Lecturer of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Bryant University I am an archaeologist and biological anthropologist who specializes in early human paleoecology. I am currently a Lecturer in the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, School of Health & Behavioral Sciences, Bryant University and a Research Affiliate in the isoTROPIC Research Group at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology. My research lies at the intersection of paleoanthropology, paleoecology, and geochemistry and combines traditional archaeological field methods with lipidomics and isotope studies to cast new, detailed light on relationships between environmental processes, cultural change, and human evolution. I have an extensive research portfolio and network which geographically spans eastern, southern, and western Africa, the Middle East, east and southeast Asia, and western Europe, and temporally covers the past two million years. Much of my work investigates the role climatic and environmental variability had in shaping human origins and diversification. To do so, I use a suite of archaeological biomarkers to reconstruct past plant ecology and water availability (plant waxes), anthropogenic fire history (aromatic hydrocarbons), and population dynamics (faecal stanols and sterols). I am also an expert in multiple gas chromatography and mass spectrometry analytical techniques, including compound specific stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Defence Policy, Carleton University Ryan Atkinson is Postdoctoral Fellow at Carleton University where his research focuses on defence policy. He previously worked at NATO and has experience in the private sector as a cybersecurity consultant. Ryan completed a PhD from Western University and an MA from the University of Toronto.
Assistant Professor, African/Black Studies in Education, McGill University Nanre is a pan-Africanist scholar-activist who writes, studies, teaches, and learns about how Africana peoples can reclaim their history and culture and emancipate themselves from their current dilemmas. She has inherent faith in the capacity of people, movements and classrooms to transform the world. Nanre’s research contributes to debates and collective knowledge production in the areas of critical education policy studies, decolonial approaches to education, global critical race theory, critical youth studies, Black/Africana social movements, youth participatory action research; and the role of civil society in education and democratic nation-building in the Global South.
Assistant Dean for Institutional Knowledge Management and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Florida International University Rodolfo Bonnin, Ph.D., develops, implements, and evaluates all assessment-related activities for medical and physician assistant students. In addition, he is the course co-director for the Professional Behaviors I and II courses within the Professional Development strand. He also serves as an adjunct professor for the Department of Psychology at the College of Art and Sciences, where he teaches research methodology and data analysis. Bonnin is the chief executive proctor and supervises multiple exam proctors, coordinators, and statisticians in the Office of Assessment. He serves as the Chair of the Program Evaluation Committee for the West Kendall Baptist Family Medicine Residency.
PhD Candidate, Latin American Studies, Trinity College Dublin Rafael Mendes is a PhD candidate in the Hispanic Department at Trinity College Dublin and an Early Career Researcher at the Trinity Long Room Hub. His research theorises the Latin American Gothic at the intersection of the grotesque, particularly to show how non-normative practices and behaviours give voice to marginalised individuals through working in and against dominant ideologies. Outside academia, he works as a poet and fiction writer. He has been selected for Poetry Ireland's 2023 Introduction Series and was awarded the Irish Writers Centre/Tyrone Guthrie Centre Lacuna Bursary 2024.
PhD student in Australian History, Australian National University Ruby Ekkel is a PhD candidate at Australian National University. Her research focuses on changing attitudes towards and interactions with native animals, especially as mediated by women. After completing a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in history at the University of Melbourne, Ruby achieved a Masters degree in global history at the University of St Andrews. She has published, taught and presented on topics spanning animal history, environmental history, and women's history. She was recently awarded the Ken Inglis Prize by the Australian Historical Studies Journal. Ruby is an HDR Representative for the Australian Historical Association Executive, and a co-editor of the ANU Historical Journal II. Outside the university setting, she co-edits a podcast about Australian environmental history, The Bush Bash.
