Kendra Gonzales is a Research Fellow at the Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University (ANU), and concurrently holds an appointment as Associate Professor at the Department of Environmental Science, Ateneo de Manila University. She previously served as the Director of the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability (2021-2024) and is involved in international initiatives like the World Climate Research Programme’s My Climate Risk project. Her research focuses on environmental performance metrics, climate resilience, and systems thinking applications. Education: BS Physics (Ateneo de Manila University), joint MSc Environmental Management (Ateneo/USF), PhD in Earth and Atmospheric Science (Purdue University). Research interests include sustainability, climate resilience, disaster risk management, and earth system science. She applies systems thinking to address environmental challenges, particularly in Southeast Asia, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to quantify resilience and develop systemic metrics for companies and investors. Recent work highlights policy-relevant climate science, disaster risk communication, and land-use change impacts. Her contributions span e-learning modules for climate education and frameworks for sustainable enterprise collaboration. Collaborates internationally with organizations like the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Philippines and the World Weather Research Programme. Labs/Teams: Part of Fenner School’s Earth systems and risk resilience research groups.
Professor Dan Shrubsole is a faculty member in the Department of Geography and Environment at Western University. His research focuses on integrated resource management, particularly water management and environmental policy, with an emphasis on Canada and Queensland, Australia. He has supervised numerous graduate students, including PhD candidates such as D. Bednar (2018) and F. Sekercioglu (2018), and Masters students like E. Cameron (2023). His work explores topics like climate change adaptation governance, small drinking water system sustainability, and flood management policy. Teaching includes GEO 9099 – Research Design and Presentation. Key publications address water governance in Ontario Conservation Authorities, flood risk perceptions, and integrated water resource management. His research spans over three decades, with notable contributions to policy analysis and environmental sustainability. Shrubsole's work bridges academic research and practical policy, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches. His recent focus includes regulatory reforms for water systems and evaluating floodplain management strategies across Canadian regions. Collaborative projects highlight partnerships with institutions like the Upper Thames Conservation Authority and international case studies in Australia.
Prof. Farzad Saidi is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Bonn. He is affiliated with the Institute for Macroeconomics and Econometrics, ECONtribute, and the CRC TR 224 EPoS research centers. His work focuses on financial intermediation, monetary policy, corporate finance, and labor markets. He has contributed extensively to understanding bank behavior under negative interest rates, the effects of financial regulation, and the interplay between social preferences and economic outcomes during crises. Research highlights include analyzing strategic communication among banks, the impact of regulatory changes on insurance industries, and the role of social preferences in pandemic responses. His awards include the Jensen Prize for outstanding corporate finance research. Current projects explore credit supply dynamics, data-driven business cycles, and the macroeconomic implications of financial sanctions. Prof. Saidi's work spans theoretical and empirical domains, addressing topics such as banking structure, liquidity management, and the transmission of monetary policy. His affiliations with interdisciplinary centers reflect a commitment to collaborative, policy-relevant research.
Prof. Dr. Bernd Klauer serves as Deputy Head of the Department of Economics at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) since 2017 and holds an Honorary Professorship for Sustainability and Water Resources Management at the University of Leipzig since 2015. He leads the Working Group on Social Science Water Research and contributes to interdisciplinary projects spanning Germany, EU, Jordan, and India. Doctorate in Economics (1997), University of Heidelberg Diplom-Mathematiker (1992), University of Heidelberg His research integrates water economics with ecological economics and governance frameworks, focusing on hydro-economic modeling, water resource governance, decision support systems, and multi-criteria evaluation. Key application areas include Food-Water-Energy Nexus, Integrated Water Resource Management, and EU Water Framework Directive implementation. The 15 most recent publications reveal a strong emphasis on coupled human-natural systems modeling, climate change adaptation in agriculture, water scarcity governance, and socioeconomic analysis of informal water markets. His work consistently bridges technical hydrological models with economic decision-making frameworks across diverse geographic contexts. Current projects include FUSE (Food-Water-Energy Nexus) and NexusFootprints, while completed initiatives like the Jordan Water Project demonstrate his commitment to transboundary water challenges. He collaborates extensively with hydrologists, ecologists, and policy experts.
Sasha Indarte is an Assistant Professor of Finance at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on Household Finance, Financial Intermediation, and Macroeconomics, with a particular interest in the intersection of social policy, consumer credit, and financial stability. PhD in Economics from Northwestern University His work examines how financial intermediaries’ reputations affect sovereign debt markets, the role of liquidity and moral hazard in household bankruptcy, and the impact of social insurance programs like Medicaid on household credit behavior. His recent research highlights racial disparities in bankruptcy outcomes and the design of optimal debt relief policies. Key trends in his publications include empirical analysis of historical financial systems, econometric modeling of consumer behavior, and policy evaluation of social programs. His articles have appeared in top journals such as the Journal of Finance and the Review of Financial Studies . Scientific Awards and Honors: National Science Foundation Grant (2021) Wharton Teaching Excellence Award (2020) NBER Small Grant (2020) Rodney L. White Center Grant (2020) Macro Financial Modeling Fellowship (2017) Susan Schmidt Bies Prize (2016) Marshall Blume Prize (1970) Brattle Prize (2024) Indarte teaches courses in Corporate Finance (FNCE1000, FNCE6110) and Empirical Methods (FNCE9260). His empirical research often leverages quasi-experimental designs and large datasets, including a race imputation model trained on 30 million observations.
Claudia Ceci is a Full Professor at the Department of Methods and Models for Economy, Territory, and Finance (MEMOTEF) at Sapienza University of Rome. Her academic work focuses on stochastic models in economics, finance, and insurance, with a particular emphasis on optimal stochastic control, filtering, asset pricing, credit risk, and self-protection strategies. Coordinates internationalization initiatives within MEMOTEF Leads the Rome Sapienza unit in the 2022 PRIN project "Stochastic control and games and the role of information" Manages the 2023 Grande Sapienza project "Stochastic Optimization Problems in Insurance, Finance and Economics" Member of the UMI-PRISMA group (Probability in Statistics, Mathematics, and Applications) Featured in the "100 Esperte STEM" initiative (Mathematics category) Her research explores risk management, counterparty credit risk, and reinsurance optimization under partial observation. She has contributed extensively to journals in quantitative finance, insurance mathematics, and stochastic control. Recent projects analyze climate-related financial risks and reinsurance strategies under contagion models. Claudia teaches foundational mathematics and risk management courses across multiple campuses. Exam procedures for her mathematics course involve computerized written tests with mandatory oral components under specific conditions, reflecting her analytical approach to assessment.
Jürgen Groeneveld is a researcher at the Department of Ecological Modelling at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig, Germany. His work focuses on agent-based modelling of ecological and socio-environmental systems, with a particular emphasis on pollinator conservation, climate change impacts, and biodiversity digital twins. He contributes to the BioDT Project and collaborates on initiatives like the BEEHAVE and BEE-STEWARD models for honeybee and bumblebee dynamics. His research integrates computational methods with ecological theory to address challenges in sustainable land use and environmental policy. Key projects include modeling land use transformations, analyzing the effects of pesticides on pollinators, and exploring risk-sharing mechanisms for smallholder farmers. Groeneveld has published extensively on topics such as metapopulation dynamics, forest fragmentation, and the application of standardized protocols (e.g., ODD) for simulation models. His work bridges theoretical ecology with practical applications, aiming to inform conservation strategies and climate adaptation policies. He participates in interdisciplinary collaborations across the UFZ’s research units, including the 'Smart Models / Monitoring' group. His contributions span publications in journals like Ecological Modelling, Ecosphere, and Nature, reflecting his expertise in both ecological and computational methodologies.
Stephen G. Cecchetti is the Rosen Family Chair in International Finance at the Brandeis International Business School (Brandeis University). He also serves as Vice Chair of the European Systemic Risk Board's Advisory Scientific Committee, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), and a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). Previously, he was Economic Adviser and Head of the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements (2008–2013), Executive Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (1997–1999), and editor of the Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking (1992–2001). His research focuses on monetary policy, financial regulation, macroeconomics, and central banking. Education: B.S. in Economics from MIT, Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel (2016). His honors include the Distinguished Lecturer title from Ohio State University (2002) and the O. John Olcay Lecture at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (2019). His work emphasizes global financial stability, banking reform, and the intersection of monetary and fiscal policy. Recent publications highlight central bank interventions during financial crises, the fiscal consequences of central bank losses, and the future of banking in a digital era. He advocates for stricter regulatory frameworks post-2008 crisis and emphasizes the evolving role of central banks in addressing systemic risks. Cecchetti’s blog Money and Banking provides insights on current economic and financial issues.
Bastian Betthäuser is an Assistant Professor at Sciences Po, Paris, affiliated with the Centre for Research on Social Inequalities (CRIS) and the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Evaluation of Public Policies (LIEPP). He is also an Associate Member at Nuffield College, University of Oxford, and the Department of Social Policy and Intervention. His research focuses on social inequality, intergenerational mobility, educational policy, and life course dynamics . He investigates how socio-economic background influences early development, education, labor market outcomes, and life chances, and how policies can mitigate structural disadvantages. His work combines quantitative methods with comparative and longitudinal analyses across Europe. The recent publications show a strong trend in analyzing educational disruptions (e.g., during the pandemic) , parental employment instability , and regional and historical variations in educational opportunity . His research often leverages large-scale datasets and meta-analytic techniques to assess policy impacts and inequality mechanisms. Scientific Awards: ERC Starting Grant 2024 for the LEARN project on health crises and education He has taught courses on Educational Inequality & Education Policy and Social Inequality across the Life Course at both bachelor’s and master’s levels at Sciences Po. His research is supported by competitive grants and involves collaborations with leading scholars in sociology and public policy. He actively contributes to public discourse through media appearances and academic seminars. He is affiliated with key research units including CRIS and LIEPP, which focus on interdisciplinary evaluation of public policies and social inequalities. These labs support his work on policy-relevant sociological research using advanced empirical methods.
Zhiyu (Frank) Quan is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), holding positions in the Department of Mathematics, Department of Statistics, and National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). He is also an affiliate faculty member at Discovery Partners Institute as InsurTech Lead and serves as an ORMI Faculty Fellow in Finance. His research focuses on data science applications in actuarial science, including tree-based models, natural language processing, and deep learning for insurance risk modeling, predictive analytics, and InsurTech innovation. Education: Ph.D. in Actuarial Science (University of Connecticut, 2019), MS in Applied Statistics (Michigan State University, 2014), and BS in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics (Xiamen University, 2012). Research interests include computational statistics, insurance analytics, and leveraging machine learning for actuarial challenges such as claim prediction, rate-making, and cyber risk modeling. He leads the Illinois Risk Lab, bridging academic research with industry needs, and has pioneered hybrid tree-based models to address imbalanced data in insurance. Notable achievements include the Arnold O. Beckman Research Award and Society of Actuaries Research Institute recognition. He advises two doctoral students and teaches advanced predictive analytics courses, emphasizing practical applications in actuarial science and data ethics. Key collaborations involve InsurTech companies and NCSA, focusing on NLP-driven academic paper repositories (CyLit) and federated learning for privacy-preserving insurance data sharing. His work addresses real-world challenges in cyber insurance and automated machine learning systems.
Professor Jae Kyung Woo is a distinguished academic in the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies at the UNSW Business School, University of New South Wales. She holds multiple prestigious professional designations including Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia (FIAA), Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), and Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA). Her educational background includes MMath and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Waterloo. She has held academic positions at Columbia University as Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics (2011-2012), and at the University of Hong Kong as Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science (2012-2017) before joining UNSW in July 2017. Research interests focus on risk theory, reliability theory, aggregate claim analysis, queueing theory, and dependence modelling Editorial Board member for ASTIN Bulletin (2021-present), European Actuarial Journal (2025-present), Probability in the Engineering and Information Sciences (2018-present), and Risks (2020-present) Principal investigator for ARC Discovery Projects (2020-2023) and Casualty Actuarial Society grants (2018-2020) Her research output includes 35 journal articles, 1 book, 1 thesis/dissertation, and 1 other publication, with recent work emphasizing shock models for correlated large losses, credibility theory under dependency structures, and advanced dependence modeling techniques in insurance contexts. Her work bridges theoretical stochastic analysis with practical applications in insurance and risk management. Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia (FIAA), since May 2018 Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), since Oct 2013 Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA), since Jan 2012 Fellow Member of Actuarial Society of Hong Kong (ASHK), since Dec 2018 Professor Woo has secured significant research funding including an ARC Discovery Project grant of AUD 334,000 (2020-2023) for developing shock model-based frameworks for correlated large losses, and a Casualty Actuarial Society grant of USD 20,000 (2018-2020) for credibility theory research under general dependency structures. She served as Nominated Accreditation Actuary at UNSW until 2024.
Michael Dworsky is a Senior Economist and Professor of Policy Analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy. He specializes in health economics, labor economics, and public finance, with a focus on workers' compensation, health insurance, disability, and healthcare utilization. His work applies quasi-experimental methods to large administrative datasets, particularly in California's workers' compensation system. He leads studies on topics such as racial disparities in injury economic consequences, minimum wage impacts on employer-sponsored insurance, and Affordable Care Act effects on healthcare use. His research includes evaluations of Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) models, tradeoffs in insurance pricing using consumer data, and alternatives to workers' compensation mental health care for first responders. He has published in journals like the American Economic Review and Health Affairs. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University and is affiliated with the RAND Corporation, contributing to policy-relevant studies on healthcare, insurance, and labor markets. Recent projects include a NIOSH-funded study on injury disparities, analysis of hospital indemnity insurance for Medicare beneficiaries, and studies on nurse practitioner-led primary care under Medicaid pay parity. His work often addresses systemic challenges in healthcare access, cost management, and policy design.
Tarun Ramadorai is Professor of Financial Economics at Imperial College London, with a distinguished career spanning household finance, financial economics, behavioral economics, real estate, and international finance. He serves as Executive Editor of the Review of Financial Studies and holds prestigious fellowships including Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), Senior Academic Fellow of the Asian Bureau of Finance and Economics Research (ABFER), and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). Education BA in Mathematics and Economics from Williams College MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge PhD in Business Economics from Harvard University Research Interests Professor Ramadorai's research spans household finance, financial economics, behavioral economics, real estate, and international finance. His work examines how households make financial decisions across different markets and countries, with particular focus on housing markets, investment behavior, and financial inclusion. He has established himself as a leading expert in international comparative household finance, having previously served as Principal Investigator on a transformational initiative financed by the Sloan Foundation to establish this sub-field of finance and economics. His recent research explores the intersection of technology and personal finance, housing market dynamics, and optimal tax policy. He has demonstrated how housing costs impact fertility decisions, how machine learning affects credit markets, and how privacy policies influence consumer data extraction. His work combines rigorous theoretical frameworks with innovative empirical approaches using large-scale datasets from diverse markets. Publication Trends Professor Ramadorai's recent publications reveal a strong focus on household decision-making in financial markets, with increasing attention to the digital transformation of finance. His work bridges theoretical insights with practical policy implications, particularly in emerging economies. There is a clear trend toward interdisciplinary research that combines finance, economics, and data science to address pressing questions about financial inclusion, housing affordability, and the impact of technology on traditional financial services. Scientific Awards Brattle prize for best paper in the Journal of Finance Jensen prize for the best paper in the Journal of Financial Economics Wharton School-WRDS Best Paper Award in Empirical Finance James A Lebenthal Excellence in Municipal Finance Research Prize FMA Napa Conference Best Paper Prize INQUIRE Europe third prize Viz Risk Management Best paper prize Policy Engagement and Advisory Roles Professor Ramadorai has made significant contributions to policy discussions worldwide. He served as Chairman of the Inter-Regulatory Committee on Household Finance constituted by the Reserve Bank of India, which produced the influential "Indian Household Finance" report. He has advised numerous institutions including the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, the European Securities and Markets Authority, and the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund. Currently, he co-chairs the Fintech workstream of the India-UK Financial Partnership, helping to shape the future of financial technology across borders. Research Initiatives Professor Ramadorai previously led the Initiative on International Comparative Household Finance, funded by the Sloan Foundation, which established household finance as a distinct sub-field of research. He is in the process of setting up a new initiative at Imperial College Business School to further advance this area of study. His work has influenced both academic research and practical policy interventions in financial markets around the world.
Stephen G. Ryan is the Vincent C. Ross Professor of Accounting at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University. He has been a faculty member at Stern since 1990 and is actively engaged in teaching and research in accounting, financial reporting, and valuation. His work focuses on financial institutions, financial instruments, and regulatory standards. Research Interests: Accounting Measurement Accounting-Based Valuation and Risk Assessment Financial Reporting by Financial Institutions Financial Instruments Disclosure Empirical Studies in Banking and Debt Contracting His recent publications reflect a strong focus on regulatory accounting standards (e.g., CECL, FAS 166/167), transparency in financial reporting, and the economic consequences of accounting policy. These works appear in top-tier journals such as The Accounting Review , Journal of Accounting Research , and Management Science , demonstrating sustained scholarly impact. Awards & Appointments: American Accounting Association Financial Accounting and Reporting Section Best Paper Prize (2011) The Accounting Review Emerald Management Reviews Citation of Excellence (2009) Accounting Horizons Co-winner Best Paper Prize (2006, 2004) Professor Ryan has held significant editorial roles, including Editor of the Review of Accounting Studies (2006–2011) and Guest Editor for the Journal of Accounting Research (2015–2018). He has served on advisory councils for the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He teaches undergraduate, MBA, MS, and PhD courses, including a doctoral seminar on banking and debt contracting, indicating active student mentorship. He is affiliated with major regulatory bodies such as FASB, IASB, PCAOB, SEC, and standards like IFRS and GAAP. His expertise spans accounting, finance, IPOs, and real estate/housing sectors.
Rick Horan is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University (MSU), part of the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources. He holds a Ph.D., M.A. from Pennsylvania State University, and dual B.S. degrees from Appalachian State University. His research focuses on environmental and natural resource economics, particularly the interplay between economic and ecological systems. Key areas include endangered species management, invasive species control, wildlife disease dynamics, and agricultural pollution policy. He has published in top journals like PNAS, American Economic Review, and the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Horan has served as Managing Editor of Resource and Energy Economics (2010–13), Associate Editor roles for American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Natural Resource Modeling , and contributed to a National Academy of Sciences report on environmental policy. His teaching includes Advanced Natural Resource Economics and Microeconomic Theory analysis. Research highlights include modeling ecological thresholds, bioeconomic approaches to species management, and integrating human behavior into epidemiological models. His work has been featured in media outlets like The Economist and Forbes. Horan’s advising and grants focus on interdisciplinary solutions for environmental challenges. His labs and research teams address complex issues like agri-environmental service coordination and sustainable land-use strategies. Current research explores policy mechanisms for balancing economic activities with ecosystem preservation.
