ARC DECRA Fellow (Researcher), Western Sydney University I'm a cognitive psychologist interested in the diverse connections between music and language, and how we can use these connections to uncover underlying cognitive processes in the brain. I'm particularly interested in the intriguing similarities between music and language for hierarchical structure building, rhythm, prediction, and memory, and what these similarities (and differences) can tell us about the brain. I am currently an ARC DECRA Research Fellow at The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney Australia.
Associate Professor of Political Science, Dalhousie University Anders Hayden is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Dalhousie University, with an emphasis on environmental politics. He is particularly interested in the concept of sufficiency and related post-growth ideas and initiatives, including sustainable consumption, work-time reduction, “beyond GDP” measurement, and the “wellbeing economy.” He is the author of When Green Growth Is Not Enough (2014) and Sharing the Work, Sparing the Planet: Work Time, Consumption & Ecology (1999). He is the co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of Global Sustainability Governance (2020) and Towards Sustainable Well-Being: Moving beyond GDP in Canada and the World (2022).
Research Associate, York St John University I'm a Research Associate at York St John University working on an AHRC funded project called StoryArcs run by the University of Bath Spa, which is looking into the deep structures of Story. I'm attached to the writing development agency for the north of England, New Writing North's A Writing Chance project, which aims to open the writing industries to new and aspiring writers from working-class, lower-income and other underrepresented backgrounds. Prior to this, I completed my PhD in Sydney in 2021, during which time I researched and wrote a novel as part of my doctoral thesis. Before that, I was an Honorary Lecturer in Journalism at the University of Hong Kong for seven years. And, before that, I worked as a radio producer for BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service in London for 12 years. My undergraduate degree is an MA (Hons) French from the University of Edinburgh, gained in 1995.
Professor, School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen I am a microbiologist with specific research interests in the bacteria that inhabit the gastrointestinal tracts of mammalian hosts. I studied for my PhD at the Rowett Institute and at the University of Dundee, specialising in gut microbiology and the role that intestinal bacteria play in the breakdown of dietary fibre. Following my PhD I spent eight years at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, a leading centre for genomic research, before moving to the University of Aberdeen where I began as a Senior Lecturer and am now a Professor (Personal Chair). My current research uses a combination of state of the art anaerobic culturing and DNA sequencing techniques to better characterise gut microbial communities and shed light on the roles these microbes play both in health and in disease.
Associate Professor of Political Science, Kennesaw State University Originally trained as a social psychologist, my research broadly focuses on the contextual and psychological mechanisms that influence electoral behavior, citizen engagement, and political communication. Currently, my scholarly works investigate how disability status affects political attitudes and outcomes, with publications in Politics, Groups, and Identities, Policy Studies, and the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law.
