on drugs. These projects suggest ongoing grant activity or institutional support, though specific funding sources are not disclosed. There is no mention of specific labs or research teams in the provided text, but his affiliation with the Hamilton Lugar School—a hub for international studies—implies participation in broader research initiatives on global security, development, and regional studies.
Teresa Carnero Arbat is a full Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Valencia, where she has made significant contributions to the study of Spanish and Valencian historical development. She is affiliated with the Historical Studies Group for Democracy and Transitions to Democracy (GEHTID) and has held leadership roles such as Director of the Institute of History at the Valencian Institution for Studies and Research (1985–1992). Her research interests span agrarian and economic history, democratization, political development, and social change in modern Spain. Initially focused on agricultural backwardness and viticulture in the late 19th century, her work evolved toward analyzing political modernization and democratic transitions in the early 20th century. The publication trends reflect a deep engagement with long-term socioeconomic transformations, institutional evolution, and regional identity formation. Her works combine economic data with political analysis, particularly in the context of Spanish modernization and Valencian identity. Scientific awards include: Joan Fuster Essay Award (1976) She has contributed to major journals such as Recerques , Historia Contemporánea , Estudis d’História Agraria , Ayer , Revista de Estudios Políticos , and Revista de Occidente . She served on the editorial board of Debats (1983–1996) and currently contributes to Cahiers d'Histoire . She was a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley (1986/87, 1992/93), reflecting international academic recognition. No formal advising roles or grants are explicitly mentioned, but her senior position implies mentorship and research leadership. She is part of research teams focused on historical democratization, notably GEHTID, and contributes to critical historical discourse through editorial and collaborative platforms.
State University of New York at BuffaloUnited States
Liana Vardi is a Professor in the Department of History at the University at Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo), part of the College of Arts and Sciences. She specializes in Early Modern Europe with a focus on eighteenth-century French intellectual history, particularly the intersections of arts, sciences, and perceptions of nature. Her current research examines the role of liberal nobility during the late eighteenth century and the French Revolution. Education: PhD in History from McGill University (1985). Research interests include the relationship between intellectual life and rural economics in pre-revolutionary France, as well as the cultural and social dimensions of agrarian practices. She teaches courses such as History of Paris , Ancien Régime , and Vichy France . Her work has been recognized with prestigious awards including a Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, 2000–2001) and the Koren Prize for best article in French History (1994). Publications include The Physiocrats and the World of the Enlightenment (2012) and The Land and the Loom (1993), alongside influential articles in American Historical Review and Studies in Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century .
