Work with thought leaders and academic experts in public policy

Christos A. Makridis holds academic appointments at Columbia Business School, Stanford University, Baylor University, University of Nicosia, and Arizona State University. He is also an adjunct scholar at the Manhattan Institute, senior adviser at Gallup, and senior adviser at the National AI Institute in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Christos is the CEO/co-founder of [Dainamic](https://www.dainamic.ai/), a technology startup working to democratize the use and application of data science and AI techniques for small and mid sized organizations, and CTO/co-founder of [Living Opera](https://www.livingopera.org/), a web3 startup working to bridge classical music and blockchain technologies. Christos previously served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers managing the cybersecurity, technology, and space activities, as a Non-resident Fellow at the Cyber Security Project in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, as a Digital Fellow at the Initiative at the Digital Economy in the MIT Sloan School of Management, a a Non-resident Research Scientist at Datacamp, and as a Visiting Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Christos’ primary academic research focuses on labor economics, the digital economy, and personal finance and well-being. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed research papers in academic journals and over 170 news articles in the press. Christos earned a Bachelor’s in Economics and Minor in Mathematics at Arizona State University, as well a dual Masters and PhDs in Economics and Management Science & Engineering at Stanford University.

I am broadly interested in the factors that promote or diminish happiness and well-being. My research program explores how constant connectivity to the Internet impacts people’s relationships and well-being and how we can harness technology to improve well-being and promote positive behavioral change. I am a Vanier Scholar and a Rising Star of the Association for Psychological Science (APS). I have written for *The* *New York Times*, *The Conversation*, and *Psychology Today*, and my work has been covered by other prestigious publications such as *The* *Economist, BBC, NPR, Forbes, Fast Company, Time Magazine, The Wall Stree Journal, National Geographic,* and *The Washington Post*. I have consulted for companies such as Ipsos, Canvas8, and Luce Research. See more at www.kushlev.com

Jim Samuel is an Associate Professor of Practice and Executive Director of the Informatics Program at the Bloustein School. He is an information and artificial intelligence (AI) scientist, with significant industry experience in finance, technology, entrepreneurship and data analytics. Dr. Samuel’s primary research covers human intelligence and artificial intelligences interaction and information philosophy.  Dr. Samuel’s applied research focuses on the optimal use of big data and smart data driven AI applications, textual analytics, natural language processing and artificially intelligent public opinion informatics. His expertise extends to socioeconomic implications of AI, applied machine learning, social media analytics, AI education and AI bias. Dr. Samuel completed his Ph.D. from the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College – City University of New York, and he also has M.Arch and M.B.A (International Finance) degrees.  Dr. Samuel has worked with large multinational financial services corporations, and advises businesses and organizations on data analytics and AI driven value creation strategies. He is passionate about research driven thought leadership in AI, information philosophy, analytics and informatics. 

Sutirtha Bagchi is an Associate Professor of Economics at Villanova University where he teaches courses in microeconomics and public economics. Dr. Bagchi has a Ph.D. in Business Economics and an M.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor. He also received an MBA from Purdue University West Lafayette, in addition to a B. Tech. (With Honors) in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.

Martin Dietrich Brauch is a Lead Researcher at CCSI. He leads economic and legal research, training, and advisory work, with a focus on legal and policy frameworks and practices for sustainable investment to achieve climate change mitigation and adaptation goals—including through decarbonization and a just transition to net-zero emission energy systems and economies—along with other SDGs.

Nathan J. Cook is an environmental policy expert with a background in behavioral science. Dr. Cook's research focuses on the intersection of environment, society, and economy, with a particular emphasis on sustainability policy. He is especially interested in analyzing policies related to climate, natural resources, and conservation from the perspective of economic and social sustainability. He uses a variety of methods and data sources, including behavioral experiments, large-scale surveys, and data science techniques. Dr. Cook received his Ph.D. in Political Science with a focus on environmental policy from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2018, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Behavioral Science in 2020, also at the University of Colorado Boulder. After completing his education, Dr. Cook joined the faculty at Indiana University Indianapolis as an Assistant Professor in the Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, a highly ranked public affairs school. To date, Dr. Cook's projects have received over $1.3 million in support from the National Science Foundation, including a [project](https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2242507&HistoricalAwards=false) that is currently in force. He has published articles in top-ranked journals in the area of environment and sustainability. Among others, these journals include: [Nature Climate Change](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0438-4) \- ranked by Clarivate as \#1 in Environmental Studies [Nature Sustainability](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0034-z) \- ranked by Clarivate as \#2 in Environmental Studies [Ecological Economics](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921800924000119?dgcid=author) \- ranked by Clarivate in the top quartiles in both Economics and Ecology [World Development](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305750X16305599) \- ranked by Clarivate as \#4 in Development Studies\, and in the top quartile in Economics [Environmental Science & Policy](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1462901122003471?via%3Dihub) \- ranked by Clarivate in the top quartile in Environmental Sciences Dr. Cook is also actively involved in community engagement that translates research into action, working with local organizations and government agencies in South Asia, East Africa, and Latin America to co-produce research that is actionable for practitioners working to make a difference.

Ryan Baker is a professor of economics at Northwestern University. He received his PhD in economics from Stanford University in 2014 and his BA in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2007.

Catherine Tucker is a Professor of Economics and Data Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is also a member of the MIT Sloan School of Management's faculty. She is a world-renowned expert in the fields of big data, machine learning, and consumer behavior. She has worked extensively on the use of data science to improve public policy and has been a consultant to government agencies and businesses around the world. In addition to her academic work, she is a popular speaker and has been featured in many media outlets, including The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.

civil engineering, steel structures, composite structures, structural engineering, design optimisation, modular buildings, nonlinear analysis

Ryan’s primary research focuses on the ethical issues surrounding artificial intelligence and digital technology. He has published numerous papers on the topic, and has presented his work at various international conferences. He is also a member of the Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM) Committee on Professional Ethics (COPE). Mark was previously a researcher at KTH University (Stockholm), the University of Twente (the Netherlands), and the National University of Ireland, Galway (Ireland). While at Twente, he worked on an interdisciplinary  project (SHERPA), involving 11 partners from 6 European countries. This project was a European Union Horizon 2020 project (2018-2021, budget €3 million) and focused on the ethical, social and human rights implications of smart information systems (data analytics and artificial intelligence) within a European context. He has published on topics, such as the ethics of smart cities, self-driving vehicles, agricultural data analytics, social robotics, and AI. In his previous research, he has also published a 2016 monograph: Human Values, Environmental Ethics and Sustainability.

Wesley R. Hartmann is a Professor at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2003, and his MA in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2001. He also holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from the University of California, Irvine.

Elizabeth Groff is a professor of Geography and Criminology at Temple University. She holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Maryland, College Park (2006), and MA degrees in both Geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1994) and Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland, College Park (2005). Her expertise combines detailed analysis of physical landscapes, geographical research, geographic information systems analysis, and popular culture. Her research interests include urban security and crime mapping, the social and economic aspects of urban development, the socio-political dynamics of aging and changing metropolitan regions, and the intersections of race, gender, and place. She has published numerous articles and has presented at various conferences throughout the country.

Lea-Rachel Kosnik is a Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She received her BA and MA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and her PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research focuses on renewable energy and climate change, and she is considered a leading expert on the topic of hydroelectric energy generation in the U.S., and hydropower regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In recent years her research has expanded to include analyses of the academic economics profession itself, including with a focus on gender issues and DEI initiatives. Methodologically, her skill set includes textual analysis and natural language processing, along with traditional econometric techniques. In 2016 she received an honorable mention for article of the year from *Contemporary Economic Policy*, and in 2022 she gave the keynote address to the Illinois Economics Association. Dr. Kosnik is perhaps best known (in a service capacity) as the Association of Environmental and Resource Economist’s (AERE’s) Midwest representative, annually organizing the full track of AERE-sponsored environmental sessions at the Midwest Economic Association meetings. Dr. Kosnik has also served as President, Past-President, and Board Member of the Transportation and Public Utilities Group (TPUG), and as a Department Chair.

[Vanessa Patrick, PhD.](https://www.vanessapatrick.net/ "https://www.vanessapatrick.net/") is the Associate Dean for Research, Executive Director of Doctoral Programs (PhD and DBA), a Bauer Professor of Marketing and lead faculty of the Executive Women in Leadership Program at the Bauer School of Business at the University of Houston.   She has been recognized with a number of awards for both scholarship and teaching, including the LeRoy and Lucille Melcher Faculty Excellence award from the Bauer College of Business for Research Excellence (2011), Service Excellence (2016) and Teaching Excellence (2018). In 2012, she was named one of the top 50 most productive marketing scholars worldwide by the DocSig of the American Marketing Association. She was appointed as a Fulbright Specialist (2019-24) by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. She served in this role by visiting the Institut Teknologi Bandung in Indonesia in November 2022.   She is a regular speaker at both academic and practitioner conferences, including the Association of Consumer Research Conference, the Society of Consumer Psychology conference, the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce annual conference, the NAWMBA Annual Gender Diversity Conference and the UH Women of Color Coalition.   She is a prominent scholar in her field and serves on editorial and policy boards of leading academic journals. She is currently an Associate Editor for the Journal of Marketing Research and the Journal of Marketing. She is the author of a new book The Power of Saying No: The New Science of How to Say No that Puts you in charge of your Life. Visit her at [vanessapatrick.net.](https://www.vanessapatrick.net/ "https://www.vanessapatrick.net/")