Professor Nikos Tzavidis is a Professor of Statistical Methodology at the University of Southampton . He has held academic positions at institutions including University College London and the University of Manchester, and currently leads research initiatives integrating statistical methodology with geospatial and survey data. His work focuses on Small Area Estimation, official statistics, and poverty mapping, with applications across global development and public policy. Research interests: Small Area Estimation and Official Statistics Outlier Robust Inference Quantile and M-quantile Models Geospatial Data Analysis Poverty Mapping Machine Learning Applications in Statistics Recent research trends emphasize machine learning integration, geospatial data utilization, and advanced quantile modeling for poverty and demographic studies. His publications span journals like the Journal of Official Statistics and the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society . Scientific awards: ISI Fellow (2013) American Statistical Association (2004) Vice Chancellor's Teaching Award (2013) Johann von Spix Professor (2023) He supervises PhD students in social statistics, demography, and geography, and serves on editorial boards for journals including the Journal of Official Statistics . Externally, he has held leadership roles in the International Statistical Institute and contributed to United Nations and World Bank projects.
Professor Andrew Hudson-Smith is the Director of the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) at University College London (UCL), where he holds the title of Professor of Digital Urban Systems. He leads UCL's academic and applied research in smart cities, digital twins, and urban informatics. His roles include Editor-in-Chief of the Future Internet Journal and academic lead for the Smart Queen Elizabeth Park project. He contributes to strategic initiatives such as the Greater London Authority Smart London Board and EPSRC Digital Economy Programme Advisory Board. Education: PhD (2003), MSc (1996) from UCL; BSc in Geography from the University of Plymouth (1992). Research focuses on digital urban systems, IoT applications, sustainable urban planning, and cyberphysical systems. Notable projects include urban heat island monitoring, participatory planning platforms, and metaverse-driven urban design. His work bridges technology, art, and public engagement, exemplified by initiatives like Tales of Things and the Haggle-O-Tron. Recent publications emphasize digital twins, metaverse urbanism, and IoT integration in urban environments. Awards include a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts. His work addresses SDGs 3 (Good Health) and 11 (Sustainable Cities), with a focus on equitable smart city development and public space innovation.
Kären Wigen is the Frances and Charles Field Professor in History at Stanford University, specializing in Japanese history and the history of cartography. She holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of California, Berkeley (1990). Her research spans: Historical geography of East Asia Early modern Japanese regional economies Geographies of the imagination Transnational maritime histories Critical cartography and spatial analysis Her publications include eight major works from 1992-2025 analyzing spatial transformations in Japan and global metageography, with recent projects focusing on temporal dimensions in cartographic representation. She co-edited Seascapes (2007) and Cartographic Japan (2016), and serves as Director of Stanford’s Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in the Humanities since 2022.
Professor Isabella Alexander is a distinguished legal historian and intellectual property scholar at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Faculty of Law. She specializes in copyright law with a particular focus on its historical dimensions and application to cartography and visual works. As a leading researcher in her field, she holds significant research grants including ARC Discovery projects on copyright law in the 21st century and copyright in cartography. Her educational background includes: PhD from the University of Cambridge LLB (Hons) from the Australian National University BA (Hons) from the Australian National University Professor Alexander's research explores how laws inform and regulate the creation, circulation and reception of knowledge and culture from a historical perspective. Her work bridges legal history with contemporary intellectual property challenges, particularly in areas of copyright for visual works, cartography, and digital creativity. She has made significant contributions to understanding the historical development of copyright principles and their application to modern technological contexts. An analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong focus on the intersection of copyright law with visual culture, cartography, and emerging digital challenges including AI-generated content and memes. Her work demonstrates a clear trajectory toward interdisciplinary approaches that connect historical legal frameworks with contemporary technological and cultural phenomena, showing increasing engagement with how historical understanding can inform solutions to modern intellectual property challenges. Her notable scientific achievements include: 2023 LSAANZ Award for published scholarly book/monograph for "Copyright and Cartography: History, Law, and the Circulation of Geographical Knowledge" Professor Alexander has secured significant research funding as Lead Chief Investigator on the ARC Discovery grant "Hacking Copyright Law in the 21st Century: Art, Law, History and Technology" and as sole Chief Investigator on "Copyright and Cartography: Understanding the past, shaping the future." She has actively contributed to policy development through submissions to the Australian Productivity Commission's Inquiry into IP Arrangements and on addressing copyright infringement online through secondary liability and website blocking mechanisms. She currently serves as President of the Australian and New Zealand Law and History Society and is a member of the Governing Board of the International Society for the History and Theory of Intellectual Property, demonstrating her leadership and influence in both national and international academic communities.
Angelika Sjöstedt serves as Professor and Chair of Gender Studies within the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Mid Sweden University. Her academic leadership spans teaching across Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD programs in Gender Studies and Sociology, while actively contributing to institutional discourse through roles such as delivering the 2024 academic celebration lecture. She maintains significant engagement with contemporary academic freedom debates, notably co-organizing the 2024 seminar series addressing responsible internationalization amid the Gaza conflict. Her research profile reveals deep expertise in intersectional analysis of gender, settler colonialism, and labor precarity, particularly examining how chronic crises manifest in peripheralized regions. Recent work demonstrates acute responsiveness to geopolitical emergencies, with 2024 publications directly confronting academic complicity in genocide. Her methodological approach bridges ethnographic rigor with activist scholarship, evident in long-term collaborations like the Båskoes Sámi research network and Forum for Gender Research. Sjöstedt's scholarly trajectory shows consistent thematic development from early work on flexible knowledge-work subjectivity (2012) through nuanced examinations of rural resilience (2017-2020) to current urgent interventions in academic freedom. Her publications reveal distinctive geographic focus on Norrland's inland regions while maintaining transnational theoretical relevance, particularly regarding mining resistance movements and crisis management frameworks. The 2021-2024 output demonstrates accelerated engagement with acute political emergencies, signaling scholarly adaptation to escalating global crises. Professional networks constitute a critical dimension of her work, with sustained involvement in the Forum for Gender Research since at least 2015 and leadership in the Båskoes network advancing Indigenous research methodologies. Her editorial work on critical anthologies like Aktivism: En antologi om arbete för social och politisk förändring (2022) demonstrates commitment to bridging academic and activist knowledge production.
Professor Alexander Ilin-Tomich serves as an Acting Professor at the Institute of Egyptology within the Department of History and Cultural Studies at the Free University of Berlin. His academic career spans multiple prestigious institutions including Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz and the Russian Academy of Sciences. His educational background includes: 2022: Habilitation in Egyptology at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz with thesis "Egyptian name scarabs from the 12th to the 15th Dynasty: Geography and chronology of production" 2007-2011: Doctoral studies at Lomonosov University Moscow, earning "kandidat istoriceskich nauk" (equivalent to PhD) 2002-2007: Undergraduate studies in Ancient History (including Egyptology) at Lomonosov University Moscow Professor Ilin-Tomich specializes in Egyptian stelae, offering tables, scarabs, personal names, prosopography, and administration during the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period. His research combines philological, archaeological, and historical approaches to examine ancient Egyptian society, with particular focus on administrative structures, material culture, and regional variations. His work on scarab production and distribution has established him as a leading expert in this specialized field. His publication record demonstrates consistent focus on Middle Kingdom administration, with recent expansion into material analysis of Egyptian blue pigment and methodological approaches to studying small archaeological finds. He has developed significant digital resources including the open-access "Personen und Namen des Mittleren Reiches" database. Professor Ilin-Tomich has secured multiple competitive research grants: Fritz Thyssen Foundation project "Ancient Egyptian titles in official and familial contexts, 2055-1352 BC" (2021-2024) Fritz Thyssen Foundation project "Transformation and variability in the corpus of ancient Egyptian personal names 2055-1550 BC" (2017-2021) Alexander von Humboldt Foundation postdoctoral fellowship (2015-2017) Russian Foundation for the Humanities research grant (2013-2015) He actively contributes to the academic community through editorial work, including co-editing the 2023 Festschrift "Schöne Denkmäler sind entstanden. Studien zu Ehren von Ursula Verhoeven," and has established himself as a key researcher in Middle Kingdom studies through his monographs and numerous journal articles.
Pol Antràs serves as the Robert G. Ory Professor of Economics at Harvard University, where he has been a faculty member since 2003. He holds significant research affiliations as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), where he directed the International Trade and Organization Working Group, and as a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). He also contributes to the Barcelona School of Economics as a member of its Scientific Council. His academic foundation includes a BA and MSc in Economics from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona and a PhD in Economics from MIT (2003). Antràs specializes in international economics and applied theory, with recent research focusing on global value chains, the interplay between globalization and interest rates, market power in global markets, and international relations. His work examines how firms organize cross-border production, the implications for trade policy, and the structural transformations in international trade following events like pandemics. He bridges rigorous theoretical modeling with empirical analysis to address contemporary economic challenges. His publication record reveals a sustained focus on the evolution of global trade architecture, particularly the rise of production networks and their vulnerability to disruptions. Recent work explores unconventional intersections such as monetary policy's impact on trade flows and the political economy of ideology-driven foreign influence. His major scientific distinctions include: Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (2007) Fundación Banco Herrero Prize (2009) Fellow of the Econometric Society (2015) Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2024) As Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics (2015-2020) and contributor to multiple editorial boards, Antràs shapes scholarly discourse in economics. His research is institutionally supported through NBER and CEPR affiliations, though specific grant details aren't publicly itemized. He maintains an active role in mentoring graduate students at Harvard. He drives collaborative research through leadership in the NBER's International Trade and Organization Working Group and CEPR's research networks, fostering international scholarly exchange on trade and globalization.
Ruben Andersson is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford’s Department of International Development, where he researches migration, borders, security, and conflict. His work spans the West African Sahel, southern Europe, and global security dynamics. Current Leverhulme Major Research Fellow (2023-26) for 'Apocalypse soon: Security, subversion and the struggle for a human future' Author of three major monographs: Wreckonomics (2023), No Go World (2019), and Illegality, Inc. (2014) Co-edits special issues on remoteness and risk in global governance His research focuses on the unintended consequences of security interventions, including: How fear maps global danger zones Counterproductive border control industries Postcolonial risk economies in Mali and Afghanistan Security-fueled displacement cycles Profits from migration control systems Anthropology of the bioeconomy Recent publications (2016-2024) analyze: Security as subversion Border wall paradoxes Bioeconomic border technologies Digital danger mapping Interventionist 'bunker politics' Time as a control mechanism Scientific recognition: Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship (2023) Co-published in The Cambridge Journal of Anthropology , Political Geography , and Security Dialogue Doctoral supervision includes: Chloe Marshall-Denton Maggie Neil His fieldwork in Mali, Senegal, and the Mediterranean has produced critical insights about: Security industry feedback loops Risk aversion in academic/interventionist practices Colonial cartographic legacies in modern geopolitics Profit motives behind 'failed' interventions
Esteban Rossi-Hansberg is the Glen A. Lloyd Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago's Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics (since 2021). Previously, he held professorships at Princeton University (2005–2021) and Stanford University (2002–2005). He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago in 2002. He serves as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and a Research Fellow at the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). He co-directs the Becker Friedman Institute's International Economics and Economic Geography Initiative and is Lead Editor of the Journal of Political Economy . His research focuses on international trade, regional and urban economics, growth, organizational economics, and climate change. Key topics include city structure, offshoring impacts, spatial frictions, climate adaptation, and agglomeration effects. His work has been published in major economics journals, and he has received prestigious awards such as the Alfred Sloan Fellowship (2007), August Lösch Prize (2010), and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2022). Recent work explores the economic geography of climate change, including adaptation strategies and migration dynamics. He has analyzed spatial distribution of economic activity under climate scenarios and the role of carbon taxes in reshaping global economies. His studies often use dynamic spatial models to quantify local and global economic impacts. His contributions span theoretical frameworks and empirical analyses, addressing policy questions like optimal industrial strategies, spatial equity, and adaptation to environmental challenges. He collaborates widely, with co-authors including Klaus Desmet, Stephen Redding, and others, producing influential papers on migration, trade, and urban systems.
Kelly D Palmer is an Assistant Professor in the History, Geography and Legal Studies Department at The University of Tampa, within the College of Social Sciences Mathematics and Education. Her academic focus centers on modern European history, with particular expertise in French history, the Holocaust, and World War II humanitarian efforts. Her educational background includes: B.A. from Michigan State University (1991) M.A. from Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver (2002) Ph.D. from Michigan State University (2010) Professor Palmer's research delves into the history of modern Europe, with a concentration on France, the Holocaust, and European postwar historical memory. She is currently completing an article on the American Friends Service Committee and Jewish rescue in World War II France, and another on Roswell McClelland's work with the American Friends Service Committee and War Refugee Board. Her upcoming project examines women humanitarian workers in the American Friends Service Committee during WWII. Her teaching covers World History from 1500, the Holocaust, Twentieth-Century Europe, and other European history courses. Her notable scientific awards and grants include: Chosen as a university-wide applicant for the 2023 National Endowment of the Humanities Summer Stipends Program Pollock Research Grant (2021) Grant from the Undergraduate Research and Inquiry Committee for an inquiry-based course (2020) College of Social Sciences Mathematics and Education Award for Outstanding Teacher (2018-2019) UCDALI Professional Development Grant (Spring 2016) CU Online Course Development Grant (Fall 2015) Nominee for College of Arts and Letters at the University of Colorado of Denver, Teaching Excellence Award (2013-2014) Dissertation Completion Fellowship, College of Social Science, Michigan State University (2010) Kussy Scholarship for Study of the Holocaust, James Madison College, Michigan State University (2008) International Studies Program Pre-dissertation Research Fellowship, International Studies Program, Michigan State University (2007) Muelder-Lowe Graduate Award, Department of History, Michigan State University (2007) Summer Research Enhancement Fellowship, Department of History, Michigan State University (2007) Summer Research Fellowship, Department of History, Michigan State University (2006) Summer Research Language Fellowship, Department of History, Michigan State University (2005) Somers Award for Excellence and Creativity in Teaching, Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities, Michigan State University (2005) Recruitment Fellowship, Department of History, Michigan State University (2003-2004) Professor Palmer has secured significant grant funding for her research and teaching. Notable grants include: Pollock Research Grant (2021) for her research on WWII humanitarian efforts. Undergraduate Research and Inquiry Committee Grant (2020) for an inquiry-based course. UCDALI Professional Development Grant (2016) CU Online Course Development Grant (2015) She also mentors students through an internship program with the Florida Holocaust Museum, facilitating student placements and collaborative educational events. Professor Palmer collaborates closely with the Florida Holocaust Museum, where she has developed an internship program for students and co-organizes speaker events and educational activities. This partnership serves as a key platform for her students' experiential learning and community engagement.
Clio Andris is an Associate Professor at Georgia Tech, jointly appointed in the School of City and Regional Planning and the School of Interactive Computing. She directs the Friendly Cities Lab, focusing on mathematical models of social networks applied to urban planning, transportation, and geography. Her work integrates spatial analysis with visualization, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration. Education and Career: Andris earned a PhD in Urban Information Systems from MIT (2011), where she was an NDSEG Fellow. She held postdoctoral positions at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology and the Santa Fe Institute. Prior to Georgia Tech, she was a faculty member at Penn State’s Department of Geography, affiliated with the GeoVISTA Center. Research Focus: Her research bridges social networks, geovisualization, and urban informatics. Key areas include spatial social network analysis, GIS applications for urban policy, and the impact of digital tools on civic engagement. She has developed innovative visual analytics tools like SNoMaN and ROBIN to democratize spatial data exploration. Awards: She received the NSF CAREER Award (2021) and NDSEG Fellowship (2011). Her lab is affiliated with the Center for Spatial Planning Analytics and Visualization (CSPAV) and the Information Visualization Lab. Labs and Collaborations: The Friendly Cities Lab focuses on socially just urban design through computational methods. Her work addresses issues like food security networks, pandemic impacts on biodiversity, and community mapping for activism. Grants and Outreach: Her NSF-funded projects emphasize public good applications, such as real-time pandemic risk communication and educational tools for migration data. She actively collaborates with non-profits and policymakers to translate research into actionable urban strategies.
Tina Dacin is a Professor of Strategy and Organizational Behavior at the Smith School of Business, Queen's University, Canada. She holds the Stephen J.R. Smith Chair and serves as Director of the Community Impact Research Program. Her roles include former Director of the Smith School’s Centre for Social Impact, former University Senate member, and former Chair of the Principal’s Innovation Fund Committee. She co-founded the Community of Social Innovation Chair and holds affiliations with the Academy of Management and Informs. Education: Ph.D. (1993) in Business Administration from the University of Toronto and M.A. in Psychology from the University of New Brunswick. Research focuses on cultural heritage, social innovation/entrepreneurship, strategic alliances, and globalization. Key themes include custodianship, tradition preservation, place-making, and institutional dynamics. Recent work explores craft-based ventures, place-sensitive organizational practices, and institutional renewal in crises like the Detroit water wars. Awards: None explicitly listed, though her chair position reflects academic distinction. Teaching includes courses on global social impact and analytics/ethics policy. Labs/Teams: Leadership in the Community Impact Research Program and the Scotiabank Centre for Customer Analytics.
Dr. Yawei Zhao is a Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Manchester. She specializes in digital technologies, urbanization, and lifestyle migration. Her research explores data centers, PropTech, and the intersection of lifestyle migration with small city urbanization. Funded by the British Academy, IJURR Foundation, and Mitacs Canada, her work appears in journals like Urban Geography and Housing Studies . Prior to Manchester, she was a sessional instructor at the University of Calgary, where she earned her PhD in Geography. She holds degrees from McGill University, City University of Hong Kong, and National University of Singapore. Her research interests include urban governance, ecological civilization, and China's urban dynamics. Notable projects examine the Belt and Road Initiative's AI governance platforms and the impact of virtual tourism on cultural heritage sites. She co-leads PhD supervision on topics such as internal migration in China and animal rights in urban governance. Dr. Zhao actively contributes to interdisciplinary platforms like Digital Futures, Manchester China Institute, and Manchester Urban Institute. She organized the 2022–2023 conference ‘Making Rent: Generational Inequality and the Housing Crisis.’
Dr. Jérôme Verny is an Associate Professor specializing in transport, logistics, and supply chain management. He is the founder and director of the research institute in innovative transport and logistics, as well as the co-founder of the DISC Master's program (Digital & Innovative Supply Chain) in Paris and the Mobility Accelerator. His expertise spans digitalization in logistics, blockchain applications, and sustainable development. Educated at the University of Lille Nord de France (PhD in Economics and Management) and engineering schools like École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, he advises both public institutions (OECD, EU) and private enterprises on transportation strategies. Research Interests: Dr. Verny focuses on supply chain innovation, digital transformation, and strategic logistics. His work integrates blockchain technology for supply chain transparency, optimizes last-mile delivery in urban environments, and analyzes the impact of geopolitical actors like China on global trade networks. He also explores sustainable practices in transportation, including CO2 reduction strategies and pandemic response logistics. Awards: Recipient of the 2009 OECD-FIT Young Researcher Prize in Transport. His contributions bridge academic research with practical applications in industry, policy, and international trade. Key Activities: Co-founded the DISC Master’s program and leads research initiatives on blockchain adoption, Arctic shipping routes, and Mediterranean trade dynamics. He actively contributes to conferences such as the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) and publishes in journals like Structural Change and Economic Dynamics and International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics . Labs/Teams: Directs the Institut de Recherche en Transport et Logistique Innovante and collaborates with institutions like the OECD and European Commission on transport policy. His interdisciplinary approach involves engineering, economics, and data science to address global supply chain challenges.
Lance Freeman is the Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) Professor of City and Regional Planning and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Arts & Sciences. His research focuses on neighborhood dynamics, gentrification, urban poverty, housing policy, and the interplay between the built environment and public health. He holds a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1997), an MRP in Regional Planning (1991), and a B.S. in Business Administration from SUNY Buffalo (1987). Prior to academia, he worked at Mathematica Policy Research and as a City Planner at the New York City Housing Authority. Freeman teaches courses on urban planning theory, quantitative methods, and community development at Columbia University and the University of Delaware. His research interests include understanding neighborhood change, leveraging social media and technology for urban analysis, and promoting equitable urban development. Key publications include There Goes the Hood: Views of Gentrification from the Ground Up (2006), A Haven and a Hell: The Ghetto in Black America (2019), and co-authored Planning and Control of Land Development (2020). He has contributed to debates on inclusionary zoning, racial equity planning, and the impacts of urban policies on marginalized communities. Freeman's work intersects urban sociology, policy analysis, and spatial demography. His recent studies explore gentrification migration patterns, the role of social media in neighborhood change, and historical segregation dynamics. He advocates for evidence-based planning to address urban inequality and spatial injustice.
