Assistant Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Before joining the UMBC Physics Department, Dr. Foord was a Porat Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University, working at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC). While at KIPAC, Dr. Foord worked with Chandra and XMM-Newton to measure the X-ray activity of interacting supermassive black holes. She also used the Hubble Space Telescope, Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and WISE Infrared telescope to learn more about how the environments of supermassive black holes impact their evolution and growth. Although there is now broad consensus that active galactic nuclei (AGN) play important roles in the evolution of their surroundings, the processes that trigger the various forms of AGN activity remain unclear. Major galaxy mergers have been predicted to induce AGN, however, whether or not galaxy-galaxy interactions trigger accretion onto SMBHs remains a topic of debate. Dr. Foord’s research focuses on observational flags of merger-driven SMBH growth, or dual AGN; they are signposts of ongoing galaxy formation and represent rare instances where the link between environment and black hole growth (or, lack thereof) can be probed. As an observational astronomer, Dr. Foord uses X-ray observations (Chandra, XMM-Newton, Swift) to observe accreting supermassive black holes, and connects their X-ray activity to the emission of their host galaxies (in optical and IR, with telescopes such as SDSS, HST, and WISE). Generally, Dr. Foord is interested in high-resolution X-ray astronomy and enjoys searching for evidence of extended X-ray emission around accreting supermassive black holes to better understand their evolution across cosmic time.
Program Lead, Business, Economy and Governance at the Institute for Sustainable Futures., University of Technology Sydney Alison Atherton is Program Lead of the Business, Economy and Governance Program at the Institute for Sustainable Futures. She has a background in social sciences, chartered accountancy audit and advisory, and over a decade of experience in sustainability research and consultancy. The consistent theme underpinning Alison's research is organisational and societal change for sustainability. Her research focuses on sustainable finance and corporate sustainability. Within these themes, evaluation, assessment, performance indicators and frameworks have been core elements of her work. Alison is particularly interested in understanding how businesses and the finance sector can support achievement of the Paris Climate Agreement and UN Sustainable Development Goals through responsible investment and corporate sustainability. Prior to joining ISF, Alison worked for KPMG on corporate sustainability and prior to that, she worked for the UK's leading sustainable development organisation Forum for the Future, developing tools for monetising organisations environmental and social impacts. Alison is a member of ASFI's Capability Reference Group and previously a member of the Taxonomy Advisory Group. She is Chair of Coast 4C, a social enterprise, a supplier of sustainable seaweed.
Research Coordinator and Junior Fellow, Outer Space Institute, University of British Columbia Andrew Falle is the Research Coordinator and a Junior Fellow at the Outer Space Institute (OSI), a interdisciplinary group of experts addressing emerging issues in space sustainability. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.
Associate Professor of Applied Economics, South Dakota State University Dr. Andrea Leschewski is an Associate Professor of Applied Economics at South Dakota State University. She received her Ph.D. in Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics from Michigan State University and a BA in Economics and Mathematics from Carthage College. Joining South Dakota State University in 2017, Dr. Leschewski teaches undergraduate and master’s level agricultural economics and marketing courses within the Ness School of Management and Economics. Dr. Leschewski’s research program focuses on improving food security and health among vulnerable, low-income populations in the United States. Her recent research evaluates the impact of food and nutrition assistance and nutrition education policies on measures of food hardship and public health.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Boston College I am a quantitative criminologist and study gun violence, victimization, and drugs. I got my PhD in Criminology from the University of Pennsylvania, where I also got my MA degree in Statistics. I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Computer Science at Boston College. I was born and grew up in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia. After high school, I moved to Saint Petersburg, Russia, where I got my BA degree in Sociology from Saint Petersburg State. Shortly after finishing my Master's in Sociology from the European University at Saint Petersburg, I joined the Institute for the Rule of Law there, where I studied how Russian police plant drugs, conducted the first Russian Crime Victimization Survey, and had a really good time.
