Roman R. Williams, Ph.D. is a visual sociologist who studies religion and spirituality in everyday life. Roman directs the Interfaith Photovoice Initiative (interfaithphotovoice.org), is a research fellow at the Kaufman Interfaith Institute (Grand Valley State University) and serves as the executive officer of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. After a career in higher education, he started a consultancy in 2020 that focuses on participatory research and cultural innovation. More about Roman and his work is available on his personal website at roman-williams.com.
Veronica Selzler is a director at Hattaway Communications, a strategic communications firm that helps visionary leaders and organizations use strategy, science, and storytelling to achieve ambitious goals for people and the planet. She partners with foundations to get to know the values at the heart of their work, and uses qualitative and quantitative research to better understand the identities, motivations, and aspirations that inspire their audiences to take action. Before joining Hattaway, she managed communications and grants at Venture Philanthropy Partners and the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
Dr. Molly Crockett is an Associate Professor at Princeton University’s Department of Psychology and University Center for Human Values. Crockett’s lab investigates moral cognition: how people decide whether to help or harm, punish or forgive, trust or condemn. Their research integrates theory and methods from psychology, neuroscience, economics, philosophy, and data science. Crockett’s recent work has explored moral outrage in the digital age and trust in leaders during a pandemic. Outside the lab, Crockett is a practitioner and teacher of Samatha meditation.
As America’s Doctor, Dr. Murthy created initiatives to tackle our country’s most urgent public health issues. He chose areas of focus that were raised by people across America during his inaugural listening tour.
In addition to his role as America’s Doctor, as the Vice Admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Dr. Murthy commanded a uniformed service of 6,600 public health officers, serving the most underserved and vulnerable populations in over 800 locations domestically and abroad. He worked with thousands of Commissioned Corps officers to strengthen the Corps and protect the nation from Ebola and Zika and to respond to the Flint water crisis, major hurricanes, and frequent health care shortages in rural communities.
Dr. Murthy received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard and his M.D. and M.B.A. degrees from Yale. He completed his internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and later joined Harvard Medical School as faculty in internal medicine.
Dr. Murthy resides in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Dr. Alice Chen, and their two young children.
Carine Gibert is the founder of the interdisciplinary education and sustainability movement, Grounded In Motion. Currently her work focuses on how we engage in new ways of relation building with elements of the natural world. As a cultural heritage scholar, education practitioner and international facilitator she has curated experiences and led programs Internationally for over 10 years. Her residencies are led through storytelling, rituals, and embodied experiences. As a contemplative artist, she explores voice, soundscapes and the transmission of the Earth’s wisdom through her poetry. Carine is actively involved in expanding our reflections on how we move through and are shaped by the world, designing university and school curricula while teaching regularly in New York City. The courses bring together 7 practices, these practices explore notions of reciprocity, the role stories play in generating meaning in our lives, and the contextual factors shaping the mind, body, and spirit.
Amy Cohen Varela is Chairperson of the Mind & Life Europe Board and involved with Mind and Life since its inception. She is also a clinical psychologist specialized in psychodynamic therapy and philosophy. Amy studied comparative literature at Brown and Columbia Universities before moving to Paris in the early ‘80’s, where she received her degree in clinical psychology at the University of Paris 7, with a specialty in psychodynamic theory and practice, and in parallel, completed psychoanalytic training.
Tess is the Operations Manager at Mind & Life Institute. She has a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Virginia Tech. She brings varied skills to the organization gained through her work in the Real Estate field and volunteer positions at different nonprofits in the Charlottesville area. In her free time she enjoys reading, sewing, hanging out with her family and walks with her dog.
Dr. Perovich’s research interest is understanding the Arctic system and its role in global climate change. The central focus of his research is simple to state: where does all the sunlight go? More precisely, how does the incident solar radiation interact with sea ice and snow? This simple statement belies the rich complexity and importance of the topic. The interaction of solar radiation with snow and sea ice is intimately interrelated with the physical and morphological properties of snow and ice and forcing from the atmosphere and ocean. Through the positive ice-albedo feedback, solar partitioning affects not only the Arctic system, but global climate as well.
Edward Maibach is a Mason Distinguished University Professor and Director of the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. His research and practice focus on enhancing public and policymaker engagement in climate change by activating trusted groups of professionals—including health professionals, TV weathercasters and other journalists—and climate educators. Ed previously served as the Associate Director of the National Cancer Institute, and Worldwide Director of Social Marketing at Porter Novelli. He is currently a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and serves on the Board of Directors of the Global Climate and Health Alliance.
