Hanjie Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Rice University, affiliated with the Ken Kennedy Institute. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and a Master's from the University of Science and Technology of China. Her research focuses on Natural Language Processing, Interpretable Machine Learning, and Trustworthy AI, emphasizing model explainability, alignment with human needs, and applications in healthcare, sports, and medicine. She has advised numerous students and led initiatives in AI ethics and education. Education: Ph.D. (Computer Science, UVA 2023), M.Sc. (USTC 2018), B.Sc. (Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2015). Awards include the Outstanding Doctoral Student Award (UVA 2023) and John A. Stankovic Research Award (UVA 2023). She has organized workshops like BlackboxNLP and served on program committees for ACL, NAACL, and EMNLP. Her recent work includes developing benchmarks like SPORTU for multimodal LLMs, evaluating medical question-answering systems, and advancing methods for robust rationale evaluation (RORA). She teaches courses on Natural Language Processing and Trustworthy NLP, emphasizing pedagogical innovation recognized by teaching awards at UVA. Research collaborations include internships at Microsoft Research, IBM, and the Allen Institute for AI. She mentors students in SURF programs and advocates for diversity in tech, serving as a mentor in UVA's CSGSG Council.
James Wicks serves as Professor of Media & Film Studies and Assistant Dean at Point Loma Nazarene University's School of Humanities, Arts, and Public Engagement. Teaching since 2009 and joining the Department of Communication Studies in 2021, he holds a Ph.D. in Film Studies with emphasis on Chinese Cinema from UC San Diego (2010). His academic career bridges administrative leadership with specialized instruction in narrative film, documentary production, and screenwriting. Dr. Wicks' educational background includes: Ph.D. in Film Studies (Cultural Studies section), University of California, San Diego, 2010 M.A., Oregon State University B.A., Oregon State University His research centers on Taiwan cinema history from the 1950s-1980s, exploring transnational representations, philosophical dimensions of martial arts films, and cultural identity. Additional interests include street culture in Hollywood, surf cinema history, and gender negotiation in early Taiwanese films. His methodological approach combines historical analysis with cultural studies frameworks. Publication trends reveal sustained focus on Taiwan cinema scholarship since 2010, with significant expansion into interdisciplinary urban studies (2019-2020) and contemporary director analyses (Ang Lee, Hou Hsiao-Hsien). His 2022-2016 output demonstrates consistent engagement with Cold War-era cinematic narratives while incorporating newer interests in ecological representation and punk cinema aesthetics. Notable recognitions include: Excellence in Teaching Award (PLNU, 2019) Two PLNU RASP grants for film preservation (2018-2019) Taiwan Ministry of Education research grant (2011) Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation fellowship (2009-2010) As an active researcher, Dr. Wicks has secured substantial external funding for film preservation projects and maintains strong community engagement through the San Diego Asian Film Festival. His administrative role as Assistant Dean complements his scholarly work in media studies curriculum development. Through co-organization of the San Diego Asian Film Festival's Taiwan Showcase (2012) and UCSD Taiwan Film Festival (2009), he has built collaborative networks across academic and cultural institutions. His ongoing film reel preservation project demonstrates commitment to safeguarding historical cinematic materials.
Professor Holly Thorpe is a Professor of Sociology in Te Huataki Waiora / School of Health at the University of Waikato, specializing in Sport and Human Movement. She serves as Associate Dean Research in the Division of Health PVC Office and is an internationally recognized sociologist of sport, physical culture and gender whose work has earned prestigious fellowships and awards including Fulbright, Leverhulme, and Royal Society honors. Her educational background includes a PhD from the University of Waikato and Papa Reo Level 1 certification from Te Wananga o Aotearoa, reflecting both academic excellence and cultural engagement with Māori language and knowledge systems. Professor Thorpe's research centers on equity and inclusion in sporting cultures, with particular attention to women's health and wellbeing, sport and gender, and the impact of social media on athletic experiences. She employs critical and feminist theoretical frameworks with expertise in qualitative methods to examine how sport, physical activity, and health intersect in rapidly changing social landscapes. Her work spans gender studies, feminist methodologies, sports science, sociology of health, and digital media studies within sporting contexts, with a strong commitment to community-engaged research. Her extensive publication record reveals consistent thematic focus on contemporary issues including menstruation in sport, digital technologies and athlete experiences, pandemic impacts on wellbeing, and the gendered dimensions of mega-sport events. Her work frequently employs intersectional analysis and collaborates across disciplines to address complex questions about embodiment, identity, and social change in sporting cultures, particularly as they relate to women and marginalized communities. Professor Thorpe's significant scholarly recognition includes: Royal Society Early Career Research Excellence Award for Social Sciences (2018) Fellow of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (2018) Royal Society James Cook Fellowship for a two-year project focused on women's wellbeing through and beyond pandemic (2021) She actively supervises students and has secured substantial research funding including the Te Punaha Matatini CORE Research Institute project 'Youth Wellbeing in Uncertain Times: The Voices of Rangatahi from Flood-Effected Tairāwhiti Gisborne' (2023-2025). Professor Thorpe collaborates extensively with international and national sports organizations including the International Olympic Committee, High Performance New Zealand, Sport New Zealand, Skateistan, and Voice in Sport to ensure her research has real-world impact on policy and practice. She serves as Series co-editor for 'New Femininities in Digital, Physical and Sporting Cultures' and maintains active media engagement through The Conversation and other outlets. Professor Thorpe leads several significant research initiatives including 'Reimagining Fields of Play' (2023) and co-organized the 'Gender, Health and Wellbeing Symposium' (2022), demonstrating her commitment to creating spaces for critical dialogue about sport, gender, and health while advancing culturally responsive methodologies that center Indigenous and diverse perspectives.
Florian 'Floyd' Mueller is a Professor of Future Interfaces at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, where he directs the award-winning Exertion Games Lab within the Department of Human-Centred Computing (ranked among the top 20 HCI departments globally). Previously, he held positions at RMIT University, Stanford, University of Melbourne, Microsoft Research, MIT Media Lab, Fuji-Xerox Palo Alto Labs, Xerox Parc, and Australia's CSIRO. Mueller is a member of the prestigious ACM SIGCHI Academy, an honorary group recognizing leaders who have made substantial contributions to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Professor Mueller's research focuses on the intersections between technology, the human body, and play. He originated the concept of "Exertion Interface," arguing that we should not just design "easy-to-use" interactions when "hard-to-use" interactions can also be beneficial. His work spans movement-based interactions, whole-body interfaces, uncomfortable interactions, somaesthetics, and exertion games. Mueller's research methodology often employs research through design, design ethnography, and autoethnography to explore these novel interaction paradigms, incorporating mixed-reality, augmented reality, virtual reality, electronic muscle stimulation, biosensors, wearables, and drones. His recent publications demonstrate a continued focus on bodily interactions and human-computer integration, with particular emphasis on emerging subfields like WaterHCI and SportsHCI, brain-computer interfaces, and gustosonic (taste and sound) experiences. Mueller's work has evolved from foundational exertion game concepts to more sophisticated explorations of human-computer integration where technology becomes seamlessly woven into the fabric of human experience. Professor Mueller's contributions have been widely recognized with numerous awards including: Inaugural honouree of the Australian Design Centre's Design Honours Tall Poppy award for "intellectual and scientific excellence" 10 "Best Paper Honorable Mentions" (top 5%) from premier HCI conferences 2 "Best Paper" awards (top 1%) at CHI PLAY and CHI Shortlisted for the European Innovation Games Award (alongside Nintendo's WiiFit) Nokia Mindtrek Ubimedia Award Mueller has successfully secured some of Australia's largest and most competitive research grants, achieving a remarkable 14% success rate on Australian Research Council Discovery Project applications. He has served as General co-Chair for CHI PLAY'18 and CHI'20, becoming the first Australian-based researcher to spearhead HCI's highest-ranked publication outlet, and is currently General co-Chair for CHI'24. He is Associate Editor for tier A journals including Elsevier's IJHCS (International Journal of Human-Computer Studies) and ACM's IMWUT (Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies). As director of the Exertion Games Lab, Mueller leads a research team whose innovations have been experienced by over 20,000 users across 3 continents and featured on the BBC, ABC, Discovery Science Channel, and Wired magazine. The lab has produced groundbreaking work in bodily interfaces, co-founding the CHI PLAY conference series and establishing new research directions in SportsHCI and WaterHCI through recent "Grand Challenges" papers. Mueller's lab continues to push boundaries with projects exploring brain-to-brain interfaces, lucid dreaming induction, and novel gustosonic experiences.
Paige West is The Claire Tow Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College and a faculty member at Columbia University. She directs Columbia's Climate School Transdisciplinary Research Lab. Her work focuses on environmental conservation, Indigenous sovereignty in Melanesia, and climate change adaptation. She earned her Ph.D. in cultural and environmental anthropology from Rutgers University, with earlier degrees from Wofford College and the University of Georgia. Dr. West has conducted over 100 months of fieldwork in Papua New Guinea, collaborating with Indigenous communities to revitalize socio-ecological systems. Her research bridges anthropology with political ecology, examining linkages between environmental policy and international development. Key interests include Indigenous knowledge systems, conservation inequities, and commodity cultures. Director: Columbia University Climate School Transdisciplinary Research Lab Co-founder: PNG Institute of Biological Research and Roviana Solwara Skul Anthropological Director: Ailan Awareness NGO Award-winning author of three books, she founded the journal *Environment and Society: Advances in Research*. Her 2016 book *Dispossession and the Environment* won the Columbia University Distinguished Book Award. Current projects include a Guggenheim-funded book on climate change and kinship. Notable recognitions include Guggenheim Fellowship, Phi Beta Kappa Lecturer (2017-2018), and designation as one of 2021's 50 people changing the world by The Explorers Club. Her work integrates academic research with applied conservation initiatives, emphasizing Indigenous-led methodologies.
Harald C. Gall is a Professor of Software Engineering and Dean of the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Informatics at the University of Zurich (UZH). He leads the Software Evolution and Architecture Lab, focusing on software evolution analysis, mining software repositories, and cloud-based software engineering. His research emphasizes improving software development productivity through data-driven insights. He has held visiting positions at Microsoft Research and the University of Washington. Education: PhD (Dr. techn.) and Master's (Dipl.-Ing.) in Informatics from TU Vienna Research Interests: Software evolution, mining software archives, cloud-based tools, developer productivity, and empirical software engineering. Notable contributions include the Evolizer , ChangeDistiller , and SOFAS systems. Key Contributions: Established the Mining Software Repositories (MSR) research area, program chair for ICSE 2011 and ESEC/FSE 2005, associate editor of leading journals like Empirical Software Engineering and IEEE Software. Awards: Most Influential Paper Award, Test of Time Award, and multiple Best Paper Awards. Recognized for contributions to SE research methodologies and tool development. Professional Activities: ACM SIGSOFT awards chair, board member of Informatics Europe, and executive committee member of CHOOSE (Swiss SIG for OO Systems). Labs/Teams: Director of the Software Evolution and Architecture Lab at UZH, leading projects like SURF-MobileAppsData (SNSF-funded) and DevCloud (Hasler Foundation).
Mike Climstein serves as a Lecturer in Human Sciences within the Faculty of Health at Southern Cross University (SCU), where he coordinates the Master of Clinical Exercise Physiology program and acts as Deputy Academic Integrity Officer. He concurrently holds an adjunct Associate Professor position in the Physical Activity, Lifestyle, Ageing and Well-being Research Group at the University of Sydney and directs SCU's Aquatic Based Research initiative. His academic credentials include a PhD in Exercise Science & Human Performance from Oregon State University (1990), an MSc in Exercise Science from Utah State University (1986), and a BSc in Biology from Utah State University (1982). Climstein's research spans clinical exercise physiology with emphases on master athletes' health, chronic disease rehabilitation, sports injury surveillance (particularly surfing), cardiac rehabilitation, smart textile monitoring, and osteoporosis. His work integrates technology-driven health solutions with population-specific exercise interventions, notably for aging populations and athletes. Analysis of his recent publications reveals three dominant trends: 1) AI applications in dermatological diagnostics (e.g., melanoma detection systems), 2) physiological adaptations in aging populations through martial arts and aquatic exercise, and 3) epidemiological studies of chronic conditions in master athletes and occupational groups. These reflect his dual focus on technological innovation and practical health interventions. His scientific recognition includes: Fellowship by Sports Medicine Australia (FASMF) Fellowship by American College of Sports Medicine (FACSM) Fellowship by Exercise and Sports Science Australia (FAAESS) Climstein actively supervises 4 PhD and 2 Master's students while co-supervising 6 Doctor of Physiotherapy candidates. His research program is supported by 38 grants totaling over $7.8 million AUD, including studies on aquatic rehabilitation and smart textile monitoring. As Director of Aquatic Based Research, he leads interdisciplinary teams investigating water-based exercise interventions for chronic disease management, with ongoing projects in cardiac rehabilitation and osteoporosis prevention.
R. Michael Alvarez , Flintridge Foundation Professor of Political and Computational Social Science at Caltech, is a leading scholar in election technology, political methodology, and machine learning applications in social science. Affiliated with the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project , the Social and Decision Neuroscience Program , and the Resnick Sustainability Institute , his work bridges technology and democracy. Education: B.A. from Carleton College, Ph.D. from Duke University Academic Career: Caltech faculty since 1992 His research spans: Election Integrity : Monitoring election security, fraud detection, and ballot systems Computational Social Science : Applying machine learning to voter behavior and policy analysis Climate Policy : Examining public attitudes and behavioral interventions for sustainability Online Behavior : Analyzing toxicity in gaming and social media dynamics Key article trends show focus on election forensics (2025 Nature Climate Change study), game toxicity analysis (2025 CHI Play paper), and LLM applications in social science. His students include Jacob Morrier, Mitchell Linegar, and teams of postdocs and undergraduates in Caltech's SURF program. Scientific recognition includes: Google Cloud Research Innovators Class of 2022 Co-editor of multiple academic series including Cambridge Elements in Quantitative Methods
Oskar Hallatschek is an Associate Professor and McAdams Chair in the Department of Physics and Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on biological physics and evolutionary dynamics, particularly how collective patterns emerge from heterogeneous microbial populations. He leads the Hallatschek Lab, which maintains collaborations with institutions like the University of Leipzig. Research Emphasis: Microbial systems, population genetics, non-equilibrium statistical physics, evolutionary adaptation, and mechanical interactions in cellular populations. Publications span journals like Nature , PNAS , and Science , with recent work on allele surfing, jamming in microbial colonies, and long-range dispersal effects. Grants: Supported by NIH and NSF, as indicated by institutional logos in the lab web presence.
Professor Murray Phillips is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences , University of Queensland , specializing in the historical and contemporary dimensions of sport . He has held academic roles at the Universities of Canberra, South Australia, and Queensland, joining UQ in 2000. His research spans sport history , Indigenous sport , digital history , and socio-cultural analyses of sport . Education: PhD in Sport History (University of Queensland, 1992) Key Research Areas: Sport and war, gender in sport, rugby league history, sport coaching, Indigenous public history, and sport-related brain trauma. His recent work focuses on brain trauma in sport , including editing the 2025 book Head in the Game , and analyzing Indigenous sport history in Cherbourg and Torres Strait. He has secured funding from the Australian Research Council, Australian Sports Commission, and other institutions. Professor Phillips is also a prominent editor and reviewer for journals like Sporting Traditions and Journal of Football Studies .
Jose Marin Jarrin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Fisheries Biology at Cal Poly Humboldt's College of Natural Resources. Originally from Ecuador, he holds a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Guayaquil (2002), an M.Sc. in Marine Biology from the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (2007), and a Ph.D. in Fisheries Science from Oregon State University (2012). Before joining Cal Poly Humboldt, he served as a Senior Fisheries Ecologist at the Charles Darwin Foundation (2016-2018), a Prometeo Research Fellow at Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral in Ecuador (2015-2016), and completed postdoctoral research at Central Michigan University (2013-2015). Dr. Marin Jarrin's research focuses on high-use and data-limited fisheries species, with particular emphasis on providing vital early and adult life history data for fishes and crustaceans. His work examines impacts from local fishery pressures and climate change, primarily through the lens of tropical Eastern Pacific ecosystems, especially the Galapagos Islands, and temperate systems along the California coast. He leads the Marine Fisheries Ecology Lab and has developed innovative approaches to studying sandy beach surf zones as critical habitats for juvenile fish species. His research spans multiple methodologies including otolith analysis, population dynamics, trophic ecology, and collaborative fisheries management approaches. Analysis of Dr. Marin Jarrin's recent publications reveals a strong focus on Galapagos Island fisheries, with significant attention to species life history parameters, impacts of climate variability, and marine protected area effectiveness. His work bridges temperate and tropical systems, connecting research in Northern California with Ecuadorian and Galapagos waters. A notable trend is the increasing emphasis on community-based and collaborative research approaches, particularly with tribal communities along the North Coast of California and artisanal fishers in Ecuador. His publications demonstrate expertise in both field ecology and advanced analytical techniques for fisheries assessment. Dr. Marin Jarrin actively mentors graduate students, with several recent theses focusing on surf zone ecology, fisheries management, and species life history. His teaching portfolio includes courses in Ichthyology, Fisheries Science Communication, US and World Fisheries, Advanced Ichthyology (with specialization in Sharks and Rays), Marine Fish Ecology, and Techniques in Fisheries Biology. His research program has secured funding for projects including the Sandy Beach Surf Zone MPA project and the Northern California Tribal Fisheries Collaborative, demonstrating his commitment to applied fisheries science that directly informs management decisions.
Benjamin Goldstein is an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, where he leads the Sustainable Urban-Rural Futures (SURF) lab. His work bridges quantitative methods (life cycle assessment, input-output analysis, geospatial data science) with social science theory to explore urban sustainability, distributive justice, and global supply chains. His research spans urban food systems, agri-commodities, residual resource engineering, and energy systems. Recent trends in his publications focus on urban agriculture's environmental trade-offs, supply chain transparency, and carbon-negative construction materials. He applies data science to map sustainability challenges across urban and rural landscapes while critically analyzing power asymmetries in global industries like beef production and cannabis cultivation. His work emphasizes actionable tools for policymakers and corporations to address environmental justice and resource efficiency.
Dr. Anne Koelewijn is an Assistant Professor leading the Biomechanical Motion Analysis and Creation (BioMAC) group at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) since 2019. Her research bridges biomechanics, computational modeling, and wearable technology to analyze human movement. She holds a Junior Professorship in Computational Movement Science within the Department of Electrical-Electronic-Communication Engineering. Her educational background includes a Doctor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Cleveland State University (focus: prosthesis design and gait simulations), an MSc in Mechanical Engineering (BioMechanical Design specialization), and a BSc in Aerospace Engineering , both from Delft University of Technology. She completed postdoctoral work at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne on neuromuscular control. Research interests center on human movement optimization , neuromuscular control mechanisms , and in-the-wild movement analysis . Her work integrates musculoskeletal modeling, optimal control theory, and machine learning to study gait adaptations, exoskeleton design, and pathological movement patterns (e.g., Parkinson’s disease). Publications emphasize predictive simulations , wearable sensor technology , and biomechanical energy optimization , with recent advances in radar-based motion capture, inertial pose estimation, and digital twin applications for medical engineering. Promising Scientist Award , International Society of Biomechanics (2023) Best Paper Award , 5th International Symposium on Wearable Robotics (2020) She leads the BioMAC research group, focusing on computational methods for movement science and collaborating internationally on projects involving exoskeletons, injury prevention, and neuroprosthetics.
Abolfazl Hashemi is an Assistant Professor in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University, directing the MINDS Group. He holds a B.Sc. from Sharif University of Technology (2014), and M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees from The University of Texas at Austin (2016, 2020). His research focuses on Large-Scale Optimization for AI/ML, Learning at the Edge, and Decision-Making under Uncertainty, with applications in Federated Learning, Medical Image Analysis, and Cyber-Physical Systems. He leads the MINDS Group and collaborates with EnCORE and ICON centers. Key research areas include optimizing algorithms for machine learning, robustness in distributed systems, and adversarial learning. He has developed algorithms with mathematical guarantees for efficient deployment under resource constraints. Teaching includes Optimization for Deep Learning (graduate) and undergraduate courses like ECE 20001. He advises the Purdue RoboMaster robotics team and has mentored students through programs like SURF and Summer Stay Scholars. Outreach activities include fostering diversity through robotics competitions and research fellowships. His work bridges theoretical optimization with practical AI applications, emphasizing equitable and robust solutions in federated and decentralized learning.
Courtney McGowan is a Lecturer in Human Sciences at the Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University. She holds a PhD from the University of Canberra, along with a BCoachingSci and BSportSci(Hons) from the same institution. Her research focuses on enhancing sports performance through competition day preparation strategies, including warm-ups, priming, and thermoregulation. She also explores environmental physiology, elite athlete development, and cognitive strategies to improve athletic performance. Education: PhD in Exercise Science (University of Canberra) BSportSci(Hons) (University of Canberra) BCoachingSci (University of Canberra) Research Interests: Courtney’s work emphasizes competition day strategies (e.g., warm-up optimization, passive heat maintenance), environmental physiology, and the physical preparation of elite athletes. She integrates practical applications for enhancing athlete performance in real-world settings. Teaching & Supervision: She serves as the unit assessor for the course 'Fundamentals of Strength and Conditioning' and supervises students in sports science, physical activity engagement, and health-related research. Community Engagement: Courtney collaborates with organizations like Surfing Tasmania and Cycling Australia to promote sports science and community engagement in athletics. She is an accredited Sports and Exercise Scientist, Strength and Conditioning Coach, and Cycling Coach. Grants & Projects: Her involvement includes the Cornerstone Youth Services Nutrition and Physical Activity Capacity Building Project (2021), focusing on improving health outcomes for young people. She also evaluates innovative technologies like power meters in cycling performance tracking. Labs & Teams: While no specific lab is explicitly mentioned, her affiliations include the broader Faculty of Health’s research networks and Southern Cross University’s infrastructure, including the Environmental Analysis Laboratory and Analytical Research Laboratory.
