Principal Academic, Eastern Institute of Technology Dr Pii-Tuulia Nikula is a Principal Academic at EIT in Napier, New Zealand. Her research spans across the fields of environmental sustainability, public policy, management, higher education and international education. Most of her current research focusses on sustainability issues as they relate to organisational climate mitigation and the use of education agents in international student recruitment. Pii-Tuulia's research has been published in international journals such as Studies in Higher Education, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management and Journal of Studies in International Education. Pii-Tuulia is a co-editor of two books: Sustainable Education Abroad: Striving for Change and Student Recruitment Agents in International Higher Education: A Multi-Stakeholder Perspective on Challenges and Best Practices. Pii-Tuulia is a co-founder of CANIE (Climate Action Network for International Educators).
Director, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Peter B. de Menocal is the eleventh president and director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, effective Oct. 1, 2020. A marine geologist and paleoclimatologist, de Menocal's research uses deep-sea ocean sediments as archives of how and why Earth's ocean and climate have changed in the past in order to predict how they may change in the future. Prior to assuming leadership of WHOI, de Menocal was the Thomas Alva Edison/Con Edison Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. In 2015, he became the founding director of Columbia's Center for Climate & Life, a research accelerator of 120 scientists and other experts dedicated to understanding how climate affects life's essentials-the security of food, water, and shelter-and to exploring sustainable energy solutions in partnership with industry, finance, and government. From 2016 to 2019, De Menocal served as Columbia's Dean of Science for the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, overseeing 240 faculty across the university's nine scientific departments. During his tenure as dean, de Menocal developed and carried out a strategic plan that helped double philanthropic support for the sciences at Columbia, significantly increase success in winning large center and institute awards, and increase faculty hiring rates for women and under-represented minorities in the natural sciences. De Menocal has published more than 150 scientific papers over his decades-long career in oceanography. He has received numerous awards and distinctions, including Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, AGU Emiliani lecturer, a Lenfest Columbia Distinguished Faculty award, and a Distinguished Brooksian award. He earned a doctorate in geology from Columbia University and a master's degree in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Lawrence University.
I lecture at the University of Portsmouth’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (SCCJ). Prior to this, I served for nearly 20 years in the UK police service, most recently as a detective specializing in criminal investigations. I am involved in a range of research and teaching activities within economic crime, organised crime and policing. My research focuses on issues of secrecy, offshore finance, and beneficial ownership transparency. I am intrigued with understanding the characteristics of offshore jurisdictions, the methods used to conceal beneficial ownership, and how governments and regulatory bodies attempt to control illicit offshore activities. I am also interested in the financial regulation of crypto assets (such as, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies); and the role of blockchain technology in registers of beneficial ownership, smart contracts, the metaverse, and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Senior Lecturer in Game Design, University of Portsmouth I am a Senior Lecturer in Computer Games Design in the School of Creative Technologies at the University of Portsmouth. I am the Deputy Course Leader for BSc(Hons) Computer Games Technology. Previously, I have taught Games Design and Development at both Further and Higher Education level, focusing primarily on game design, 3D asset creation, gameplay scripting and academic games research. I have design and development experience in the UK games industry, including in my role as Game Designer at The Chinese Room. I completed my PhD in 2015, with my thesis focusing on Disruptive Game Design - an approach to game design that aims to subvert 'typical' game rules and associated player expectations of how games 'should' work. I now lead the Advanced Games Research Group (AGRG) within the school which is currently engaged in multiple projects, developing research-driven commercial game products in areas including disruptive game design, narrative design, player psychology, and playful prototyping.
PhD Candidate in Climate Science, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, University of Leeds I am a postgraduate researcher looking at how different climate states modulate El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its impacts. My supervisors are Dr Amanda Maycock (University of Leeds), Dr Yohan Ruprich-Robert (Barcelona Supercomputing Center) and Prof Piers Forster (University of Leeds). I obtained my undergraduate degree in Environmental Science at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain). My BSc dissertation was focused on understanding how large-scale climate variability such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) affects local climate and weather conditions in Madrid, with a special focus on the urban heat island effect and air pollution episodes. I did a year abroad at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, where I developed my interest for ENSO and its impacts on ecosystems and populations. In 2018 I enrolled in an MRes in climate and atmospheric science at the University of Leeds. My masters’ thesis was entitled “European climate response to El Niño-Southern Oscillation”, which later on was adapted and published in Journal of Climate. In 2019 I co-founded “The Climate Press”, an outreach project aimed to bring climate science closer to everyone. We’ve produced a number of podcasts and blogs that you can find here: www.theclimatepress.com During the early stages of my PhD, I worked as a demonstrator in the masters’ modules “Physical Science Basis of Climate Change” and “Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation”. I am particularly interested in large-scale climate variability. More specifically, the first part of my PhD project consists on understanding how the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV) modulates ENSO and its impacts. My future research includes assessing ENSO and its teleconnections under climate change conditions. I enjoy learning about all things climate-related, especially climate change projections, climate extremes, teleconnections, seasonal forecasts and climate variability in the troposphere and stratosphere.
Senior Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Oxford I am a marine biologist fascinated by the largest environment on planet Earth: the oceans. My general research interests lie in documenting the distribution patterns of marine life in the oceans and identifying the underlying environmental factors shaping those. Part of my research portfolio has included biodiversity assessments of ultra-deep underwater mountains in the NE Atlantic, shallow and deep water reef biodiversity in Bermuda, conservation of threatened species and plastic pollution in the Thames Estuary. At present, I am a postdoctoral researcher of the Marine Ecology and Conservation Group at the Department of Zoology, working closely with the NGO Nekton. My main research focus lies in assessing biodiversity and faunal connectivity across depth and geography in tropical reef ecosystems, and assess the impact of human activities on them. For that, I am participating in a series of Missions in the Indian Ocean led by Nekton, known as First Descent: Indian Ocean 2019-2022.
