Visiting music lecturer, University of Winchester I am a highly creative, passionate and hard-working musician with over twenty years of experience writing, recording, and performing music. I currently work for Rocksteady Music School — the UK’s largest and fastest-growing rock school — in the unique role of ‘Arranger’. In 2019, the Head of Creative Writing at the University of Winchester invited me to guest lecture on my own songwriting process. Following the success of this initial lecture, I have continued to teach at The University Of Winchester every year as a Visiting Lecturer, and have been co-running the module ‘Composing Song Lyrics’ with module leader Glenn Fosbraey for the last three years. I am also a proud trustee for the music therapy charity George’s Rockstars. In 2023, I wrote and produced a Christmas single (George's Rockstars - Let's Make Christmas Loud!) for the charity, which raised over £3,000 in sales and local performances. In December 2023, the song was announced as the South Coast Number One Single by Voice FM. I have recently finished work on my first book Exploring Personality and Performance in The Beatles: Becoming the Fab Four. I have co-authored this book with Glenn Fosbraey, and it is due to be published by Cambridge Scholars in 2024. I have been the sole songwriter and frontman in numerous bands, and have gained a wealth of experience playing my songs in venues up and down the U.K. I am proficient on guitar, bass, keys and drums, and am a strong singer. I currently write and perform my own solo music under the guise of Teenage Waitress. As part of this project, I have released two albums through the record label Colorama Records. My songs have been played frequently on BBC Radio, 6Music and Radio X. My music has also been featured in MOJO and Shindig magazines, and Tim Burgess awarded my 2020 album Love & Chemicals its own Tim’s Twitter Listening Party. I have been described as a “great young songwriter” by a musical hero of mine, Paul Weller, who has frequently invited me to his recording studio to create music and to open for his band on tour. I have also performed in various other tribute bands such as The Silver Beatles and Lasagna For One (a tribute to Flight Of The Conchords). I have had the pleasure of performing as a frontman in venues such as London’s Eventim Apollo, The Cavern Club, Plymouth Pavilions, and the main stage at Victorious Festival 2019. I am currently working on my second book, titled Ten Songs which focuses on my experiences and memories of both songwriting and performing.
Professor of Environmental Sciences, Central European University Diana Ürge-Vorsatz is a Professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy at the Central European University (CEU). She was elected as Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in July 2023. In the Sixth Assessment cycle she served as Vice-Chair of IPCC’s Working Group III. (Mitigation). She was a Coordinating Lead Author in both the Fourth and Fifth Assessment Reports (AR4 and AR5) of the IPCC. She is VicePresident of the Hungarian Scientific Panel on Climate Change. She holds a PhD from the University of California,Berkeley, and UCLA and worked in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She has worked on and directed many research projects for organisations including the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Global Environment Facility, UNEP, the World Energy Council, OECD, and the World Bank. She has been serving on the Governing and Advisory boards of several organizations and companies. She is regularly invited to high-level review panels, such as for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the EU’s Joint Research Centre, and several panels in the European Research Council.
PhD Candidate & Coordinator, Reducing Gender-based Violence Network | NHMRC and Fulbright grantee, La Trobe University Desireé LaGrappe, MSN/MPH, RN is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) PhD Scholar and Fulbright grantee at La Trobe University’s Judith Lumley Centre, School of Nursing and Midwifery. She is the Coordinator of La Trobe's Reducing Gender-based Violence Network (ReGEN) and a Sessional Lecturer. Her PhD research focuses on reproductive coercion and abuse, a form of gender-based violence describing controlling and abusive behaviors over contraception use, pregnancy, and abortion decisions. The project is a part of SPHERE, an NHMRC-funded Centre for Research Excellence to improve sexual and reproductive health services for women across Australia. Desireé is a public health nurse clinically accredited in sexual and reproductive health with 15 years’ experience in nursing and research within the U.S.A., Australia and select low- to middle-income countries. She is a recent Fulbright Public Policy Fellow having worked in Vietnam with the World Health Organization's Human Reproduction Programme Alliance for Research Capacity Strengthening in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Regional Hub for the Western-Pacific, Hanoi Medical University. Desireé has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Honors) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master of Nursing/ Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.
Associate professor, School of Management, RMIT University Dr. Darryn Snell is an Associate Professor in the School of Management and member of the Skills, Training and Industry Research Group at RMIT University, Australia. Darryn Snell has worked extensively on employment and skills development questions. He has conducted research in a range of industries including manufacturing, agri-foods, transport and logistics, cleantech and the electricity generation industry. Among the range of research topics he has examined are:occupational mobility and skills transferability, the reasons for non-completion among apprentices and trainees; skill needs and capabilities for the ‘green’ economy and the skills and training implications of an ageing workforce. He has recently completed major research projects for the National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Australian Research Council, the Department of Regional Australia, Local Government Arts and Sport, the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and the Gordon Institute.
Academic Portfolio Lead in Film & Television Production, University of Greenwich Trained at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in studio and film production, Deborah has enjoyed a varied career in different capacities in the Australian Film and TV Industry – from production to research to management, policy development, community cultural development and board governance. Her academic interests span production, theory and screenwriting. Deborah’s book Situation Comedy, Character and Psychoanalysis: On the Couch with Lucy, Basil and Kimmie was published by Bloomsbury Academic in 2018/9 and she has recently published a chapter on the ‘Defining the Beats in the TV Sitcom.’
Medical Student, University of Alberta I am a medical student at the University of Alberta focusing on refugee health and equitable healthcare access. I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology from the University of Calgary, where I developed a strong foundation in human movement sciences and sociology. Now in medical school, I aim to further expand my expertise in the healthcare field and incorporate my passion for community-oriented medicine and research in it. Professionally, I have gained significant experience working with a research team focused on refugee health. In this role, I have contributed as a research assistant and am currently working on publishing a first-author paper. Additionally, I have extensive experience with non-profit organizations, serving as a program facilitator to help refugees settle in Canada. These roles have allowed me to develop a deep understanding of both the research and practical aspects of healthcare, particularly in marginalized communities.
