Skip to main content

AAAS Science, Technology and Human Rights Conference: Speakers

Keynote

Alfred Brownell

Alfred Brownell

Distinguished Scholar in Residence, Northeastern University School of Law
Founder and Lead Campaigner, Green Advocates International, Liberia

Alfred Brownell is a leading human rights and environmental lawyer in Africa. He is the Founder of Green Advocates, based in Liberia, and currently serves as Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Northeastern University School of Law Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy.

His central objective for the last decade has been to seek recognition of the customary land and property rights of local communities and indigenous peoples throughout Liberia and West Africa. Through the Green Advocates Public Interest Law Program, Brownell has filed several international complaints against industrial agriculture companies on behalf of local communities and indigenous peoples. Among his most important victories is an independent forensic investigation into complaints alleging that oil palm companies were grabbing customary lands that were home to communities for generations.

This year, Brownell was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for his extraordinary work protecting land rights.

Featured Speakers

Sam Brinton

Sam Brinton

Head of Advocacy and Government Affairs, The Trevor Project
Founder, Core Solutions Consulting

Sam Brinton is the Head of Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project, where their work is driven by the pressing need to provide a safer and more inclusive world for members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) community. They have testified at federal and state legislative hearings and has spoken at several engagements to raise awareness of topics concerning LGBTQ youth, such as mental health and suicide prevention. Brinton has also written for many publications on these subjects.

A nuclear engineer by training, Brinton is the founder of Core Solutions Consulting, which seeks to provide a range of services to address the grand energy and nuclear waste challenges faced throughout the new political landscape.


Davina Durgana

Davina P. Durgana

Senior Research Analyst, Walk Free Foundation
Senior Statistician and Report Co-Author, Global Slavery Index

Davina P. Durgana, Ph.D., is an award-winning international human rights statistician who has developed leading global models to assess risk and vulnerability to modern slavery. She is also Assistant Professor of Sustainable Development at SIT Graduate Institute. Durgana was selected as a Google Fellow for Technology and Social Change for her work in Human Trafficking and Technology. She also serves on several expert groups for the United Nations, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the National Science Foundation.

Further, Durgana is an inaugural AAAS IF/Then Ambassador, working to encourage young girls and women to pursue S.T.E.M. fields.


Francella Ochillo

Francella Ochillo

Executive Director, Next Century Cities

Francella Ochillo, J.D., is the Executive Director of Next Century Cities and works to ensure everyone to have access to fast, affordable, and reliable broadband. Ochillo is a digital rights advocate who is committed to expanding internet access to underserved and unserved communities.

She has testified before Congress and held meetings with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding broadband access and affordability.

List of Speakers

(Organized by surname)

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

Andrés Ángel, Science Fellow, Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense

Samer Araabi, Research Director, Accountability Counsel

Ali Arab, Associate Professor of Statistics, Georgetown University

Chloe Autio, Policy Analyst - Artificial Intelligence & Privacy Policy, Intel


B

Maria Baldini-Potermin, Founder, Baldini-Potermin & Associates, P.C.

Patrick Ball, Director of Research, Human Rights Data Analysis Group

Francesco Betti SorbelliResearcher, University of Perugia

Nadya Bliss, Director of Global Security Initiative, Arizona State University

Kelly E. Bohrer, Director of Community Relations, School of Engineering, University of Dayton

Caroline Brodeur, Oxfam


C

Rachel Carr, Undergraduate Student, University of Dayton

Emilia Carrara, Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente

Milostene Castin, Coordinator, AREDE (Action pour la Reforestation et la Défense de l’Environnement)

Florence Chaverneff, Volunteer Mentor, IIE-Scholar Rescue Fund

John Curtis, Independent Consultant, Washington, DC


D

Jennifer Ding, Solutions Engineer, Numina

Jonathan Drake, Senior Program Associate, AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program


E

Scott Edwards, Senior Advisor, Amnesty International


F

Gabriela Fernandez, Co-Founder, Metabolism of Cities

Cathy Furlong, Statistics Without Boarders


G

Sean Gallagher, Senior Government Relations Officer, AAAS

Kimberly Gauderman, Faculty Member, University of New Mexico

Cono Giardullo, Associate Fellow, Italian Institute of International Affairs (IAI)

Heather Dawn Gingerich, International Medical Geology Association, Office of Tsikonsase, Water School for Decision-Makers (W1SD0M)

Maya Godbole, Doctoral Student, City University of New York

Dana Gold, Senior Counsel and Director of Education, Government Accountability Project

Samir Goswami, COO, The Partnership on AI

Gerene Grant, Bay Islands Development Organization (BIDO) and Inclusion and Preservation of the Afro English Speaking People (IPABESP)

Olga Gregorian, Senior Advisor, IIE-Scholar Rescue Fund

María Guadalupe de Heredia, Journalist and Ecuador Coordinator, E-Tech International


H

Umesh Haritashya, Associate Professor, University of Dayton

Theresa Harris, Project Director, AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

Tanya Harrison, Planet

Kirby Huminuik, Registered Clinical Counsellor, University of British Columbia

Elizabeth Hutchison, Director, Feminist Research Institute, University of New Mexico


I

Shelley Inglis, Executive Director, Human Rights Center

Sloka Iyengar, Volunteer Mentor, IIE-Scholar Rescue Fund


J

Leanne Jablonsky, Scholar for Faith and Environment, University of Dayton Hanley Sustainability Institute


L

Maryline Laurent, Professor, Télécom SudParis, Institut polytechnique de Paris

David Livert, Associate Professor, Penn State University

Mercedes Lu, Staff Scientist, Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide

Kristian Lum, Lead Statistician, Human Rights Data Analysis Group

Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach, Professor, University of Texas-Austin and Past President, American Association of Geographers


M

Ann Maest, Chief Scientist, E-Tech International

Carol Maione, Master of Science Candidate, University of Michigan

Sarah Mancoll, Policy Director, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues

Jared Marsh, Undergraduate Student, University of Dayton

Michael J. Martin, Volunteer Mentor, IIE-Scholar Rescue Fund

William Mawby, Independent Consultant, Greenville, SC

Chloe McPherson, Associate, Government Relations, AAAS

Mónica Meltis, Executive Director, Data Cívica

Omar Mohammed, Scholar of history and citizen journalism from Iraq

Shabnam Mojtahedi, Senior Program Manager, Benetech

Oliver Moles, Webinar Project Team Leader, Capital Area Social Psychological Association

Marigrace Moses, Undergraduate Student, University of Dayton


N

Kirsten Nicholson, Professor of Environment, Geology and Natural Resources, Ball State University and AAAS On-call Scientists Volunteer


O

Teresa Ober, Doctoral Candidate, City University of New York

Uzeyir Ogurlu, Lecturer, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Onyekachi Okoro, Project Officer, Media Awareness and Justice Initiative


P

Laura Palmese Hernandez, Environmental Lawyer, Honduras

Dorothy J. Phillips, Director-at-Large, American Chemical Society


Q

Robert Quinn, Executive Director, Scholars at Risk Network


R

Mindy Reiser, Vice President, Global Peace Services USA

Marcella Ribeiro d’Avila Lins Torres, Human Rights and Environment Fellow, Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense

Jorge Ruiz Reyes, Researcher, Human Rights Program, Universidad Iberoamericana


S

Priyadharshany Sandanapitchai, Research Associate, Francois Xavier Bagnoud Center, Rutgers University

Julie Schmid, Executive Director, American Association of University Professors

Burcu Seyben, Refugee Theatre Scholar

Anil M. ShendeProfessor of Computer Science, Roanoke College

Brian Shmaefsky, Professor of Biology & Environmental Science, Lone Star College – Kingwood, and AAAS On-call Scientists volunteer

Janika Spannagel, Research Fellow, Global Public Policy Institute

Carter Spires, Undergraduate Student, University of Dayton

Stephen Steim, Executive Director, New Media Advocacy Project

Teresa Stoepler, Co-lead, At-Risk Scholar Initiative, The Global Young Academy


T

M. Gabriela Torres, Cultural Anthropologist, American Anthropological Association’s Members Programmatic, Advisory and Advocacy Committee

Megumi Tsutsui, Communities Associate, Accountability Council

Gabriel Twose, Senior Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer, Government Relations Office, American Psychological Association


W

Peter Walker, Fellow, American Psychological Association

Margaret Weigers Vitullo, Deputy Director, American Sociological Association

Heidi Weiskel, Staff Scientist, Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide

Nicole Widdersheim, Senior Policy Advisor, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Center for the Prevention of Genocide

Jessica Wyndham, Director, AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program


Z

Radwan Ziadeh, Scholar of political science from Syria