Emily Hannum is a Professor of Sociology and Education at the University of Pennsylvania's College of Arts & Sciences, where she also serves as Associate Dean for Social Sciences. She is affiliated with the Population Studies Center, Center for the Study of Contemporary China, Graduate School of Education, and Penn Development Research Initiative. Education: PhD in Sociology from University of Michigan (1998) Research Focus: Poverty and child welfare, gender and ethnic stratification, sociology of education Projects: Gansu Survey of Children and Families, climate-environment-childhood inequalities in LMICs Workshops: Co-organizer of Penn Education and Inequality Workshop Her research explores childhood poverty in China, demographic impacts on education systems, and climate risks affecting children's welfare. She investigates environmental hazards, educational disparities, and family separation effects across China, India, and low/middle-income countries. Recent publications analyze educational expansion in East Asia, climate crisis impacts on child health, and gender disparities in Latin America. She directs longitudinal studies on rural poverty and collaborates on cross-national projects related to environmental and educational equity. Scientific awards include the Stanley I. Sheerr Term Professorship in Social Sciences.
Majid Ghayoomi is a Professor and Civil Engineering Undergraduate Coordinator in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of New Hampshire's College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. His research focuses on geotechnical engineering and geomechanics, particularly unsaturated soil mechanics and geotechnical earthquake engineering. He teaches courses such as Soil Mechanics, Engineering Behavior of Soils, and Geotechnical Modeling. Dr. Ghayoomi holds a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder, an M.S. from Sharif University, and a B.S. from the University of Tehran. His research interests include bioremediation, hazards mitigation, soil-structure interaction, and materials testing. He leads the Geotechnical Modeling and Innovation lab, advancing bio-inspired solutions and remote sensing applications in geotechnical systems. His recent work emphasizes climate change impacts on seismic resilience, microbial stabilization of soils, and satellite-based soil moisture monitoring. Key contributions include studies on liquefaction mitigation, seismic site response, and infrastructure vulnerability in dynamic environments. His research spans theoretical, experimental (centrifuge modeling), and computational approaches to address complex geotechnical challenges.
Joel Goh is Associate Professor at the Department of Analytics and Operations, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore. He serves as Director of the J.Y. Pillay Comparative Asia Research Centre (under NUS Global Asia Institute) and PhD Program Director at the Institute of Operations Research and Analytics (IORA). Previously, he was Assistant Professor at Harvard Business School (2014-2017) and Visiting Scholar (2017-2022). BSc, MSc, PhD in Operations, Information, and Technology from Stanford University His research focuses on healthcare analytics (preventing health conditions, hospital operations, frailty assessment), supply chain analytics (digital business models, platform leakage), and service platform operations (hospital-at-home programs, incentive design). He co-created the Robust Optimization Made Easy (ROME) software. Recent publications analyze workplace psychological safety (2024), hospital-at-home models (2024), and platform leakage dynamics (2023). His work spans 18+ journals with 740+ citations for burnout cost studies (2022) and 606+ citations for physician well-being research (2017). Teaching Honors : 2023: Best MBA Teaching & Skinner Innovation Award 2021: NUS Annual Teaching Excellence Award 2020: Early Career Research Excellence Award & 40 Under 40 Best MBA Professors Advising & Grants : Served as PhD Program Director. Received NUS Start-Up Grant R-314-000-110-133 (2021) and Humanities & Social Sciences Fellowship (2021). Editorial roles include Associate Editor at Management Science , Manufacturing & Service Operations Management , and Senior Editor at Production and Operations Management .
David Stradling is the Zane L. Miller Professor of Urban History and Interim Director of the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Cincinnati. He has held academic positions since 1999, progressing from Assistant Professor to his current full professorship. His research focuses on urban and environmental history, with notable works including Where the River Burned and The Nature of New York . Stradling earned his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1996) following degrees from Colgate University. His research interests span urban development, environmental policy, and Cincinnati's historical narrative. He co-authored a global history of dredging and has explored topics like climate justice, sustainability frameworks, and the interplay between cities and natural systems. Stradling actively participates in interdisciplinary projects, including a 2024 NSF-funded conference connecting Earth and health scientists. His scholarship emphasizes historical analysis of environmental challenges, from air quality regulation to modern sustainability strategies. Recent work addresses urban resilience, equitable development, and the moral dimensions of environmental decision-making. Stradling’s academic leadership includes roles in faculty governance and institutional reform initiatives.
Dr Henry Moss is a Researcher at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics within the School of Physical Sciences at the University of Cambridge. His work focuses on machine learning applications in climate modeling, Bayesian optimization, and Gaussian processes, bridging computational mathematics with environmental science and chemistry. His research interests include: Bayesian optimization for environmental and chemical systems Reinforcement learning in climate modeling Gaussian processes for molecular property prediction High-throughput machine learning in scientific domains Interpretable AI for coastal flooding prediction Hybrid ML-physics modeling Dr Moss's publications highlight his contributions to federated learning for climate models, sparse Gaussian process techniques, and multi-objective optimization frameworks. These works span applications in weather prediction, chemical engineering, and oceanography. Email: hwm26@cam.ac.uk
Peter Nilsson is a Professor of Economics at the Institute for International Economic Studies (IIES) , Stockholm University. He also holds a guest professorship at Linnaeus University and serves as a research fellow at IFAU , Uppsala Center for Labor Studies , CESifo , and CEPR . Previously, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University and obtained his PhD from Uppsala University (2010). Research Focus: His work bridges Labor Economics , Health Economics , and Environmental Economics , analyzing how early-life exposures (alcohol, lead), workplace dynamics, and policy interventions (unemployment insurance, congestion pricing) shape long-term socioeconomic outcomes. Key themes include Environmental Health Impacts on Cognition and Crime Labor Market Responses to Insurance Policies Peer Effects in Workplace Behavior Policy Design for Social Equity Scientific Awards: Nilsson has been recognized through research fellowships at leading institutions and editorial roles, including Associate Editor at The Economic Journal since 2021. His work has been featured in American Economic Review , Journal of Political Economy , and NBER platforms. Key Contributions: He provided testimony for Connecticut’s HB-5045 to reduce childhood lead exposure and contributed to Sweden’s Corona Commission report on pandemic responses. His empirical methods combine natural experiments with administrative datasets to identify causal relationships in health, labor, and environmental economics.
Andrea Bajcsy serves as an Assistant Professor in the Robotics Institute and School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, leading the Interactive and Trustworthy Robotics Lab (Intent Lab). Her work focuses on enabling robots to safely interact with open-world environments through novel algorithms in control theory and machine learning. Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from UC Berkeley under Anca Dragan and Claire Tomlin, followed by a postdoctoral position with Jitendra Malik and industry experience at NVIDIA's Autonomous Vehicle Research Group. Research centers on quantifying robot confidence, computing safe interaction policies for nuanced hazards (tearing, spilling, breaking), and aligning AI with human values. Key methodologies integrate optimal control, reinforcement learning, dynamic game theory, and deep learning, applied to robotic arms, quadrotors, quadrupeds, and autonomous vehicles. Core areas include safety for physical human-robot interaction, robot learning for manipulation, and world modeling. Recent publications (2024-2025) reveal a concentrated effort on uncertainty-aware safety mechanisms, out-of-distribution adaptation, and language-based safety specification. Her work increasingly bridges conformal prediction with interactive learning while leveraging vision-language models for real-time policy steering, as evidenced by multiple CoRL, RSS, ICRA, and ICLR acceptances. Scientific Awards: NSF CAREER Award (2025) Advises four active PhD students (Kensuke Nakamura, Ravi Pandya, Junwon Seo, Yilin Wu) and leads research funded by the NSF CAREER grant. Organizes community initiatives including the Northeast Systems and Control Workshop and ICRA workshops on Safely Leveraging VLMs in Robotics and Public Trust in Autonomy. Directs the Intent Robotics Lab, which develops theoretical frameworks and practical implementations for open-world robot safety. The lab maintains strong industry ties through NVIDIA collaborations and emphasizes real-world deployment across multiple robotic platforms.
Prof. Willy Tinner is a leading academic at the University of Bern, serving as Head of the Paleoecology section and Vice Executive Director within the Institute of Plant Sciences. His research focuses on reconstructing past environmental changes through pollen analysis, vegetation dynamics, and human-ecosystem interactions. Tinner's work integrates paleoecological data with climatology, archaeology, and conservation biology to understand long-term ecological processes. His expertise spans Holocene climate impacts, Neolithic land use patterns, and biodiversity conservation challenges in alpine and Mediterranean ecosystems. Notable research includes studies on Fagus-Quercus forest coexistence in Italy, Abies alba climatic adaptations, and human-driven vegetation changes across Europe. Tinner collaborates internationally, contributing to projects in Greece, Ukraine, and the Balkans. He has published extensively on topics such as fire regimes, lake sediment archives, and the ecological consequences of ancient agricultural practices. His leadership positions reflect his role in shaping Switzerland's ecological research priorities through institutions like WSL Cadenazzo.
Paolo Gardoni is the Alfredo H. Ang Family Professor and an Excellence Faculty Scholar in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with additional professorial appointments in Industrial & Enterprise Systems Engineering and Biomedical & Translational Sciences. He also serves as Director of the MAE Center and Editor-in-Chief of Reliability Engineering & System Safety. Education Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley (2002) M.A. in Statistics, University of California, Berkeley (2001) M.Eng. in Structural Engineering, University of Tokyo (1997) Laurea (BS+MS equivalent) in Structural Engineering, Politecnico di Milano (1997) Research Interests Gardoni’s scholarship integrates probabilistic methods with large-scale infrastructure systems to advance reliability, risk, and life-cycle analysis. His work quantifies the performance of deteriorating systems under natural and anthropogenic hazards, models societal impacts of disasters, and develops decision frameworks for sustainable and resilient infrastructure. He also examines ethical, social, and legal dimensions of risk, and investigates optimal strategies for hazard mitigation, disaster recovery, and climate adaptation. Across more than 250 refereed journal papers, he has advanced sub-fields ranging from probabilistic mechanics and earthquake engineering to catastrophe bond pricing and engineering ethics, leveraging tools such as stochastic differential equations, Bayesian networks, and physics-informed machine learning. Awards & Honors Alfredo Ang Award on Risk Analysis and Management of Civil Infrastructure (ASCE, 2021) Best Paper Awards in ASCE Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment (2019) and Geotechnical Research (2018 Telford Premium Prize) Fellowships and named professorships: Alfredo H. Ang Family Professor, Excellence Faculty Scholar, and courtesy or honorary professorships at Tsinghua, IIT Guwahati, Tongji, Jianghan, and Loughborough universities. Research Leadership & Funding Gardoni has secured over $58 million in research funding from NSF, DHS, NIST, USAID, Qatar National Research Fund, and other agencies. He directs the MAE Center—formerly an NSF Engineering Research Center—focused on multi-hazard engineering approaches, and is Editor-in-Chief of Reliability Engineering & System Safety (Elsevier, IF 9.4). He founded and formerly led the journal Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure (Taylor & Francis) and serves on editorial boards of nine additional journals. Advising & Mentorship He has graduated 27 PhD and 35 Master’s students, many of whom now hold faculty positions worldwide. His group maintains an active pipeline of doctoral and post-doctoral researchers working on resilience analytics, infrastructure monitoring, and risk-informed decision-making. Laboratories & Collaborations He leads the MAE Center and is affiliated with the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI) and the Biomedical and Translational Sciences group. International collaborations span the UK (Loughborough), India (IIT Guwahati), and China (Tsinghua, Tongji, Jianghan), fostering cross-disciplinary research in reliability and resilience engineering.
Amir AghaKouchak is a Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Irvine (UCI). He directs the Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing (CHRS) and focuses on interdisciplinary research at the intersection of hydrology, climatology, statistics, and remote sensing. B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Civil Engineering (Water Resources), K.N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran (2001, 2005) Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Stuttgart, Germany (2010) His research aims to leverage satellite data and ground observations to advance modeling of hydrologic extremes (droughts, floods, landslides) and develop decision-support systems for water resources management. Key areas include climate change impacts , stochastic modeling , and the water-energy nexus . Recent publications highlight his work on multi-hazard analysis, groundwater decline, wildfire resilience, and climate projections. Tools like MhAST and MvCAT demonstrate his methodological contributions to copula-based and multi-hazard modeling.
Arvind Narayanan is a Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University and Director of the Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP). His research focuses on the societal impact of digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, with emphasis on policy implications, fairness, and privacy. He leads interdisciplinary efforts connecting technical research with real-world policy challenges. Dr. Narayanan earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin in 2009. His academic journey has established him as a leading voice in the critical examination of AI systems and their societal consequences. Narayanan's research spans multiple domains where technology intersects with society. His work on AI includes critical analysis of AI capabilities versus marketing claims (AI Snake Oil), fairness in machine learning systems, and the reproducibility crisis in ML-based science. In privacy research, he led the Princeton Web Transparency and Accountability Project which uncovered how companies track users online, developing the OpenWPM tool used in over 100 studies. His early work demonstrated fundamental limits of de-identification techniques and how machine learning reflects cultural stereotypes. His recent publications reveal a consistent focus on demystifying AI capabilities while identifying genuine opportunities and risks. Narayanan's work bridges technical computer science with policy relevance, emphasizing the importance of evidence-based approaches to AI governance. His research increasingly addresses the limitations of prediction systems, the challenges of evaluating AI systems, and the need for transparency in foundation models. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) Privacy Enhancing Technologies Award (twice recipient) Privacy Papers for Policy Makers Award (three-time recipient) TIME's inaugural list of 100 most influential people in AI 2025 Graduate Mentoring Award Narayanan is recognized as an exceptional mentor, receiving Princeton's Graduate Mentoring Award in 2025. His policy engagement extends to congressional testimony, advisory roles, and frequent media commentary. He has secured significant research funding supporting his work on web transparency, AI policy, and cryptocurrency analysis. His research group has produced influential tools like OpenWPM for web privacy studies and contributed to foundational textbooks on cryptocurrencies and fairness in machine learning. At Princeton, Narayanan leads the Web Transparency and Accountability Project, a major research initiative that has conducted large-scale measurements of online tracking across millions of websites. He also co-founded and directs the CITP's AI Policy Initiative, which brings together researchers from multiple disciplines to address pressing AI governance questions. His work frequently involves collaboration with social scientists, legal scholars, and policymakers to develop practical solutions to technology governance challenges.
Dr. Foong Shaohui is an Associate Professor and Associate Head at the Engineering Product Development (EPD) pillar of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), with prior experience as a Visiting Assistant Professor at MIT's Mechanical Engineering department (2011). He leads the Aerial Innovation Research (AIR) Laboratory @ SUTD and actively collaborates with Singapore's Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and medical institutions like National University Hospital (NUH) and Changi General Hospital (CGH). PhD, MS, and BS in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology (2005-2010) Research Interests span multiple domains: Robotics & UAVs : Nature-inspired aerial craft design (Project MONOCO), hybrid flight dynamics, and transformable rotorcraft Medical Device Innovation : Magnetic localization systems for nasogastric tubes and ventriculostomy procedures Engineering Education : Design-Centric pedagogy and pre-university Aerial Craft Workshops Autonomous Systems : Deep tunnel sewer inspection drones (NRF/PUB funded) and soft robotics Scientific Contributions include patented magnetic localization technologies (licensed to Medergo Pte. Ltd.), over 20 peer-reviewed publications, and 5 granted patents. His work bridges aerospace engineering with biomedical applications through innovative mechatronic solutions. Best Application Paper Award at SCIS & ISIS (2014) Research Grants include projects funded by Singapore's National Research Foundation (NRF), Public Utilities Board (PUB), and National University Hospital partnerships. He mentors PhD/Master's students through interdisciplinary research in aerial robotics and medical device development.
Miyuki Hino is an Assistant Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Environment, Ecology, and Energy Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She holds a Ph.D. in Environment and Resources from Stanford University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Yale University. Her research focuses on climate hazards, governance, and public policy , with emphasis on equitable adaptation to climate change. Key areas include sea level rise impacts, flood risk on property markets, and managed retreat strategies. She has conducted extensive work on floodplain development policies, household relocation programs, and community resilience frameworks. Dr. Hino's interdisciplinary approach integrates environmental science, urban planning, and social equity . She collaborates with academic and municipal partners, such as the Center for Urban and Regional Studies and Annapolis, MD local governments, to develop actionable solutions for climate adaptation. Her work bridges technical analyses (e.g., sensor networks, machine learning) with policy design to ensure both effectiveness and justice in climate responses. Recent projects emphasize preventing future 'trapped households' by analyzing zoning policies and market dynamics that drive risky development. She advocates for climate-smart growth strategies to balance economic needs with environmental safety, while addressing disparities in vulnerability across communities. Her research has been featured in Science Advances , Nature Climate Change , and interdisciplinary journals. She actively engages with policymakers to translate findings into practical measures, such as equitable buyout programs and floodplain management reforms.
Witold J. Henisz serves as Vice Dean and Faculty Director of the Impact, Value, and Sustainable Business Initiative at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, holding the Deloitte & Touche Professorship in Management. His research centers on political and social risk identification, ESG impact materiality, and corporate diplomacy frameworks that transform stakeholder relationships into strategic assets. His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Business and Public Policy from UC Berkeley's Haas School and an M.A. in International Relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS. Henisz has served as Departmental Editor at Journal of International Business Studies and Associate Editor at Strategic Management Journal , reflecting his scholarly influence. Research interests converge on geopolitical risk quantification, stakeholder engagement optimization, and sustainable business model innovation. His work demonstrates how political hazards materially impact firm valuation and how corporate diplomacy can mitigate conflict through strategic stakeholder alignment. Recent publications leverage massive media datasets (4+ billion articles) to model populism dynamics, indigenous land conflicts, and ESG-credit risk linkages. Award highlights include the Aspen Institute Ideas Worth Teaching Award (2020), Iron Prof recognition (2019), and Academy of International Business Fellowship. His geostrategy framework Geostrategy by Design (2024) provides executives with actionable methods for navigating geopolitical volatility. Aspen Institute Ideas Worth Teaching Award (2020) Iron Prof recognition (2019) Academy of International Business Fellow (2014-present) Multiple Wharton Excellence in Teaching Awards (2006-2021) Industry Studies Association Best Paper Award (2019) Henisz consults through PRIMA LLC for multinational firms (Rio Tinto, Shell), financial institutions (Eaton Vance, World Bank), and NGOs. His executive education programs train leaders in ESG integration and geopolitical risk management, while his KEROVKA crisis simulation develops real-time strategic response capabilities. Media frequently cites his expertise on ESG controversies, with 50+ major publications featuring his analysis since 2022 including Financial Times , Bloomberg , and Wall Street Journal .
Mani Golparvar Fard is a Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, holding joint appointments in the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He also contributes to the Technology Entrepreneur Center. His research focuses on integrating artificial intelligence, computer vision, and data analytics to advance construction management, infrastructure monitoring, and automation. Key areas include BIM integration, reality capture systems, and deep learning-based progress tracking. His work emphasizes automated construction progress monitoring through semantic segmentation, vision-language models, and UAV-based data collection. He has pioneered methods like Scan2BIM-NET for converting point clouds into BIM models and developed frameworks for worker safety analysis using machine learning. Awards: Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize (2018) Daniel W. Halpin Award for Scholarship (2016) Advising & Grants: While no specific grant details are provided, his research is supported by collaborations with industry and government initiatives, such as the Japanese national bridge inspection project. He advises a team focused on AI-driven construction solutions and maintains active partnerships with engineering firms. Labs & Teams: Leads research groups in vision-based construction analytics, automated scheduling systems, and BIM integration. His work is disseminated through platforms like the VisualSiteDiary system and the InstaDam open-source platform for structural damage analysis.
