SRI Inkundla #2: Building Peace for Sustainability through Science

Dr. Maciej Maryl is an Assistant Professor and Founding Director of Digital Humanities Centre at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences. His work focuses on research infrastructures for literary studies and open science. He is a member of the Executive Assembly of OPERAS and the chair of ALLEA E-humanities Working Group. He currently serves as an outreach coordinator for #ScienceForUkraine.

Dr. Connie Nshemereirwe is currently the Director of the African Science Leadership Programme based at Future Africa, University of Pretoria, and also hosts a podcast titled “A is not for Apple”, which explores options for transforming African Education Systems. In her other role as an independent Science and Policy Facilitator, Dr. Nshemereirwe acts at the science and policy interface as a writer, speaker, and trainer, and is currently a member of the Technical Advisory Group supporting the work of the Global Commission on Science Missions for Sustainability.

Ayyoob Sharifi is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University. He is also a core member of the Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability (NERPS). His research is mainly at the interface of urbanism and climate change mitigation and adaptation. He holds a doctorate in Environmental Engineering.

Thin Zaw, Phyu Phyu (MBBS, MPP, PHD) is a lecturer at the School of Public Health in the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong. She is a medical doctor, an epidemiologist and health systems researcher with 12 years of work experience in the government sector. Thin Zaw is also a public health and policy consultant giving technical advice to think tanks and non-governmental organizations.

Paul Arthur Berkman is a science diplomat. In 2021, Paul became Director (from Boston) of the Science Diplomacy Center at MGIMO University in Moscow.  He is a Faculty Associate with the Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law School and Associate Director of Science Diplomacy in the Harvard-MIT Public Disputes Program as well as an Associated Fellow with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

Ghanya Al-Naqeb is an Associate Professor of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment at University of Sana`a, Yemen. Currently, she is a research fellowship holder at the Centre Agriculture Food Environment, University of Trento, Italy. She received her PhD in Nutrigenomics from University Putra Malaysia in 2009. 

Carl Bruch is the Director of International Programs at the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and the founding President of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx).  He holds a JD from the Northwestern School of Environmental Law of Lewis & Clark College, an MA in physics from the University of Texas-Austin, and a BS in physics (with additional majors in mathematics and anthropology) from Michigan State University.

Jonathan Jansen is Distinguished Professor of Education at Stellenbosch University and President of the Academy of Science of South Africa. He is a curriculum theorist, and his research is concerned with the politics of knowledge. His most recent book is The decolonization of knowledge (Cambridge University Press, with Cyrill Walters). He started his career as a high school science teacher and holds a PhD (Stanford).

María Estelí Jarquín is the Deputy Director of International Affairs at the University of Costa Rica. She has been a consultant for international organizations such as the United Nations system in Costa Rica, UNESCO, and the International Labour Organization. She has a Master of Public Administration from University College London as a Chevening Scholar of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and is part of the Global Shapers community (a World Economic Forum initiative).

Professor Cheikh Mbow is the Director General of the Centre de Suivi Écologique in Senegal and Adjunct Professor at Michigan State University (USA). He previously served as the Director of Future Africa Institute at the University of Pretoria, Executive Director of START-International in Washington DC and senior scientist at the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF).