Lecturer in Criminology, Aberystwyth University Sam is a senior lecturer at Aberystwyth. She specialises in miscarriages of justice, media portrayal of victims and the more general experiences of victims of crime, including victims of animal abuse, farm crime, rural crime and wildlife crime. Sam's primary area of research is miscarriages of justice and she has published extensively within this field. Her most recent research for her PhD thesis, entitled 'Watchdogs of the wrongly convicted: the role of the media in revealing miscarriages of justice', investigated the role of journalists in revealing wrongful convictions in England and Wales from the 1960s through to the present day. Sam's research in this area, is in part driven by Walker and Starmer's (2002) rights-based theory of miscarriages of justice, (thereby adopting a broad definition of the phenomenon to include, not only wrongful convictions, but many other forms, including failures on the part of the CJS to act/ 'do enough' in criminal cases). It is also driven by the notion that victims of miscarriages of justice are 'voiceless victims'. This focus, has more recently led to her increasing interest in another, much neglected group of 'victims', namely victims of animal abuse, wildlife crime, farm crime and rural crime in England and Wales.
Research Fellow, Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre, Monash University Dr Sarah McCook is a Research Fellow with the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre. Sarah's work focuses on the prevention of gendered violence, masculinities, and engaging men and boys in gender transformative change.
Associate Professor of Ecological and Systematic Zoology, Bahir Dar University Shimelis Aynalem Zelelew is an Associate Professor of Ecological and Systematic Zoology at Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia. He focuses on wildlife conservation and ecological research and is a Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences. His research primarily addresses avifauna diversity and conservation strategies, particularly concerning crane populations in Ethiopia. Dr. Zelelew has collaborated with notable organizations, including the African Wildlife Foundation and the International Crane Foundation, on impactful projects. He has mentored and co-mentored over 15 graduate students, including two PhD candidates. He earned his PhD in Ecological and Systematic Zoology from Addis Ababa University and engages in international collaborations, sharing his expertise in wetland management and avian ecology. Dr. Zelelew has published over 27 articles in reputable journals and has authored one book while co-authoring another.
Associate Professor of Sociology and Jewish Studies, Hunter College Schneur Zalman Newfield received his PhD in Sociology from New York University, with a focus on cultural sociology and the study of identity, narrative, and resocialization. He holds an MA from NYU in sociology and a BA from Brooklyn College, CUNY, in psychology. Prior to arriving at Hunter, he was an Assistant Professor at Borough of Manhattan Community College. Before joining CUNY, he taught sociology courses for two years in six New Jersey state prisons through Rutgers University-Newark’s New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons (NJ-STEP) program. Dr. Newfield’s research focuses on the process individuals undergo when making major life transitions. His book, Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism (Temple University Press, 2020), explores the lives of a group of men and women who were raised in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities and decided to leave that way of life.
Professor of Water Resources, California Polytechnic State University Stefan Talke, Ph.D., is a professor of water resources. His research interests include physics of estuaries and tidal rivers, sediment transport, tides, storm surge and other long waves; sea-level rise and other climate change effects, coastal flood hazard, and coastal environmental changes.
