Contributors

Whitney Martinko

Associate Professor of History, Villanova University

Associate Professor of History, Villanova University

William E. Snyder

Professor of Entomology, University of Georgia

Professor of Entomology, University of Georgia We are a diverse group of ecologists, joined by our common interest in finding natural solutions to problems in species conservation, sustainable agriculture, and human health. Ecological problem-solving can be a particularly powerful way to uncover basic knowledge about species interactions, and all of our work contributes to a fundamental understanding of how ecosystems function. Our goal is to reduce the conflict between species conservation and feeding a growing human population. In fact, we find that restoring and maintaining natural biodiversity is often the key to managing pests while providing safe and healthy food. Field work, often on the farms of collaborating growers or in nearby natural areas, is a key part of every project in the laboratory. Our research focuses on organisms ranging from wild birds, to predatory insects and insect-killing pathogens, to mosquitoes. Several newer projects examine the ecology of insect-transmitted human, animal, and plant pathogens. Our new molecular lab is helping us dive head-first into the world of eco-genomics, while some lab members add statistical, modeling, or GIS components to their projects.

Wenlong Carl Chen

Researcher, University of the Witwatersrand

Researcher, University of the Witwatersrand Carl Chen is a researcher at the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience (SBIMB), University of the Witwatersrand, and a medical scientist at the South African National Cancer Registry. His main research interests lie in studying the genetic aetiologies for common African cancers (including breast, prostate, cervical, and oesophageal cancer). He oversees all active research studies within the Cancer Genetics and Genomics Research Group at the SBIMB. Such studies include the Johannesburg Cancer Study, Confluence Breast Cancer Consortium, the Evolving Risk Factors for Cancers in African Populations study, and the Men of African Descent and Carcinoma of the Prostate (MADCAP) study.

W. Andy Knight

Distinguished Professor, International Relations, University of Alberta

Distinguished Professor, International Relations, University of Alberta W. Andy Knight is Provost Fellow, Black Excellence and Leadership at the University of Alberta and former Chair of its Department of Political Science. Knight has served as Director of the Institute of International Relations (IIR), The University of the West Indies (UWI), Trinidad & Tobago where he co-founded and directed the Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean (DAOC). He is past co-Editor-in-Chief of the African Security Journal and International Journal, both globally prestigious peer-reviewed publications, and founded the Caribbean Journal of International Relations and Diplomacy in 2013 during his secondment in the Caribbean. Professor Knight was co-editor of another highly regarded and award-winning journal — Global Governance -- from 2000 to 2005. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC), he was named by Venture Magazine among Alberta’s top 50 most influential people and, by the Black Business and Professional Association of Canada, the Harry Jerome Trailblazer. He served as an Advisory Board Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Welfare of Children and directed the Peace and Post Conflict Studies Certificate Programme in the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies (OIS) at the University of Alberta. In March 2007, Dr. Knight was appointed by the Canadian Foreign Minister to the Board of Governors of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and served in that position until 2011. He was appointed Distinguished Professor at the University of Alberta in 2021 and was awarded the 2021-22 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in International and Area Studies at Yale University. In March 2023, Professor Knight was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for his valuable contributions to the province of Alberta and McMaster University bestowed on him an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) honoris causa.

Warren Foster

Cultural knowledge holder, UNSW Sydney

Cultural knowledge holder, UNSW Sydney

Waqas Ejaz

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Oxford Climate Journalism Network, University of Oxford

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Oxford Climate Journalism Network, University of Oxford Waqas Ejaz is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Oxford Climate Journalism Network. He earned his PhD at the Technical University of Ilmenau, Germany. His research interests include studying digital media effects, climate change, political, and computational communication.