Dr. Mina Najafi is an academic researcher specializing in sustainable construction, digital transformation in built environments, and place attachment theory. Her work bridges engineering, urban planning, and social sciences. She actively supervises PhD students and contributes to interdisciplinary research initiatives. Research Focus: Sustainable Construction, BIM Technology, Digital Twins, Aging in Place Strategies, and Climate Resilience. Key Projects: Exploration of digital frontiers in construction, policy analysis for energy efficiency, and community-centric design for low-density regions. Her research interests span innovative construction practices, the integration of emerging technologies, and the socio-cultural dimensions of built environments. Recent work emphasizes leveraging digital tools for supply chain optimization and climate adaptation.
Dr. Kathryn Thier is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication Science and Social Cognition from the University of Maryland and previously taught journalism at the University of Oregon, where she co-founded The Catalyst Journalism Project. Her research examines Solutions Journalism and its capacity to drive pro-social outcomes in Climate Change Communication and Health Communication . She investigates how solution-oriented reporting influences public engagement, policy support, and health behaviors. Recent publications (2019-2025) demonstrate methodological diversity including meta-analyses, content analyses, and experimental designs. Dominant themes include: Health/climate misinformation mitigation Solution-oriented framing effects Equity-focused communication strategies Policy engagement mechanisms She maintains a strong emphasis on quantitative rigor and interdisciplinary applications.
Jeffrey S. Debies-Carl is a Professor in the Psychology Department and Sociology Program at the University of New Haven's College of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on the interplay between physical and virtual environments and social behavior, including urban legends, conspiracy theories, and subcultural dynamics. He holds a Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. in Sociology from Ohio State University and Kent State University. Debies-Carl's work spans methodologies from quantitative analysis to ethnography, addressing topics like the transformation of legends in digital spaces, urban environments' influence on attitudes, and subcultural use of physical/virtual spaces. He has authored/co-authored books and articles in journals such as Journal of Folklore Research and Social Science Information . He has received an Honorable Mention Award for Best Article in the Journal of Urban Affairs (2015). His teaching includes courses in sociology, social psychology, and research methods, emphasizing experiential learning. He actively mentors students and contributes to media discussions on topics like conspiracy theories and public spaces.
Karen Stock is an Associate Professor of Business at Walsh University, where she has been since 2010. She holds a Doctor of Management (D.M.) from Case Western Reserve University, a Master of Arts in Management from Walsh University, and a Bachelor of Science from Miami University. Her primary research focuses on experiential learning, cross-cultural management, and ethical leadership, emphasizing practical application in both academic and workplace settings. Dr. Stock teaches courses in sustainability, cross-cultural management, and ethical leadership. She is also a Research Fellow at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Her work explores innovative pedagogical methods, including equine-assisted learning and design thinking, to deepen student engagement and real-world relevance. She frequently presents at conferences such as the Academy of Management and the Management and Organizational Behavior Teaching Conferences. Her publications span journals like OD Practitioner and Journal of Education for Business , focusing on experiential learning metrics, global virtual teams, and sustainable construction practices. She actively contributes to the Experiential Learning Community of Practice, advocating for immersive educational strategies. Dr. Stock’s career combines academia with industry experience in multinational marketing and product development, enriching her teaching with practical insights. She is committed to fostering ethical leadership and sustainable business practices through innovative curricula and collaborative research initiatives.
Roland Larsson is a Professor and Head of Subject in Machine Elements at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden. His research focuses on Tribology, particularly lubrication regimes (boundary to elastohydrodynamic), contact mechanics, surface roughness effects, and applications in rolling element bearings, clutches, hydraulic systems, tires, and sports equipment. He has supervised over 20 doctoral and licentiate students, contributed to advanced courses, and developed teaching methods like Flipped Classroom and Constructive Alignment . Education: Ph.D. (1996, Luleå University of Technology), Docent (2001), M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering (1988). Research: Central themes include elastohydrodynamic lubrication, surface roughness in contact interfaces, and sustainable lubricants. His work explores water-based lubricants, ionic liquids, and glycerol mixtures. Publications: Recent articles (2025) investigate water-based lubricants' film formation, ski-snow friction dynamics, and tribochemical properties of green lubricants. Earlier works (2024-2023) cover micropitting, wear models, and multi-scale contact analysis. Awards: Recipient of multiple tribology awards including ASME Best Paper, Nordea's Vetenskapliga Pris, and Venture Cup North. He has held leadership roles at Luleå University, including Dean and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Board. Collaboration: Active in international research networks as peer-reviewer, faculty opponent, and external examiner. His post-doctoral work includes affiliations with Leeds University and SKF Engineering Research Centre.
Professor Ian Jefferson is a Professor in Geotechnical Engineering at the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Birmingham. He has held academic positions at Loughborough University (lecturer from 1992–1995) and Nottingham Trent University (Lecturer/Senior Lecturer from 1995–2001, Principal Lecturer from 2001–2002, and Reader until 2004 before joining Birmingham). His roles include teaching and research in civil engineering disciplines, with a focus on sustainability and geotechnical practices. He is affiliated with the School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK. Education: BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering, Loughborough University PhD in Geotechnical Engineering Professor Jefferson’s research interests revolve around collapsible soils , particularly loess , and their geotechnical implications across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the UK. He explores ground improvement techniques , including chemical stabilization and vibro-stone columns, with a focus on sustainability. His work also addresses geohazards such as rising groundwater and problematic soils like glacial tills. He investigates sustainability in urban development , sustainable geotechnical processes, and the application of geophysical methods for assessing improved ground conditions. These areas highlight his commitment to integrating environmental and geotechnical challenges in engineering solutions. Professor Jefferson’s recent publications emphasize the intersection of geotechnical engineering and sustainability. His work explores sustainable infrastructure planning, emissions reduction in soil improvement techniques, and geophysical methods for ground assessment. Key themes include the mitigation of collapsible soils, optimizing ground improvement technologies, and sustainability indicators for urban redevelopment. His research frequently addresses environmental impacts, particularly in transportation and utility infrastructure contexts, alongside advancing methodologies for geotechnical practices. Fellow of the Geological Society (FGS) In terms of grants and funding, Professor Jefferson has secured over £4 million in research grants. While his role in advising students is not explicitly stated, he contributes to academic governance through his positions as a Marker/Moderator for the Postgraduate Teaching Certificate and as the Plagiarism Officer for Civil Engineering since 2013. Professor Jefferson is actively involved in several research initiatives, including Loess soil stabilisation , collapsibility in loess soils , and Ground Improvement using stone columns . He also leads projects on Assessment of improved ground using geophysics , Shear strength of glacial tills , and Sustainability Assessments in urban Development . His work contributes to the Sustainable urban redevelopment - Eastside project in Birmingham. These projects reflect his collaboration with interdisciplinary teams and his focus on practical, sustainable solutions in geotechnical engineering.
Demetre P Kazaras is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Michigan State University. His research focuses on differential geometry, topology, and general relativity, with particular emphasis on scalar curvature of Riemannian manifolds and geometric problems in spacetime. He holds a PhD from the University of Oregon (2017) and has held postdoctoral positions at Stony Brook University (2017-2020) and Duke University (2020-2023). Education: PhD in Mathematics, University of Oregon, 2017 (Advisor: Boris Botvinnik) Research Interests: Dr. Kazaras explores geometric and topological questions related to scalar curvature, minimal surfaces, and general relativity. His work combines tools from elliptic PDEs, minimal hypersurfaces, and topological methods to address foundational problems such as the Geroch conjecture, stability of the positive mass theorem, and geometric constructions like 'minimal mod-3 surfaces.' Advising & Mentoring: Directed undergraduate research projects at Duke University (2022) and CUNY Lehman/Stony Brook (2019), involving students in topics like minimal surfaces and smocked metric spaces. Advised over 15 students, including co-authorship of papers such as Smocked metric spaces and their tangent cones . Labs/Teams: Collaborates with researchers like Hugh Bray, Sven Hirsch, and Marcus Khuri on projects involving spacetime harmonic functions and geometric analysis. Active in organizing research programs for undergraduate and graduate students, emphasizing hands-on exploration of geometric problems.
Juanita Duque-Rosero is a Research Assistant Professor at Boston University, specializing in computational number theory and arithmetic geometry. She collaborates with Jennifer Balakrishnan on explicit Chabauty methods and triangular modular curves. Her research focuses on rational points on curves, modular curves, and p-adic heights. Education: PhD from Dartmouth College (2023, advised by John Voight), Masters from Colorado State University (2019, advised by Rachel Pries), and undergraduate degree from Universidad de los Andes. Research interests include arithmetic properties of curves, geometric quadratic Chabauty, and computational aspects of modular forms. She has contributed to databases of Hilbert modular surfaces and studies of Artin-Schreier curves. Her recent articles explore invariants of curves, p-adic heights, and geometric methods in number theory. Talks include presentations at CIRM, IPAM, and Texas A&M. Teaching includes courses like Modern Algebra and Graph Theory at Boston University, and calculus courses at Dartmouth and Colorado State. She mentors students in algebraic geometry and number theory through directed reading programs. She advocates for equitable mathematics education through Federico Ardila’s axioms and participates in outreach activities. A creative hobby is mathematical origami, leading a club at Colorado State University.
Rosemary Fisher is a Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Swinburne University of Technology's School of Business, Law and Entrepreneurship. She holds a PhD from Swinburne and multiple advanced degrees in business and arts disciplines. Her career spans academic leadership roles including Head of Commerce at Box Hill Institute and Course Director for the Master of Entrepreneurship at Swinburne. Fisher combines teaching with impactful research in entrepreneurship education, higher education pedagogy, and innovative teaching strategies like flipped learning. Education: PhD, Swinburne University of Technology MBA, University of Melbourne Master of Business (Professional Accounting), Victoria University Bachelor of Arts, Canberra College of Advanced Education Research Interests: Focuses on pedagogical innovations such as flipped learning's impact on student outcomes, entrepreneurial resilience, and strategies to enhance teacher status. Active in curriculum design for entrepreneurship programs and digital education solutions. Current projects explore AI's role in business education and EFL teaching methodologies. Awards: 2017 Faculty Teaching Excellence Award Academy of Management Distinguished Reviewer (2012, 2014) 2011 Outstanding PhD Thesis Award Grants & Projects: Lead researcher on initiatives addressing teacher retention, aged care feedback systems, and migrant business training. Recent grants include "$60K for AI in Entrepreneurial Education" and "$45K for EFL Flipped Learning Research". Professional Engagement: Editorial Board member for Active Learning in Higher Education and Journal of Effective Teaching . Serves on international committees for entrepreneurship education and pedagogical innovation. Active in policy development for social entrepreneurship and educational technology adoption.
Patrick T. Brandt is a Professor of Political Science, Public Policy, and Political Economy at the University of Texas at Dallas , affiliated with the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences . His work integrates advanced statistical methods with political science, focusing on time series analysis, machine learning, and Bayesian modeling to study political dynamics. His research spans international relations , political economy , terrorist targeting , and conflict forecasting . He specializes in developing novel models for event count time series, including the Bayesian Poisson Vector Autoregression and MS-BVAR packages for R. His NSF-funded projects focus on event data generation and real-time conflict forecasting. Recent publications emphasize domain-specific language models (ConfliBERT variants), graph neural networks for conflict prediction, and machine translation challenges in political text analysis. He maintains the OpenEvent Data Repository and develops software like MSBVAR and PESTS for academic use. Scientific Awards : Robert H. Durr Award for Best Methodology Paper, Midwest Political Science Association (2006)
Steffen Sagave is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Radboud University. His research focuses on algebraic topology, particularly homotopy theory, with interests in K-theory, higher category theory, and derived algebraic geometry. He holds a Habilitation in Mathematics from the University of Bonn (2013) and a PhD from the University of Bonn (2006), supervised by Stefan Schwede. Previously, he has held roles including Visiting Professor at the University of Wuppertal (2014-2015) and postdoctoral positions at the University of Münster (2008-2009) and the University of Oslo (2006-2008). He is a core member of the Algebraic Topology group at Radboud University, leading research on topics such as logarithmic structures in homotopy theory. Collaborative grants include the Dutch NWO-funded 'Symmetry on the interface of topology and higher algebra' (2025-2031), and he co-organizes the European Autumn School in Topology (2025). His teaching includes advanced courses like Topology and Algebraic Topology 2, alongside supervision of PhD students in areas like algebraic topology and homotopy theory. Scientific activities include organizing conferences, maintaining a YouTube channel with recorded talks, and publishing widely in top-tier journals. His research group is part of the Geometry and Quantum Theory (GQT) cluster, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations in topology and algebra.
Dr. Parichehr Salimifard is an Assistant Professor at Oregon State University's School of Civil and Construction Engineering, holding the Culbertson Faculty Scholar position. She serves as Faculty Advisor for the OSU ASHRAE Student Branch and leads the Sustainable, Healthy, and Resilient Building Lab, focusing on the intersection of building science, environmental health, and climate resilience. Her educational background includes a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard University's School of Public Health, a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Architectural Engineering (Mechanical Option) from Penn State with a Computational Science minor, and a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Persian Gulf University. Dr. Salimifard's research centers on indoor environmental quality and its connections to public health, with emphasis on: Aerosol dynamics (transport, deposition, resuspension) for wildfire smoke and pandemic exposure mitigation Health and climate co-benefits of building energy efficiency through the CoBE project Wildfire smoke preparedness in schools/daycares for vulnerable populations Building electrification impacts on air quality and emissions Her recent publications reveal a trend toward spatially and temporally explicit modeling of emissions reductions, using tools like CoBE to quantify health co-benefits of building energy conservation across US states and EU countries, with growing focus on water-energy nexus and grid integration. Her scientific recognition includes: Culbertson Faculty Scholar award Dr. Salimifard secures research funding from the EPA, NIEHS's OSU ASPIRE Center, ASHRAE, industry partners, and foundations. She mentors the OSU ASHRAE Student Branch and collaborates with Harvard/Boston University on the CoBE project, which develops modules for climate policy analysis and water savings optimization. Her Sustainable, Healthy, and Resilient Building Lab drives projects including Wildfire Smoke Preparedness in Buildings, Indoor Aerosol Resuspension Dynamics, and Building-to-Grid Integration, directly addressing climate resilience challenges through building science innovation.
Helen Vidgen is a Professor in Public Health at the School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Her research focuses on food literacy, childhood obesity prevention, and nutrition education, with significant contributions to public health policy and program implementation. She has led projects evaluating school meal programs, childhood obesity management services like PEACH™, and food literacy interventions across diverse populations. Her work emphasizes socio-ecological barriers to nutrition education, policy development, and the translation of evidence-based practices into community settings. Dr. Vidgen has authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles and edited books, including Food Literacy: Key Concepts for Health and Education (2016), which establishes foundational frameworks for food literacy research. She collaborates with government agencies, non-profits, and healthcare professionals to address systemic challenges in obesity prevention and food system reforms. Recent contributions include analyzing the role of school-provided meals in obesity prevention, evaluating father’s roles in family food practices, and advancing measurement tools like the IFLQ-19 food literacy questionnaire. Her research bridges theory and practice, informing policy initiatives on nutrition education, food regulation, and equitable health outcomes.
Avery Olson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership within the College of Education at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). She serves as Program Coordinator for the Student Development in Higher Education program and is actively involved in teaching, research, and academic leadership. Her office is located in AS 225, and she can be reached at avery.olson@csulb.edu or by phone at 562.985.2537. Education: Ph.D., Education – Higher Education and Organizational Change, University of California, Los Angeles M.A., Education – Higher Education and Organizational Change, University of California, Los Angeles M.S., Counseling – Student Development in Higher Education, California State University, Long Beach Avery Olson’s research is deeply rooted in social justice, equity, and inclusion in higher education. Her work explores the experiences of marginalized populations, particularly first-generation college and graduate students, student parents, and welfare-to-work community college students. She investigates how poverty, race, gender, and class intersect to shape student development, academic identity, and epistemological growth. Her scholarship emphasizes critical qualitative methodologies and frameworks such as the phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory and community cultural wealth, aiming to inform more equitable advising, counseling, and institutional practices. Her recent publications (2011–2024) reveal a sustained commitment to understanding student belonging, advising effectiveness, and identity development, especially among systematically excluded groups. The articles span journals like the Journal of First-Generation Student Success , Review of Higher Education , and Journal of College Student Development , as well as influential edited volumes. Collectively, they highlight themes of resilience, structural inequality, and the transformative potential of culturally responsive, trauma-informed support systems in higher education. Scientific Awards: No awards listed in the provided text. Avery Olson is actively engaged in mentoring and scholarly collaboration, frequently co-authoring with researchers such as Jennifer E. Pizzolato, Laura Sterk, and Mario P. Johnston-Guerrero. While formal advisees are not listed, her role as Program Coordinator and faculty member suggests significant involvement in student development and academic guidance. She has contributed to major research projects focused on CalWORKs students, academic motivation, and advising practices, though specific grant funding is not detailed in the text. Labs, Teams, and Research Groups: No formal lab or research center is mentioned in the text. She is affiliated with research networks focused on student affairs, advising (NACADA), and first-generation student success (NASPA).
Dr. Joanna Macalik is a Lecturer in the Department of Marketing Management at Wrocław University of Economics. Her academic work focuses on the intersection of marketing theory and practical applications across multiple domains including personal branding, museum marketing, and regional branding. Dr. Macalik's research interests span several interconnected domains of modern marketing. She has made significant contributions to understanding personal branding, particularly among startup leaders and young professionals. Her work examines how individuals construct and leverage their personal brands to enhance business performance and career advancement. Additionally, she has conducted extensive research on museum marketing, investigating how cultural institutions communicate with their audiences and contribute to regional branding efforts. Her studies on influencer marketing, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrate her ability to address timely and relevant marketing challenges. Analysis of Dr. Macalik's publication record reveals a clear trajectory of research focused on branding across different contexts. Her work consistently bridges theoretical marketing concepts with practical applications, often using empirical research methods. The publications show a progression from traditional marketing communication topics toward more contemporary digital and social media applications. Notably, her research frequently employs case study methodologies, with a particular focus on the Wroclaw region in Poland, suggesting strong local engagement alongside broader theoretical contributions. Dr. Macalik has advised numerous students and contributed to various research projects, though specific details about her mentoring activities are not widely publicized. Her work has likely contributed to curriculum development in marketing communication, personal branding, and digital marketing within her department.
