Dr David Grumett is a Senior Lecturer in Theology and Ethics at the University of Edinburgh's School of Divinity. He holds a BA(Hons), MPhil, and PhD, and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). His research focuses on theology, ethics, and philosophy, with particular attention to themes like sacramental theology, animal welfare, and historical theologians such as Henri de Lubac and Teilhard de Chardin. **Education**: BA(Hons) MPhil PhD SFHEA **Responsibilities**: Convener, Divinity Research Ethics Committee Academic cohort lead for Philosophy and Theology External roles include Assessor at the Office for Students and membership in the AHRC Peer Review College His work bridges theological theory with practical ethics, including animal ethics and liturgical studies. He has published extensively on sacramental theology, biblical interpretation, and contemporary ethical issues in Christianity.
Dr. Sara Caputo is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science and an Affiliated Lecturer at the Faculty of History, University of Cambridge. She serves as Director of Studies in History, History and Politics, and History and Modern Languages at Magdalene College. Her research spans transnational maritime history, the history of medicine, cartography, and imperial history. Education: PhD in History from the University of Cambridge (Robinson College), MSc in History from the University of Edinburgh, BA (Hons) in History from Cardiff University. Career Highlights: Lumley Junior Research Fellow (2019–2022), Senior Research Fellow (2022–present) at Magdalene College, Scouloudi Fellow (2018–2019), Lewis-AHRC Scholarship (2015–2018), Honorary Vice-Chancellor’s Scholar (2015–2018). Research Focus: Dr. Caputo explores maritime mobilities, knowledge exchange, and the instability of national boundaries in the British and European navies. Her work integrates transnational perspectives into the study of a quintessentially national institution, challenging notions of Britishness and foreignness. She combines qualitative and quantitative methodologies to analyze legal, social, and cultural contexts of naval service and cartographic practices. Notable Articles: Recent publications include studies on British naval medicine, the evolution of ship tracks into surveillance tools, and the transnational dimensions of naval exploration. Her articles span journals like Past & Present , English Historical Review , and Social History of Medicine , with chapters in edited volumes on transport history and postwar naval recruitment. Scientific Awards: Royal Historical Society Whitfield Prize (2024) British Commission for Maritime History Boydell & Brewer Prize (2020) Fachverband Medizingeschichte wissenschaftlichen Förderpreis (2022) International Committee for History of Technology Maurice Daumas Prize (2021) Scottish History Society Rosebery Prize (2020) Teaching and Outreach: Dr. Caputo teaches courses on the Global Eighteenth Century, Union and Disunion in Britain, and Mediterranean history. She actively participates in outreach programs with the Cambridge University Admissions Office and The Brilliant Club, focusing on widening participation in history education.
Bliss Cua Lim is a Professor at the Cinema Studies Institute, University of Toronto, specializing in Philippine cinema, film archiving, and queer theory. She is the author of The Archival Afterlives of Philippine Cinema (2024) and Translating Time: Cinema, the Fantastic, and Temporal Critique (2009), which was a John Hope Franklin Book Prize recipient. Education: PhD in Cinema Studies, New York University; BA in English, University of the Philippines, Diliman Her research explores intersections of cinema, folklore, and political histories, with a focus on archival fragility, transnational horror genres, and camp aesthetics in Southeast Asian media. Recent work analyzes the crisis of state-run film archives and the role of folklore in queer transmedia storytelling. Key trends in her publications include: Queering the Filipinx Zombie Movie (2025) and Cosmopolitan Animisms (2022), which examine genre hybridity and postcolonial spectralities. Her 2013 writings on Philippine archival advocacy and 2015 essays on queer aswang narratives highlight institutional and cultural challenges in media preservation. Scientific Awards: Selected John Hope Franklin Book Prize (2009) Lim serves on the Editorial Collective of Camera Obscura and the Advisory Board of Plaridel: A Philippine Journal of Communication . Her teaching includes courses on Queer Asian Cinemas, Sound and Animation, and Film Cultures II.
Jeff Moher is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Co-Chair of the Department of Psychology at Connecticut College, where he has been teaching since 2017. He also serves as the Data, Information, and Society Pathway Co-Coordinator, demonstrating his leadership within the institution. His educational background includes a Ph.D. and M.A. from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. from the University of Michigan. This strong academic foundation has prepared him for his research and teaching career in cognitive psychology. Moher's research focuses on cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience, particularly visual attention and cognition in action. His work investigates why distractions occur, when they are likely to arise, and what mechanisms humans can harness to avoid them. He has found that humans employ various cognitive mechanisms to minimize distractions based on explicit knowledge, task goals, object properties, and recent experience, though he has also discovered surprising limitations in attentional selection. His research is particularly relevant given that over 3,000 people are killed annually in the United States from distracted driving. His recent publications show a consistent trajectory examining attentional mechanisms, distraction, and visual processing across different contexts. His work frequently employs sophisticated methodologies to measure both cognitive and motor responses to distractions, revealing how seemingly minor distractions can accumulate to induce serious performance costs. Moher's research is currently funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, indicating the significance and quality of his work. He likely mentors numerous students through the department's research groups, contributing to their development as researchers. He directs the CAMELab (Center for Attention, Movement, and Embodied Learning), which utilizes multiple methodologies including eye-tracking, electroencephalography, three-dimensional reach-tracking, and psychophysics to approach questions about attention and distraction. Current projects in his lab explore why salient distractors cause people to give up quickly during visual search, the brain mechanisms involved in learning to ignore distractions, how internal distractions impact physical interactions with the world, and how hand movement paths reveal information about attentional processes.
Felicity McArdle is a Professor in the Department of Early Childhood Education within the Faculty of Education at Queensland University of Technology. With a distinguished career spanning over two decades, her work centers on reimagining early childhood pedagogy through critical lenses of social justice, art education, and play-based learning. Her research has significantly influenced Australian early childhood policy and practice. McArdle's research interests demonstrate a consistent commitment to transformative education. She critically examines how art and play function as vehicles for social justice, challenging neoliberal discourses in early childhood education. Her work on refugee children's artistic expression and anti-bias curriculum development reveals her dedication to equity-oriented pedagogy. Through collaborative drawing methodologies and visual research approaches, she has pioneered innovative ways of understanding children's perspectives. Her publication trends reveal a sophisticated evolution from foundational work on visual arts in education (2001-2010) toward increasingly critical examinations of power, policy, and social justice (2011-2021). The consistent citation impact of her work—particularly her 2002 paper 'Early Childhood Art Education: A Palimpsest' with over 13,000 citations—demonstrates her field-defining contributions to reconceptualizing art education as critical praxis. McArdle has held significant editorial roles including co-editing the influential 2013 volume 'Young Children, Pedagogy and the Arts' and serving on the editorial board of Australian Journal of Early Childhood. Her collaborations with leading scholars like Susan Grieshaber, Jennifer Sumsion, and Linda Knight have produced seminal work on intentional teaching and play-based learning. Her research methodology expertise centers on visual and arts-based approaches, particularly collaborative drawing techniques that engage children as active research participants. This methodological innovation reflects her commitment to ethical research practices that honor children's agency while generating meaningful insights about early childhood experiences.
Josie Hughes is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) within the School of Engineering's Institute of Mechanical Engineering. She leads the Computer Robot Design and Fabrication Laboratory (CREATE Lab) and serves on the doctoral program committee for Robotics, Control and Intelligent Systems. Her roles include teaching courses in product development, engineering design, and data-driven manufacturing methods while maintaining active research and student supervision. Her research centers on soft robotics with emphasis on adaptive design, fabrication techniques, and real-world applications. Key areas include agricultural robotics (exemplified by the GraspBerry raspberry harvester), biomimetic materials like self-healing e-skins, and developmental robotics (BabyBot project). She pioneers approaches integrating morphological computation, variable stiffness mechanisms, and machine learning for robotic control, while championing open-source principles and diversity in robotics through accessible educational initiatives like balloon robot kits. Analysis of her recent publications reveals dominant trends in soft robotics adaptability, particularly in variable-stiffness structures, sensor integration, and task-specific optimization. Her work bridges fundamental material science with practical applications in agriculture, food science, and human-robot interaction, frequently employing computational methods like Bayesian optimization and neural networks for design and control. Scientific awards: No specific awards were mentioned in the source materials. Dr. Hughes actively supervises 16 doctoral students across diverse projects including soft grippers for agriculture, biomimetic locomotion, and robotic manipulation systems. Her advising portfolio shows strong alignment with her research themes, with current students working on topics like modular soft arms, agricultural automation, and developmental robotics. While grant details weren't specified, her high publication volume indicates robust research funding. The CREATE Lab under her leadership focuses on holistic co-design of hardware and software for soft robotic systems, with notable projects including the GraspBerry agricultural harvester and BabyBot developmental platform. The lab emphasizes open-source development and educational outreach, maintaining strong industry and academic collaborations while pushing boundaries in reconfigurable robotics and human-centered applications.
Roghayeh (Leila) Barmaki is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer & Information Sciences at the University of Delaware, where she leads the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCI@UD) and is affiliated with the Data Science Institute. Her research centers on Human-Centered Computing with applications in healthcare and medical education. Education: Postdoctoral Fellowship (2018): Johns Hopkins University, Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics, Whiting School of Engineering PhD (2016): University of Central Florida, Computer Science MSc (2012): Iran University of Science and Technology, Artificial Intelligence BSc: Kharazmi University, Software Engineering Her research spans Multimodal Machine Learning, Virtual and Augmented Reality, and Embodied Interface Design, focusing on innovative applications in healthcare delivery and science education. She teaches core courses including Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction (CISC 482/682) and Introduction to Data Mining (CISC 483/683), emphasizing hands-on project development and theoretical foundations. Dr. Barmaki directs the HCI@UD laboratory, which develops cutting-edge interfaces for medical training and patient care through interdisciplinary collaboration between computer science, engineering, and healthcare domains.
Jennifer Minner is an Associate Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. She directs the Just Places Lab and is actively engaged in research on urban change, memory, and equitable development. Her affiliations span urban planning, regional science, and media studies, and she serves on the faculty advisory board of Cornell Cinema. Ph.D. in Community and Regional Planning, University of Texas at Austin M.U.R.P., Portland State University B.A. in Cultural Anthropology, University of Washington Her research centers on adaptive reuse, circular economies in cities, historic preservation, and social justice . She investigates how communities care for, preserve, and reimagine places through participatory planning and material reuse. Her work connects urban policy with climate action, embodied carbon, and the social legacies of mega-events such as the Olympics and World Expos. She uses spatial analytics, film, and community-based methods to explore equitable urban futures. Her recent publications reflect a strong trend toward environmental justice, circular construction, and urban memory . Topics include deconstruction policy, UAVs in preservation, and post-mega-event urban development. These works span disciplines including urban planning, sustainability, media studies, and public policy, with a consistent focus on equity and community engagement. Town and Gown Award (2024) for CR0WD network Climate Neutral Cities Alliance grant on embodied carbon and justice Atkinson Center Fast Grant for NYS circular construction policy NCPTT grant on reuse scenario planning with 3D modeling Mui Ho Center grant on scaling circular construction in NY Jennifer Minner mentors graduate and undergraduate researchers, co-founded the CR0WD network, and leads the CURTA-Y student club. She has secured multiple grants focused on deconstruction, policy design, and community engagement. Her teaching includes courses on circular cities, land use planning, and advanced planning theory, emphasizing participatory and justice-oriented methods. She leads the Just Places Lab , which fosters interdisciplinary research on urban care, memory, and equity. The lab collaborates with the Circular Construction Lab, Historic Ithaca, and community partners on exhibitions, walking tours, and policy initiatives. Projects like Deconstructing Demolition and Waste(d) Imagination Tour exemplify their community-engaged, creative approach to urban sustainability.
Paulo Blikstein serves as Associate Professor of Communications, Media and Learning Technology Design at Columbia University. Previously, he was Assistant Professor of Education and (by courtesy) Computer Science at Stanford University and co-founded the Lemann Center for Brazilian Education (2008-2018). Education: Ph.D. in Learning Sciences, Northwestern University (2009) M.A. in Media Arts & Sciences, MIT Media Lab (2002) M.Eng. in Electronic Engineering, University of São Paulo (2000) B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering, University of São Paulo (1998) His research pioneers constructionist learning environments through digital fabrication, educational robotics, and tangible interfaces—focusing on equitable access for underserved communities. Inspired by Paulo Freire and Seymour Papert, he develops open-source tools like the GoGo Board robotics platform and leads the global FabLab@School initiative establishing fabrication labs in schools across four continents. Current work emphasizes multimodal learning analytics to study student interactions in maker-centered classrooms. Publications reveal strong focus on democratizing invention through maker education, with recurring themes in constructionist theory application, multimodal assessment, and context-specific technology adaptation. Brazilian education reform and low-cost computational solutions form significant threads, particularly in 2016-2017 publications. Scientific Awards: Two Google Faculty Awards National Science Foundation Early Career Award (highest U.S. government honor for early-career scientists) Blikstein directs the Transformative Learning Technologies Lab (TLTL) and co-founded Stanford's Center for Educational Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Brazil. His FabLearn conference established the first academic forum on Maker Movement applications in education. While specific grant details aren't listed, the NSF CAREER Award signifies major federal research funding. He spearheads the FabLab@School project deploying advanced fabrication labs in K-12 institutions worldwide and founded the FabLearn conference series. His work integrates teams of engineers, educators, and designers to create scalable solutions for resource-constrained learning environments.
Professor Adam Yuet Chau is a Fellow and Director of Studies at St John's College and holds the Professor of the Anthropology of China position at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge . His academic journey includes training at Stanford University (PhD in Anthropology, 2001) and teaching roles at Oxford and SOAS before joining Cambridge in 2008. Focus on Chinese religions and their social dimensions Specializes in ritual theory and cultural transformations Develops comparative frameworks for understanding religious practices His research spans religion under socialism , hosting in political/religious contexts , and ritual polytropy . Recent projects include editing Chinese Religious Culture in 100 Objects and analyzing 'spheres' (界) in Chinese society . Publications like Miraculous Response (2006) and Religion in Contemporary China (2011) establish him as a key figure in religious anthropology. Current and past PhD/MPhil students explore topics from temple festivals in Taiwan to religious subjectification . He actively reviews for leading presses (Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard) and journals ( Ethnos , Modern China ), and participates in international academic workshops.
Gayle Letherby is a Visiting Professor of Sociology at the University of Plymouth’s Peninsula Medical School (Faculty of Health), and holds visiting roles at the University of Greenwich and the University of Bath’s Centre for Death and Society (CDAS). She is an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences (since 2007) and recipient of the 2023 Lifetime Contribution to Autoethnography Award. Her research focuses on feminist methodology, health sociology, grief and bereavement, mobility studies, and criminology. She has supervised over 20 doctoral students across multiple universities, including topics like non-motherhood, occupational therapy, and gang culture in African Caribbean communities. Her teaching spans undergraduate and postgraduate levels, covering crime theory, auto/biographical research, and feminist epistemology. Notable collaborations include participatory studies on homeless individuals’ food experiences and ethnographic explorations of medical decision-making. Her interdisciplinary work bridges sociology, criminology, and health studies, with a strong emphasis on autoethnographic and creative methodologies. Recent research explores themes like grief narratives, gendered travel experiences, and the emotional dimensions of doctoral journeys. She has contributed to policy discussions on family-centred care and has been a guest lecturer globally, including at York University (Canada) and University College Cork (Ireland). Awards: Academy of Social Sciences Academician (2007), Lifetime Contribution to Autoethnography (2023) Teaching Expertise: Feminist research methods, criminology, sociology of health, gender studies Key Research Areas: Auto/biography, non-motherhood, medical sociology, mobility, grief studies
Dr. Geng Guoqing is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He holds concurrent roles as East Asian Regional Convener for RILEM and board member of ACI-Singapore Chapter. His research focuses on sustainable construction materials, particularly durability, microstructural characterization, and waste material utilization. Geng earned his PhD from UC Berkeley (2017), followed by postdoctoral research at the Paul Scherrer Institute (Switzerland). He has authored over 50 papers and leads multiple projects funded by Singapore’s Ministry of Education, Energy Center, and National Research Foundation. Education: Bachelor of Engineering, Southeast University, China (2010) Master of Science, UC Berkeley, USA (2013) PhD, UC Berkeley, USA (2017) Research interests center on sustainable construction materials, multi-scale characterization, and material durability . Key themes include recycling low-grade materials, mitigating degradation in concrete, and developing high-performance binders like LC3. His work employs advanced techniques like molecular modeling, X-ray diffraction, and NMR. Recent articles explore hydration kinetics, CSH matrix mechanics, and waste clay applications. Awards include the 2023 RILEM Medal and multiple teaching excellence recognitions. Current projects address CO 2 absorption, sustainable cement blends, and resilient façade materials. Professional service includes editorial roles at Cleaner Materials and Frontiers in Materials , plus organizing the 2022 EASEC Conference. His lab focuses on bridging microstructural insights with macro-scale material performance.
Petra Kuppers is a Professor at the University of Michigan, specializing in disability culture, performance art, and ecocriticism. She holds a PhD from Falmouth College of Art/Plymouth University (1999) and is affiliated with multiple departments, including English, Drama, and Gender Studies. Her work bridges academic research with community-based performance, emphasizing socially just futures through art. Key roles include Artistic Director of The Olimpias, co-founder of Turtle Disco, and a Just Tech Fellow (2024–2026) for 'Planting Disabled Futures,' a VR project blending disability culture and environmental ethics. She teaches graduate courses on disability studies and creative writing, advising students through a monthly 'Research Coven.' Kuppers has authored influential books like *Disability and Contemporary Performance* (2003) and *Eco Soma* (2022), recognized with awards such as the Guggenheim Fellowship and ATHE Book Prize. Her poetry collections, including *Gut Botany* (2020) and *Diver Beneath the Street* (2024), explore intersections of disability, ecology, and true crime. Her research spans crip ecologies, archival activism, and somatic methods, with recent projects including *Crip/Mad Archive Dances* and participatory events like 'Crip Drifts.' She emphasizes accessibility in performance, digital art, and public engagement, often collaborating with Indigenous communities and global disability collectives.
John F. Canny is the Paul and Stacy Jacobs Distinguished Professor of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). He joined the faculty in 1987 and is affiliated with the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research Lab (BAIR), Berkeley Center for New Media (BCNM), and other research institutes. His research focuses on artificial intelligence, robotics, human-computer interaction, and computational geometry. Canny is renowned for developing the Canny edge detector and contributions to motion planning, privacy-preserving algorithms, and real-time simulation. Education: B.Sc. in Computer Science and Theoretical Physics (Adelaide University, 1979), B.E. (Hons) in Electrical Engineering (Adelaide University, 1980), M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering (MIT, 1983 and 1987). Research Interests: His work spans AI, robotics (including universal planar manipulation), HCI (e.g., MultiView video conferencing), and security (privacy in collaborative filtering). He has pioneered algorithms for edge detection, non-linear FEM simulation, and computational algebra. Awards: ACM Fellow (2020), Okawa Research Grant (2003), AAAI Classic Paper Award (2002), NSF PYI (1989), Packard Fellowship (1988), and ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award (1987). Advising & Grants: Advised over 30 Ph.D. students, many of whom hold prominent roles in academia and industry. His grants include NSF and Packard funding for foundational research in robotics and computational methods. He currently teaches CS188: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence. Labs/Teams: Leads research at the Berkeley Institute of Design (BiD), focusing on RISC robotics, activity-based computing, and privacy-enhanced telepresence systems.
Jay David Bolter holds the Wesley Chair of New Media and serves as Professor and Director of Computational Media at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he is affiliated with the School of Literature, Media, and Communication within the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. A foundational figure in digital media studies, he is renowned for his influential theoretical works and practical contributions to new media forms. His research spans Augmented Reality , Virtual Reality , Digital Culture , and the History of Media , with particular emphasis on remediation theory (developed with Richard Grusin) and the evolution of digital writing. As an active member of the Augmented Environments Lab, Bolter creates narrative-driven AR applications for cultural heritage sites and educational contexts, blending theoretical rigor with experimental design. His work consistently examines how new media technologies reshape human perception and cultural practices. Recent publications reveal a concentrated exploration of reality media (AR/VR) as narrative spaces, with articles addressing biofeedback integration in VR fitness, agency-driven interactive storytelling, and theoretical frameworks for understanding immersive experiences. His scholarship bridges historical media analysis with cutting-edge technical implementation, demonstrating how remediation processes continue to evolve in mixed reality environments. This trajectory reflects his lifelong investigation into the interplay between technological capabilities and human expression. Bolter maintains significant collaborative partnerships, including co-authoring seminal texts like Remediation and developing the Storyspace hypertext system with Michael Joyce. His leadership in the Augmented Environments Lab drives interdisciplinary projects that merge humanities perspectives with technological innovation, particularly in creating culturally resonant AR experiences. Teaching responsibilities include advanced courses in mixed reality design, computational media, and digital media theory, shaping the next generation of media scholars and practitioners.
