Dr. Nerkez Opacin is a Senior Research Fellow in Nature and People at the University of Melbourne, where he investigates how nature-based interventions and community-led intiatives can enhance social connection, wellbeing, and resilience in societies affected by crises.
His research combines social psychology, anthropology, peacebuilding, environmental health, and participatory action research. His work often centres on young people, marginalised communities, and the everyday spaces where change quietly begins — through dialogue, shared experiences in nature, and encounters across social and cultural boundaries.
Nerkez has conducted extensive multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork across Southeast Europe and Australia. He currently co-leads several nature-based social prescribing projects, including the EU-funded RECETAS initiative in Melbourne. His research has been published in international journals, such as the International Journal of Educational Development, Wellbeing, Space & Society, and the British Journal of Social Psychology.
Nerkez is committed to making research accessible and practical for communities, practitioners, and policymakers. His work consistently highlights the voices of those who are one unheard, demonstrating how small human interactions can create opportunities for belonging, healing, and peace. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nerkezopacin/
Nicholas Noe is the co-Founder of Mideastwire.com, a news translation service covering Middle East media.
Pablo Molina Asensi was a Freelancer and Grants Manager for Peace News Network from August 2024 to June 2025. He earned his M.A. in Global Communication from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs in 2024, concentrating in Conflict and Conflict Resolution. He also graduated from The American University's School of International Service in 2022, with concentrations in Peace, Global Security, and Conflict Resolution in addition to Global Inequality and Development. Pablo is particularly interested in issues of human rights and refugee policy. He has carried out research into the situation of DRC refugees in Uganda and has written extensively about Western Sahara.
As a research associate at the Africa Center, Paul Nantulya researches and prepares written analysis on contemporary Africa security issues. His areas of expertise include Chinese foreign policy, China/Africa relations, African partnerships with Southeast Asian countries, mediation and peace processes, the Great Lakes region, and East and Southern Africa.
Prior to joining the Africa Center, Mr. Nantulya served as a regional technical advisor on South Sudan for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) from 2009 to 2011, where he supported crisis mitigation for the Government of South Sudan including writing policy analyses for the Ministry of Peace and Comprehensive Peace Agreement Implementation. In this role he worked closely with South Sudan’s external partners, particularly Japan’s International Cooperation Agency, on conflict prevention.
Dr. Philipp Busch is a game designer, author and international keynote speaker. In spring 2018 Busch finished his doctoral thesis on “Gamification and Serious Games in Development Cooperation”. He teaches game-based approaches and agile methods at the University of Mainz, Germany and is a certified Scrum Master and Design Thinking Coach. He has worked for several years in the sector of international cooperation with a specific focus on Gamification, Serious Games and interactive digital learning scenarios. In 2020, Busch started his own consultancy working in close cooperation with different actors of international cooperation. His company Mind Games GmbH supports institutions such as the ILO, ETUI, FES or GIZ on implementing innovative learning scenarios in heterogeneous contexts, for instance Yemen, China, Afghanistan and a variety of African countries.
Pol Bargués is research fellow at CIDOB (Barcelona Center for International Affairs), Barcelona, Spain. His research examines war-peace transitions and the evolution of international interventions. He is Editor in Chief of theJournal of Intervention and Statebuilding
Quhramaana Kakar manages Conciliation Resources’ Women Mediators across the Commonwealth program, and is a former adviser to the High Peace Council of Afghanistan.
Rabina Shresthais the Country Director of International Alert Nepal. She is a gender equality, justice, peacebuilding and rule of law expert with extensive experience working on human rights, transitional justice, media rights and rule of law in Nepal.
Professor Dr. Rafiqul Islam is a distinguished expert in the fields of migration and conflict studies. He is a faculty member in the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. His academic background includes training in political science, peace and conflict studies, and environmental security. His research interests are deeply focused on critical issues in South Asia, including statelessness in the Bengali borderlands and the sustainable management of the Rohingya refugee crisis. Professor Islam is also a skilled researcher who employs quantitative and field-based methods, as demonstrated by his co-authored work on community relations and violence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. His work bridges academic inquiry and pressing real-world problems, aiming to inform policy and build sustainable peace. Email:islampacs@du.ac.bd.
Raihan A. Yusoph is a faculty member in the History Department at Mindanao State University–Marawi City, Philippines. He is currently pursuing a PhD in the International Peace and Coexistence Program at Hiroshima University in Japan as a MEXT (Monbukagakusho) Scholar of the Japanese Government. He has presented research at international conferences across Asia, Europe, and North Africa. His research focuses on Bangsamoro studies, peace and conflict studies, and biographical studies, with publications in Scopus-indexed, peer-reviewed international books, and journals.
Dr. Richard (Drew) Marcantonio is a researcher, teacher, and practitioner focused on regenerative and durable livelihoods, environmental management and policy, environmental and other violence, and peacebuilding. He is the author of Environmental Violence: In the Earth System and the Human Niche (2022; Cambridge University Press), co-author of the textbook Environmental Management: Concepts and Practical Skills (2022; Cambridge University Press), and lead co-editor (with John Paul Lederach and Agustin Fuentes) of Environmental Violence Explored (2024; Cambridge University Press). He has published numerous peer-reviewed, policy, and public facing articles in periodicals ranging fromPeacebuildingtoEnvironmental Science and Policyto the popular periodical theBulletin of Atomic Scientists. He has conducted research and practice on these critical issues on five continents working with communities, elected officials, regulators, corporations, and NGOs alike.
Robert Kosho Ndiyun is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Tshwane University of Technology. He was previously a PhD researcher at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His research focuses on transitional justice in conflict and post conflict situations. He also Lectured at International University Bamenda in Cameroon, Heritage Higher Institute of Peace and Development Studies Yaoundé, and Higher Institute of Educational and Professional Studies, Yaoundé.
Dr. Rodrigo Mena Fluhmann is an Assistant Professor of Disasters and Humanitarian Governance, also serving as the Deputy Director of the Humanitarian Studies Centre (HSCOpens external) and Coordinator of the Safety and Security Research Initiative(SSRi). With almost twenty years of experience, his focus has been on disaster governance (disaster response and risk reduction), climate change, humanitarian action, and environmental sociology, particularly in fragile, conflict-affected, and vulnerable (FCV) settings. He teachs courses covering humanitarian, disaster risk reduction, and complex emergency governance; research methodology, both quantitative and mixed methods; and research ethics, safety, and security.
At the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), he co-coordinates the Humanitarian Governance project (HUM-GOV), funded by a European Research Council (ERC) advanced grant. This project delves into the evolving dynamics of humanitarian governance, with special attention to civil society actors and crisis-affected populations. Additionally, he contributes to the coordination of the Observatorio Humanitario de América Latina y el Caribe (OH-LACOpens external).
Rok Zupančič, PhD, is a Full Professor at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences. His expert sphere includes peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and regional security (Southeast Europe). He is the Principal Investigator in the research project "Anxieties in cities of Southeast European post-conflict societies: introducing an integrative approach to peacebuilding," which explores how different sort of anxieties in post-conflict societies affect the bodies and minds of people, and how this hinders the attempts to reduce the ethnic distance between people previously involved in armed conflicts.
Dr Ronan Lee is an Irish-Australian Doctoral Prize Fellow at Loughborough University London where he researches the meaning of social vitality for Rohingya refugees. In 2021 he was awarded the Early Career Emerging Scholar Prize by the International Association of Genocide Scholars. He was formerly a visiting scholar at Queen Mary University of London’s International State Crime Initiative. His research interests include Myanmar, the Rohingya, genocide, hate speech, and politics.
Roselyne Omondi is a conflict and peace expert and a skilled researcher-writer-editor with broad social science and humanities backgrounds. She is adept at working at the intersection of research, and policy; communication, journalism, and media; international development; and humanitarian action. While her recent work has focused on the greater Horn of Africa region, she has a good grasp of current affairs, and a global outlook. Her research interests span, inter alia, armed conflict, peace, forced migration, food insecurity, pastoralism, terrorism, geopolitics, climate change, and development. She has excellent project management, conflict mapping, media analysis skills, and strategic crisis communication skills. Different research, media, and international development entities have featured her work.
Roselyne holds Erasmus Mundus Master of Art degree in Journalism, Media and Globalization- War and Conflict Specialization (Denmark and United Kingdom); Erasmus Mundus Master of Arts degree in International Humanitarian Action – Comprehensive Security Specialization (the Netherlands); a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and English Language (Kenya); and several other post-graduate qualifications including: Peace and Conflict Research (University of Oslo and PRIO, Norway), Terrorism Theory and Practice (the Netherlands), Advanced Field Safety and Security (Germany and Kenya), and Advanced Grammar (the UK). She was, until recently (November 2022), the Associate Director, Research, at the HORN Institute, and is set to become the Associate Director, Center for Climate Change, Migration, and Development, at the Institute.
Saepudin Mashuriis an Associate Professor and dean for the Faculty of Education and Teacher Training at the State Islamic University of Datokarama Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. His studies focused on multicultural Islamic education, religious moderation, and cross-cultural studies. At his campus, he teaches bachelor, master, and doctoral students on multicultural religious education and moderate Islam studies. Collaborating with LeimenaInstituteInstitut, he educates cross-cultural religious literacy for religious teachers in Eastern Indonesia's elementary and junior-senior high schools. He is also a trainer for a religious moderation program to build religious harmony in Indonesia. He researches the development of peacebuilding in conflict areas such as Poso and multi-ethnic schools. He has published several research results related to his studies, such as Spiritual Base of Pesantren for Building Multicultural Awareness In Indonesia Context. Jurnal Ilmiah ISLAM FUTURA, Vol. 24. No. 1, February 2024, 1-20. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.22373/jiif.v24i1.17141. The building sustainable peace through multicultural religious education in the contemporary era of Poso, Indonesia. Cogent Education, 2024-12-31 DOI:10.1080/2331186X.2024.2389719
Dr. Saliba Sarsar is a Professor of Political Science at Monmouth University and President/CEO of the Jerusalem Peace Institute. His teaching and scholarly interests focus on the Middle East, Palestinian-Israeli affairs, Jerusalem, and peacebuilding. Among his authored books are Peacebuilding in Israeli-Palestinian Relations(2020) and Jerusalem: The Home in Our Hearts(2018). His edited books include The Holy Land Confederation as a Facilitator for the Two-State Solution (2022) and What Jerusalem Means to Us: Christian Perspectives and Reflections(2018). His most recent co-edited books are Democracy in Crisis Around the World (2020); Continuity and Change in Political Culture: Israel and Beyond (2020), and What Jerusalem Means to Us: Muslim Perspectives and Reflections(2021).
Dr. Sarsar is also a peace advocate and a public speaker. He is the co-Founder and President/ CEO of the Jerusalem Peace Institute, a non-profit that highlights Jerusalem as humanity’s shared gift as central for a just peace.
Samer Abboud is Associate Professor of Global Interdisciplinary Studies at Villanova University and the author of the book Syria (Polity, 2018).
Sanda Thant is the director of the Socio-Economic and GenderResourceInstitute (SEGRI).
Sawssan Abou-Zahr is a Lebanese journalist, editor and consultant. She covers issues related to Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.
Seamus a prominent community development leader and the long-standing Project Manager of the Black Mountain Shared Space Project (BMSSP) in West Belfast. Since the project’s inception in 2009, he has been a central figure in one of Northern Ireland’s most complex interface areas, working at the physical and social boundaries between the Upper Springfield and Springmartin/Highfield communities.
Born in April 1973, Seamus has spent decades working in the heart of West Belfast. Beyond BMSSP, he has been involved with several local organisations, including serving as a director for the Gort na Mona Sports Association, reflecting his commitment to utilising sport and recreation as tools for community engagement.
Sean is a NUAcT Fellow based at Newcastle Law School. Focused on children’s rights, Sean is currently working on a project on children’s rights in societies attempting to transition from conflict to peace. This work covers multiple areas of interest including child soldiers, child participation in peace processes, peace agreements and children, children and constitutional reform and children and transitional justice.
Shabir Hussain is a peace academic based in Islamabad, Pakistan. He has published extensively on the current practices of conflict coverage in Pakistan and devising peace-oriented media strategies for constructive reporting. He can be reached at shasain2@gmail.com.
Sheikh Mehzabin Chitra is an anthropologist, human rights advocate, and researcher focused on marginalized communities, displacement, and grassroots peacebuilding. Her work combines ethnographic research with journalism and policy analysis to amplify voices from the margins and examine how everyday practices sustain peace in humanitarian settings.
Silvia Danielak is an Assistant Professor at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University. Her work focuses on socio-spatial planning, especially infrastructure planning, in conflict settings and as part of peace efforts, as well as its coalition with climate and environmental efforts. Her first book on infrastructure building in United Nations peace operations is forthcoming in 2026 with MIT Press. Dr. Danielak is a former USIP Peace Fellow and received her PhD in Urban Planning from MIT.
Spogmai Akseer has over 16 years of experience working in the field of educational development and research in Canada and internationally focusing on gender and conflict. She has worked as a consultant with UNICEF and UNESCO on various educational initiatives to improve educational equity and equality in the Global South, particularly in conflict-affected environments. Recently she supported UNESCO-IIEP in the development of a continental report examining Sustainable Development Goal 4 and the African Union’s Continental Education Strategy for Africa. Previously, Spogmai managed a USAID-funded project to help develop new graduate degree programs, as well as Registrar and professor at the American University of Afghanistan. In these roles, she worked closely with the Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan to develop a national quality assurance and accreditation framework, as well as a graduate education policy framework. Presently, Spogmai is working on the implementation and monitoring of the Ministry of Education’s anti-oppression and anti-racism directives across over 250 elementary and secondary schools in Ontario, Canada. She has a PhD in Education and Comparative, International Development Education from the University of Toronto.
Stacey L. Connoughton is an Associate Professor in the Brian Lamb School of Communication and the Director of the Purdue Peace Project.
Stefano Costalliis Full Professor of Political Science at the Department of Political and Social Sciences of the University of Florence. Prior to joining the University of Florence, he worked at the Catholic University of Milan and the Department of Government at the University of Essex, where he is still a Research Fellow at the Michael Nicholson Centre for Conflict and Cooperation. He has also been a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Amsterdam and the University of Oxford.
His research interests include civil wars, political violence, peacekeeping, democratization processes, ethnic conflicts, long-term consequences of armed conflict and authoritarianism, political realism, and quantitative methods for political research. His studies have been published in international scientific journals such as British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, International Security, Journal of Peace Research, Political Geography, World Politics.
He has been Associate Editor (2018-2022) and is still a member of the Editorial Board of Political Geography. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of Conflict Management and Peace Science.
Steven Youngblood is the founding director of the Center for Global Peace Journalism at Park University in Parkville, USA.
