Visiting Fellow at the ANU Centre for European Studies, Australian National University Peter Tesch is a visiting fellow at the ANU Centre for European Studies. He retired from the Australian Public Service in August 2022 after more than 35 years in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Defence, where he was deputy secretary for strategy, policy, and industry. He was ambassador to the Russian Federation (2016-2019) and ambassador to Germany (2009-2013).
PhD Candidate in Creative Writing, University of Bristol Paul Chambers is an award-winning poet and a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Bristol. His creative practice centres on haiku poetry and his research focuses on poetic negative space as a vehicle for contemplative ecology. He also holds an MA in Screenwriting from the London Film School. Paul has contributed creative and critical material to the Times Literary Supplement, the Washington Post, the BBC, NHK World, Wales Arts Review, and the national Japanese newspapers, the Mainichi and the Asahi Shimbun. He is also a regular Arts critic for BBC Radio Wales. Paul's individual poems have won the Museum of Haiku Literature Award, the NHK Haiku Masters Award, and the Golden Triangle Haiku Award. His 2021 collection, The Dry Bones won the Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Distinguished Book Award – the most prestigious prize in the field of English-language haiku.
Ph.D. Candidate in Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering My journey began during my undergraduate years at the National University of Singapore, where I dabbled in the development of a skin prosthesis for amputees. This experience marked my first foray into the integration of engineered materials with biological components – a field that I would later become deeply immersed in, combining my love for science with a dedication to enhancing human lives. Driven by the desire to delve deeper into this fascinating crossroads of physical science, chemistry and biology, I embarked on my Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. In the nurturing environment of the Tian Research Group, I am not just on a career path – I am on a captivating journey. This journey is carefully sculpting me into a pioneering chemist, an innovative nanofabrication and electronic engineer. Moreover, it has honed unique talents within me, transforming me into a dedicated animal caretaker and a proficient specialist in animal surgeries. Over the past five years, my understanding and skills have deepened. I firmly believe that intertwining diverse knowledge fields is crucial for pushing scientific boundaries. To this end, I have become a steadfast practitioner, collaborating with exceptional professionals, ranging from medical doctors and theorists to artists and entrepreneurs, to advance the frontiers of translational research. Currently, I am working on optically and electronically mediated systems to address cardiac and neurodegenerative diseases. I look forward to many more milestones in this journey.
Professor of Japanese, University of Washington Paul S. Atkins is professor of Japanese in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Washington, Seattle. His specialization is the literature, drama, and culture of medieval Japan. Publications include the monographs Teika: The Life and Works of a Medieval Japanese Poet (University of Hawai’i Press, 2017) and Revealed Identity: The Noh Plays of Komparu Zenchiku (Center of Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, 2006) as well as peer-reviewed articles in journals including Monumenta Nipponica, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Journal of Asian Studies, Asian Theatre Journal, Journal of the American Oriental Society, and Japanese Language and Literature. Professor Atkins was awarded the Kyoko Selden Memorial Translation Prize by Cornell University in 2021 and the William F. Sibley Memorial Translation Prize by the University of Chicago in 2011. He holds a Ph.D. in Japanese from Stanford University, studied at the University of Tokyo as a Fulbright dissertation fellow, and has held visiting faculty or research appointments at Kyoto Prefectural University, Nanzan University, Hōsei University, and Keiō University.
Lecturer in narrative history, Sciences Po I write about war and political conflict. Sometimes I cheer up and write about philosophy and religion. I teach narrative history part-time at Sciences Po in France (though I'm on a prolonged break). I've written 14 books (see my website and Wikipedia page for details). Over recent years I've written another, "The Soul: A History of the Human Mind", to be published by Penguin Random House in 2024. It seeks to show that beliefs – religious, political and ideological – are the engines of history.
Associate Professor, School of Law, University of Bradford Dr Pedi Obani has worked in the higher education sector since 2012, collaborating extensively with academics in Nigeria, South Africa, Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, among others. She is experienced in leading both on-campus and distance learning programmes, as well as teaching a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules. Before starting her academic career, Pedi qualified as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and was active in private law practice. Pedi's research interests revolve around inclusive development and sustainability, including the interactions between law and climate change, governance of water and other natural resources, and gender issues. She graduated with a distinction from the University of Aberdeen, and is a former NUFFIC Netherlands Fellowship Professional fellow. She obtained her PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 2018. Following this, between 2019 and 2020, she worked with the United Nations University – Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) as a research fellow in environmental policy. In this role, she developed and led a workstream on knowledge for quality natural resource governance, with particular focus on climate change-related stranded assets risks in Africa. In the course of her academic career, Pedi has received several national and international research grants and awards, such as the Global Challenges Research Fund, Nigeria Tertiary Education Trust Fund, and the United Kingdom African Studies Association Mary Kingsley Zochonis Fellowship. She is an affiliate of the African Academy of Sciences. She also holds membership of professional associations, in addition to her active involvement in regional and international civil society networks. Her research and wider engagements have contributed to enhancing interdisciplinary collaborations and policy discourse among academics, technocrats, and practitioners, in connection with human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals on water and sanitation (SDG 6), energy security (SDG 7), climate action (SDG 13), gender equality (SDG 5) and quality education (SDG 4).
