PhD Researcher, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia Brendan Moore is a PhD researcher affiliated with the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia. His research focuses on the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and its political effects on European climate change policy. He holds an MSc in Nature, Society, and Environmental Policy from the University of Oxford and a BSc in Economics from the University of Florida.
Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology, University of Cambridge Barbara Sahakian's research is aimed at understanding the neural basis of cognitive, emotional and behavioural dysfunction in order to develop more effective pharmacological and psychological treatments. The focus of my lab is on early detection, differential diagnosis and proof of concept studies using cognitive enhancing drugs. She is President of the International Neuroethics Society.
Brandon is the communications lead at Vanbex Group, a cryptocurrency and blockchain marketing and communications firm based out of Vancouver, B.C. Brandon oversees creation and management of internal and external communications, which include press releases, articles and general inbound content. He writes the Vanbex Report, an analytical, at times, thought-provoking, look at cryptocurrency and blockchain related news and current events published on a weekly basis.
Assistant Professor of Marine Science, University of Texas at Austin Microorganisms are key mediators in nearly all of the planet’s elemental cycles. However, our understanding of the ecological roles of many groups of microbes has been hampered by low-resolution analytical approaches to studying the staggering diversity present in nature. As a result the tree of life is full of branches, which remain undiscovered, and those, which have only been identified in single-gene sequencing surveys (Baker and Dick, 2013). This is a fundamental gap in our understanding of biology. Filling in the genomic gaps in the tree of life will provide a rich context to understand the evolution of life on the planet and will provide us with a genetic understanding of how microbial communities drive biogeochemical cycles. Recent advances in DNA sequencing technologies and computational analyses have made it possible to reconstruct the genomes and transcriptomes of uncultured natural populations (Baker et al. 2010, 2012 and 2013). I have been involved in the development (Dick et al. 2009) and implementation of environmental omics since the beginning. I was involved in the first metaproteomic study of a microbial community (Ram et al. 2005) and have been using these approaches to track fine-scale evolutionary processes (Denef et al. 2010). Using these techniques I discovered deeply branching, novel groups of microbes (Archaea referred to as ARMAN) that are close to the predicted lower size limit of an organism (Baker et al. 2006). Obtaining complete genomes of the ARMAN phylum revealed that they have signatures of inter-species interactions and form connections to other species in nature (Baker et al. 2010). More recently, my laboratory has reconstructed the genomes of hundreds of widespread, uncultured sediment microbes to understand how ecological roles are partitioned in these microbial communities. Many of the genomes belong to phyla which have no previous genomic representation and discovered three new groups of bacteria they play important roles in the global carbon cycle (Baker et al. 2015; Lazar, et al, Environ Micro). One of the new branches for which we have obtained several genomes for is a deeply branched member (Thorarchaeota) (Seitz et al. 2016). These genomes have provided rich insights into the evolutionary histories of life on the planet and we have been able to map the flow of carbon and energy, a microbial food web, through sediments with unprecedented detail (Baker et al. 2015).
Professor in the History of International Relations, University of Cambridge Brendan Peter Simms is an Irish historian and Professor of the History of International Relations in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. Simms studied at Trinity College Dublin, where he was elected a scholar in history in 1986, before completing his doctoral dissertation, Anglo-Prussian relations, 1804-1806: The Napoleonic Threat, at Cambridge under the supervision of Professor Tim Blanning in 1993. A Fellow of Peterhouse, he lectures and leads seminars on international history since 1945. Simms's research focuses on the history of European foreign policy. He has written a variety of books and articles on this subject, including Unfinest Hour: Britain and the Destruction of Bosnia (2001) and Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire, 1714-1783 (2007). His overarching book, Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy, 1453 to the Present, was favorably reviewed by The Telegraph and the New Statesman. His latest book is Britain’s Europe: A Thousand Years of Conflict and Cooperation (2016). In addition to his academic work, he also serves as the president of The Henry Jackson Society, which advocates the view that supporting and promoting liberal democracy and liberal interventionism should be an integral part of Western foreign policy. He is President of the Project for Democratic Union, a Munich-based student-organised think tank.
Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan Dr. Volling studies the social and emotional development of infants and young children, and the role of family relationships in facilitating children’s developmental outcomes. She is particularly interested in the role of fathers, and the development of early sibling relationships. Her current research focuses on the transition period following the birth of a baby sibling and the older child’s adjustment after the birth (the Family Transitions Study). Dr. Volling is currently Director and Research Professor at the Center for Human Growth and Development and Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on the social and emotional development of infants, parent-infant interaction, and the role of family relationships in facilitating children’s developmental outcomes. She has conducted extensive research on the role of fathers for infant development and is one of the leading experts on the development of infant-father attachment relationships. She is the Principal Investigator of the Family Transitions Study (FTS), a longitudinal investigation of changes in the firstborn’s adjustment and family functioning after the birth of a second child, which has received funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Fetzer Foundation. She was the recipient of an Independent Scientist Award from NICHD and received a Faculty Recognition Award for outstanding research, teaching and service at the University of Michigan. She recently received the MICHR Distinguished Clinical and Translational Research Mentor Award. She is also a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. Dr. Volling received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State University.
