Nnaemeka Phil Eke-Okocha holds an MA in Conflict Analysis and Dispute Resolution from Salisbury University, Maryland, USA, and a B.Sc in Economics and Development Studies from Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo, Nigeria.

Research Interests Include:

• Environmental Sustainability, Climate Change, and Food Security
• Migration and Development
• Humanitarian Action 
• International Policy Analysis

Seth Karamage holds a Master’s degree in Coexistence and Conflict from Brandeis University–Massachusetts USA, and he obtained his BSc in Economics from the National University of Rwanda. For more than a decade, Seth has worked with various international organizations implementing peacebuilding and good governance programs in East and West African regions.

Research Interests Include:

• Civil-Military relations in Africa
• Grassroot mechanisms for the prevention of violent conflicts
• Media and Politicization of violent conflicts
• Collective Memories and Conflict Cycle

Maka Petriashvili holds an MA in Security Studies (Civil-Military Relations) from the US Naval Postgraduate School and MSc in Human Resource Management (International Development) from the University of Manchester, UK. Maka worked in the Ministry of Defense of Georgia, focusing on intelligence analysis, defense policy and planning, defense reforms, cyber policy and management, HR and educational policy, ethics and integrity, and Women, Peace, and Security Agenda. Maka also taught in Georgian universities as an invited lecturer, and worked as a trainer and consultant on leadership, HR, gender, and cyber security.   

Research Interests Include:

• Gender perspectives on hybrid warfare
• Information warfare in Eastern Europe and post-Soviet Eurasia
• Human Security
• Global Governance and International Organizations
• Security and defense institution building

Iky Salinas obtained his master’s degree in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Haifa. With an extensive background in political activism and Israeli-Palestinian peacebuilding, Iky’s research will focus on an interdisciplinary approach to impact measurement in the Israeli-Palestinian peacebuilding field.

Research interests include:

• Impact measurement in the nonprofit realm
• Conflict Analysis and Resolution
• American Jewry’s relationship with Israel

Imtiaz Ali holds an M.Phil. in International Relations from University of Karachi (UoK) Pakistan. He has taught courses on Conflict Resolution & Crisis Management and Introduction to I.R. at the Department of International Relations, UoK. Imtiaz has worked on Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) through Community Resilience with Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) & Creative Learning (CL).

Research Interests Include:

• Countering Violent Extremism & Terrorism
• Conflict Resolution & Crisis Management
• Peace and Security Studies
• Environmental Terrorism

Buket Altınçelep holds a master’s degree in international relations from Middle East Technical University and a bachelor’s in international relations from TOBB University of Economics and Technology.

Research interests include:

• Global Environmental Governance
• Environmental Peacebuilding, Climate and Disaster Diplomacy
• Human Rights and Human Security
• Environmental Law, Justice, Politics and the role of IOs, the UN, and NGOs

George Awazi: Obtained master’s degrees in international human rights and Humanitarian law from Oxford Brookes University in the UK and International Business Law from the University of Yaoundé II in Cameroon, with Post Graduate Diplomas in Global Health Law and International Environmental law, among others.

Research interests include:

• Healthcare and Wellness Prerogatives
• Conflict Prevention, Mediation, and Peacebuilding
• Environmental Governance

Sahar Badiezadeh holds a master’s degree in international law from Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch. Her interdisciplinary research is about establishing a link between global environmental change and human rights.

Research Interests include:

• Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change
• Human Rights and the Refugee Crisis and Ethnic Minorities
• Relationship between the Environment and Health

Farman Kakar holds a master’s in international relations from the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. He has his bachelor’s in political studies from the same university. Farman is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship.

Research interests include:

• Conflict Management
• Political Islam
• Identity Politics Concerning Pakistan

Tafadzwa Makara holds an Erasmus Mundus Joint master’s degree (EMJMD) in European Interdisciplinary Master African Studies (Pass with Distinction) from the University of Bayreuth, Germany, University of Porto, Portugal and Bordeaux Montaigne University, France, and a BSc Hons in Social Ecology from Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe.

Research interests include:

• Global Governance, Environment, and Climate Change
• Human Security in Southern Africa
• Political Economy of Energy Transitions and Extractive Industries
• Community-based Natural Resources Management in the Global South
• International Political Economy
• Post-conflict Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Weston Marume holds a master’s degree in international development studies from Ohio University, USA, concentrating on Environment and Development, and a bachelor’s degree in development studies from the Midlands State University, Zimbabwe.

Research interests include:

• Energy Transitions and Society in Developing Countries
• Politics of Natural Resource Governance
• Environmental Security Policy and Governance
• Climate Change and Environmental Justice

Dominic Offei holds an MSc. in Political Science (International Relations) from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, an M.A in Governance and Regional Integration from the African Union’s Pan African University, Institute of Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences (PAUGHSS) hosted by the University of Yaoundé II, Soa- Cameroon.

Research Interests include:

• Trade and Regional Integration in Africa
• Global Governance and International Organizations
• Human Security
• Peacebuilding and Preventing Violent Extremism
• International Human Rights and the Proliferation of Small Arms
• Light Weapons and Transnational Organized Crime

Abiodun Baiyewu holds an LLM degree in International Legal Studies from Georgetown University Law Centre, focusing on International Human Rights. Abiodun has worked with the Global Rights and Negotiation and Conflict Management Group.

Research interests include:

• The Impact of the Global Governance System on Shrinking Civic Spaces
• Fragile States and Human Rights
• Natural Resource Governance and Climate Change
• Global Health Law and Corporate Accountability

Adebobola Omowon holds a B.A in History and International Studies from Osun State University and an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Ibadan.

Research interests include:

• International Diplomacy
• Peace and Peacebuilding
• Conflict Analysis and Resolution
• Analysis of Conflict in the Social Media Space
• Early Warning and Early Response Systems.

Ashraf Amiri holds an MA in Conflict Resolution from the University of Massachusetts Boston, United States, and a BA in International Relations from Kateb University, Afghanistan. Ashraf is the recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship.

Research Interests Include:

• Civil Society
• Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding
• Identity and Conflict (with a special focus on ethnic conflicts in Afghanistan)
• Peace Education in Conflict/post-conflict Societies
• Non-state Actors and Global Politics and Security.

Augustine B. Aboh holds an MA in Terrorism, International Crime, and Global Security from Coventry University, United Kingdom, and a B.SC in Political Science from the University of Calabar, Nigeria.

Research Interests include:

• Human Security of Displaced Communities (IDPs &Refugees)
• Terrorism and Transnational Organized Crime
• SALW Proliferation and Armed Conflict in Sub-Sahara Africa
• Geopolitics and National Security Policies
• Intelligence, Local Security and Resilience
• Global Policy and Development Intervention.

James Kintu holds a Master of Arts in Public Administration and Management (M.A. PAM), Master of Business Administration (MBA), and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences (Political Science and Social Administration).

Research interests include:

• Governance of Climate Change
• Gender for Sustainable Food Security in Uganda.

Rana A. Hajjaj earned a master’s in business administration from Marist College, Poughkeepsie, New York, focusing on Organizational Leadership and Change Management.

Research Interests Include:

• International Diplomacy and Peace
• Foreign Policy and International Relations
• Conflict Transformation in the Middle East Region
• Governance Role of the International Community, Including the UN, in Mitigating and Preventing Conflict

Satwika Paramasatya holds a BA in International Relations and an MA in Peace Studies of International Relations from Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia.

Research interests include:

• Global Health and Health Equity
• Civil Society and Transnational Advocacy Network
• Human Security and Community Development
• Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding.

Amadou B Jallow holds a BA in Development Studies from the University of The Gambia (UTG), and MA in International Studies (International Development Studies) from Ohio University.  

Research interests include: 

• Voting Rights and Diaspora Participation in African Politics 
• Migration and Development  
• International Political Economy 
• Forest Policy and Climate Change

Carl Cowan holds a MS in Healthcare Emergency Management from Boston University and a BS in Information Management & Technology from Syracuse University. 

Research interests include: 

• Ethics and decision-making methods
• Intersectional approaches in global crisis response
• Multilateral humanitarian response and recovery mechanisms

Christine Turner Langevin holds an MA degree from the University of New Hampshire in Political Science with a focus on comparative politics. Christine has worked in regulatory compliance of organic agricultural and manufactured goods. 

Research interests include:

• Non-governmental organizations in global governance
• International relations and comparative policy analysis  
• Organizational theory

Fridah Dermmillah Obare holds a Master of Science in Biology of Conservation degree from the University of Nairobi, Kenya and Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Management degree from Moi University, Kenya. She works with Kenya Wildlife Service and is passionate about reptile conservation. Dermmillah is a member of the IUCN Species Specialised Commission – Crocodile Specialist Group.

Research interests include:

• Economic valuation of wildlife resources
• International policy analysis
• Community involvement in wildlife utilisation
• Multi Environmental Agreements

Jiedine Irene Alexandria Phanbuh is from Shillong, India. She earned a master’s degree in public policy, with distinction, from The Carsey School of Public Policy, at the University of New Hampshire. She has worked for The American Immigration Lawyers Association in Washington, D.C on matching military service members and immigrant families in Texas with pro bono lawyers; and for the Town of Durham, NH on census matters.

Research interests:

• International environmental policy and relations 
• Mitigating risk of conflict over transboundary natural resource management.
• International diplomacy and peace
• United Nations system for the environment and the role of international organizations in mitigating conflict

Nkasi Wodu holds a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He also holds a Law Degree from the Rivers State University, Nigeria and has been called to the Nigerian Bar. He is a certified mediation trainer and practitioner. He facilitated one of the largest peacebuilding networks in Nigeria and one of the most comprehensive early warning and early response platform in West Africa. He is a new voices fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Research Interests include:

• Armed conflict in sub Saharan Africa
• Fragility and resilience in conflict affected State
• Business, peacebuilding and human rights 
• Early warning and early response
• Global policy and human security
• Transnational organized crime

Pryanka Peñafiel Cevallos holds a M.Res. in International Relations with mention in Security and Human Rights from Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, Ecuador, and a BA in Political Science and International Relations from Hemisferios University. Before joining UMass Boston, Pryanka worked as a professor and researcher in Ecuadorian universities. 

Research interests include:

• Nonviolent Resistance
• Latin American Foreign Policy
• Migration and human rights
• Peace and conflict studies

Muhammad Ali holds an MA degree in Development Management from Ruhr University, Germany, and an MBA degree from the University of Peshawar, Pakistan. He has worked in different sectors including microfinance, philanthropy, and rural development. Muhammad is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship.

Research interests include:

• Government-civil society relations
• Closing civic space and securitization of civil society
• Human security and human development
• Violence, extremism, and the role of civil society

Margaret Gatonye holds a BA in Mass Communication (Public Relations) from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, an MA in Project Planning and Management from the University of Nairobi, an MA in Int’l Studies (African Studies), and an M.Sc. in Environmental Studies from Ohio University. She is formerly the CEO of the Aquaculture Association of Kenya and Head of Aquaculture Projects in East Africa with Larive Group Kenya.

Research Interests Include:

• Trade Policy, Food Safety Regulatory Frameworks, and Int’l Relations
• Global Fisheries Governance
• Community Development and Resiliency
• Gender and Decision-Making Processes
• Environmental Sustainability, Climate Change, and Food Security

Brian Harding holds a Bachelor of Arts in Botany (2002) from Trinity College, Dublin, and a Master of Science in Ethnobotany (2005) from the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK. Since 2007, Brian has worked as a climate change and environmental consultant in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Pacific, and Latin America. He has worked with the United Nations and the Green Climate Fund.

Research interests include:

• Institutional Reform and Change Management
• Action Research
• Climate Change Adaptation 
• Global governance, environment, and climate change

Stephen E McAvene holds an MA in International Development and Social Change from Clark University, and a BA in History, minor in Middle Eastern Studies, from Worcester State University. 

Research interests include:

• Non-State actors in International Relations
• Conflict and Social Change
• Refugee Agency and Identity

Judit Senarriaga holds a BD in Political Science and Administration from Pompeu Fabra University, and a Master in Political Analysis and Institutional Assessment from the University of Barcelona. Before joining UMass, Judit worked in a political party as a Parliamentary Advisor for the Spanish Congress and Senate, and previously as Advisor of a member of the Board of the Parliament of Catalonia and as a Community Manager.

Research interests include:

• Decision-making process
• Legislative analysis and comparative public policy
• Global governance, environment, and climate change
• Implementation of international environmental agreements and their effectiveness

Allyson Bachta is a PhD candidate researching violent attacks on education in conflict settings. After completing her coursework, she spent two years conducting research for Padraig O’Malley, McCormack School’s John Joseph Moakley Distinguished Professor of Peace and Reconciliation for his upcoming book (in press) on Brexit’s impact on the Northern Ireland peace process. She is currently the Senior researcher at Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) (New York) and an associate at Essential Partners (Cambridge, MA).

Apollon Bouzerdan holds an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from UMass Lowell, a BA in Philosophy from Saint John’s Seminary, Boston MA, and a degree in Dental Laboratory Technology from Middlesex Community college, Lowell MA, where he has been an educator for the past fifteen years.

Research interests include:

• Overpopulation, urban development, waste management, and the environment.
• Effects of climate change migration on host nations.
• Middle East conflicts and peace initiatives.
• Refugee crisis in Lebanon.

Kate Butterworth is a Ph.D. candidate. Her research interests include sovereignty and international organizations. She holds an MA and MS from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. After working for the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration and on the Conflict Early Warning Analytics program at the Center for Peace, Democracy, and Development at UMass Boston, she began an internship at the Department of State.

Muna Killingback Holds an MPA, International Relations from UMass Boston and a BA in English and Journalism from Douglass College of Rutgers University.  Muna worked for international NGOs in Geneva for 11 years and is a former Director of Communications for the World YWCA, the headquarters of the global YWCA movement.

Research interests include::

• Governance, structure, policy-making processes, and impact of international non-governmental and faith-based organizations
• An intersectional analysis of organizations and public policies
• Role and influence of media in international relations
• Human rights, peace, and social and economic justice

Carlos A. Pérez-Espitia received a Law degree from St. Bonaventure University, Colombia and holds an MA in Global Development and Peace Studies from the University of Bridgeport, CT. He has taught International Law and Human Rights at La Salle University in Colombia and has been an advisor to the Office of the Inspector General of Colombia in the prevention and protection of Human Rights violations.

Research interests include:

• International Law and Development
• Conflict Analysis and Resolution
• Corporate accountability and International Human Rights mechanisms 
• Transitional justice in post-conflict and fragile settings

Meg Hassey regularly engages her academic background in science, education, and policy with her research into plastic governance. Meg traveled to Nairobi, Kenya to attend the UN Environment Assembly 5.2 and served as a researcher for the delegations that co-led the resolution – End Plastic Pollution: Towards an International Legally Binding Instrument. She continues to attend global meetings which will culminate with a draft of the next global environmental treaty.

Her research interests include the framing and narratives of environmental issues. In doing so, she engages the old environmental adage: Think globally; act locally, to gain an understanding of the human security issues with plastic and its presence (or not) in global governance and vice versa. She does this while teaching at Babson and Wellesley and raising two toddlers. 

Uluç Karakaş holds a BA in International Relations from Ankara University, Turkey and an MA in International Relations from Bilkent University, Turkey.

Research Interests Include:

• Conducting research on various conceptions of human security and their uses in different cases
• Global governance of migration and refugees
• Syrian refugees in Turkey and their governance
• The effects of climate change on international and human security
• Global governance of climate change

Leena Maqsood holds a postgraduate diploma in Development Support Communication and MA in Mass Communication from the University of the Punjab Pakistan, MPhil in International Development Studies from Iqra University Pakistan. She received a Fulbright Scholarship to do an MA in Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media from Michigan State University. 

Research Interests Include:

• Gender and informal sector of the economy
• Prospects for rural development and hazards of urbanization in Southern Asian region
• Information and communication technology for human development

Krystal-Gayle O’Neill is a PhD candidate and is from St. Catherine, Jamaica. Her research interests include the decriminalization of LGBTQ sexualities in the Anglo-Caribbean. She earned an MA in Conflict Resolution from UMass Boston, an M.Phil. in Social Sciences from Wesleyan University, an MSc in College Student Affairs and an MBA from Nova Southeastern University, and a BEd from The University of Technology, Jamaica. She was a Mercatus Center Don Lavoie Fellow and Adam Smith Fellow during the 2021-2023 academic year, as well as a 2022-23 fellow at the UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement.

Alan Zebek holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Political Science and earned an MA in International Affairs from The New School University. His work to date has been centered on global energy politics in relation to socioeconomic, political, and security developments in post-Soviet Eurasia and Eastern Europe. 

Research Interests Include:

• Global energy governance
• Economic and energy security in the Greater Black Sea region
• The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)  
• Post-soviet “frozen conflicts” nationalism 

Prince O. Boateng holds a BS in Marine Business and Commerce from New York Maritime, an MA in Transportation and Logistics Management from American Military University, and an MA in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College. 

Research Interests Include:

• U.S. national security strategy
• Food security and sustainable agriculture
• The interconnection between human security/food security and U.S. national security 
• Using Realism IR theory to address human security/food security challenges 

Michael J. Cole is a Coasts & Communities IGERT Fellow with a Master’s Degree in International Relations.

Research Interests Include:

• The Water-Energy-Resource Nexus
• Distributional Climate Mitigation/Adaptation Policy Outcomes
• Global Food Supply-Chain Governance, Wastes & Inequalities
• State-Society Relations under Authoritarian Regimes

Candace Famiglietti holds an MS in International Studies with a focus on International Human Development, Society, and Education, as well as a BS in Finance and a minor in International Business from Oklahoma State University. She also works as a consultant to non-profit organizations and has taught courses on Environmental Justice, Waste, Gender and Environment, and Global Environmental Activism at Babson College. Additionally, prior to pursuing her PhD, she co-founded the social enterprise, EbenGroup, where she worked as a managing partner for seven years. 

Research Interests Include:

• Global Environmental Governance
• Gender and Environment
• Illegal Wildlife Trade Policy and Practice
• Environmental Justice
• (De)colonization and Indigenous Rights and Politics
• Community-based and Intersectional Approaches to Wildlife Conservation

Roberto “Nick” Rico has a BA and MA in Political Science from the University of New Hampshire, Durham.

Research Interests Include:

• International illicit economies and their relationship with legal economies
• Drug decriminalization and legalization regimes
• Resource politics and resource-driven conflict
• Latin America

Mario Siddhartha Portugal-Ramírez holds a master’s degree in sociology from Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO-Ecuador). He did his undergraduate studies in sociology at Universidad Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno (Bolivia).

Research Interests Include:

• Medical sociology/anthropology
• Medical pluralism
• Global health policies related to intercultural health practices
• Digital medicine 
• Indigenous people´s political movements from Americas

Jack Whitacre attended Kenyon College and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. His publications explore environmental law, the rights of nature, ocean clusters, and maritime security. In 2020 he completed internships with the Department of State (remote) and the Civic Action Project in Boston, MA.

Research Interests Include:

• Wetland Policy
• Coasts and Communities
• The Ramsar Convention   

Shino Yokotsuka holds a master’s degree in Conflict Resolution from the University of Massachusetts and master’s degrees in Political Science and International Relations from the Ohio University and the University of Delaware. Shino currently works for the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration, assisting and publishing research with the focus on diversifying a mediation field. Shino also serves as a mediator for DC Superior Court.

Research Interests Include:

• minority rights
• religious freedom
• conflict analysis and resolution

Anna Dubrova has an LL.M. in Legal Regulation of Public Administration and Human Rights from both Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania). Anna is currently working on her dissertation research and writing, and she covers international chemicals & waste meetings with the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) team.

Research Interests Include:

• Global environmental governance
• Implementation of environmental conventions
• Sustainable development and sustainable production and consumption patterns

David Sulewski is writing his dissertation on the topic of complementary pathways to protection for refugees in Europe. He currently works as Senior Community Sponsorship Technical Assistance Associate for the Refugee Welcome Collective at Church World Service, supporting private refugee resettlement programs across the country. 

Research Interests Include:

• Forced migration and peacebuilding
• Refugee resettlement and integration
• Role of faith-based communities in conflict resolution
• Local peacebuilding communities amidst conflict

Michael Scanlon has over five years of experience in global health and development. He has a BA in international studies and an MPH in epidemiology from Indiana University. Michael is currently working on his dissertation research and writing in Kenya, as a 2019-2020 Fulbright-Fogarty Fellow. He is also a Fellow of Health System Design and Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

Research Interests Include:

• Global health diplomacy and governance 
• Health and conflict 
• Securitization of health issues, particularly HIV/AIDS
• Health systems financing 

Beth Fascitelli graduated with a BA in anthropology from Amherst College and a masters in international affairs from SIPA, Columbia University.

Research Interests Include:

• multi-party conflict resolution and consensus-building
• conducting conflict and stakeholder assessments
• facilitating dialogue with Christians and Hindus 
• spearheading efforts to promote company-community dispute resolution.