PhD Candidate in Conservation Biology, University of Oxford With an extensive knowledge and interest in the application of Local Ecological Knowledge in natural resources management, Sulemana’s DPhil seeks to understand the relevance and contribution of indigenous knowledge systems to contemporary Nature-based Solutions, and the application of acoustic and remote sensing technology to the measurement of ecosystem recovery. He will employ camera traps and soundscape measurements to identify patterns in species recovery and biodiversity shifts across different nature recovery interventions while investigating the strengths and limitations of bioacoustic monitoring vs. traditional survey methods at spatial and temporal scales. Sulemana Bawa has a background in conservation biology with substantial research experience in ornithology, herpetology and freshwater ecology. Prior to his studies at Oxford, he has led rewilding initiatives and developed community-based biomonitoring approaches for collaborative resource management in Ghana.
Associate professor, Lancaster University Saurabh Singhal is a Senior Lecturer in Economics. His research interests include the political economy of development, human capital development issues and experimental economics. His current projects analyse individual and household decisions related to health and education, and how these interact with political institutions and public policies. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Southern California, and has previously worked at UNU-WIDER and the University of Delhi.
Professor of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York Dr. Shao Lin (MD, PhD) currently is a full Professor of both Dept. of Environmental Health Science, and Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, as well as the Associate Director for Global Health Research, School of Public Health, University at Albany (UAlbany), State University of New York. She has 25 years of experience in directing various environmental health studies and has successfully completed more than 40 projects when she worked in the New York State Department of Health and in UAlbany. As a Principal Investigator, she has directed studies assessing health impacts of various environmental exposures including natural or man-made disasters, extreme weather events, air pollution, heavy traffic exposure, residential exposure to urban air toxics from outdoor/indoor sources, and a series of school environment-health projects. More relevantly, Dr. Lin has been acting as a Principal Investigator for over 10 federal grants investigating various disasters (September 11 Disaster, Hurricane Sandy etc.), and extreme weather events on human health. She has being involved in multiple national climate-health committees/ workgroups and was invited in the Expert Panelist of a National Climate Health Report, a President’s Workforce. She is also the reviewer of multiple top environmental health journals, Editor-in-Chief of the journal of “Hygiene and Environmental Health Advances”, and the standing members of two NIH study sections in the past 10 years. Dr. Lin has over 250 publications and has been acting as the PI/Co-PI on 27 external grants and Co-I on seven other grants.
Assistant Professor of Population Health Sciences, University of Central Florida Dr. Sixiao Liu is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the College of Medicine at the University of Central Florida. As a public health communication scholar with specialized training in health equity and health campaign techniques, Dr. Liu brings a wealth of expertise to her role. Before joining UCF, she was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Liu’s research program emphasizes the design, implementation, and evaluation of tailored health messages for at-risk populations, including youth and young adults, immigrants, and racial and sexual minorities. Her work employs various message techniques, including framing, emotional appeal, targeting, cultural tailoring, and narrative persuasion. Her proficiency in digital design and implementation enables her to present health messages in various formats, such as posters, ads, textual messages, and videos, and adapt to different platforms. In her approach to health intervention evaluation, Dr. Liu embraces a mixed-method research design. Her research investigates the behavioral and social determinants of health and scrutinizes the influence of media, marketing, and public health messages on health behaviors and outcomes. The overarching goal of her research is to transform knowledge into culturally appropriate interventions that resonate with individuals from diverse backgrounds, promoting both individual and community well-being. Her areas of focus encompass infectious disease prevention, tobacco and other substance use prevention, and the innovative application of advanced technology, such as artificial intelligence, in health message dissemination. Beyond research, Dr. Liu actively engages in community collaborations and mentoring, fostering an inclusive and supportive environment. She obtained her Ph.D. in Communication from the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Her work has garnered support from various funding sources, including the National Science Foundation.
PhD Candidate in Sustainable Development, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, Columbia University I am a second-year PhD student in the Sustainable Development program at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. My research interests include labor, migration, political economy and biodiversity. I am especially interested in the economic, environmental, and political tradeoffs that shape the design and implementation of environmental policy. I hold Masters degrees in Public Policy (The University of Chicago), and Conservation Biology (State University of New York). I also have seven years of research and project management experience on topics such as wildlife trafficking, human-wildlife conflict, endangered species, resettlement of forest-dwellers from protected areas, and community-based conservation. I previously worked with the Wildlife Conservation Society in India.
Senior Research Scientist, Public Health Agency of Canada and Adjunct professor, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa BSc Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, 2003 MSc Epidemiology and Community Health, Queen's University, 2006 PhD Population Health, University of Ottawa, 2012
