2025 TCUP Conference Speakers

Anna Ackermann Policy Analyst, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD); Board Member, Centre for Environmental Initiatives Ecoaction Anna Ackermann is a policy analyst with the Energy team at the IISD, where she works on the green reconstruction of Ukraine. She supports European organizations in designing approaches to Ukraine’s sustainable post-war recovery and development. Ackermann is a founding member of the Center for Environmental Initiatives Ecoaction, where she previously served as Head of the Climate Department and now serves as a board member. She has contributed to projects on just transitions for coal regions in collaboration with international and Ukrainian partners. Previously, Ackermann managed the Energy Policy Reform expert group within Ukraine's Reanimation Package of Reforms, contributing to key initiatives such as establishment of the Energy Efficiency Fund and reforms in the electricity and building sectors in Ukraine.
Suresh Babu Head of Capacity Strengthening and Senior Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Extraordinary Professor, University of Pretoria, South Africa Dr. Suresh Babu is the Asia Lead for the Comprehensive Action for the Climate Change Initiative (CACCI) and Capacity Strengthening Lead, Asia, for the USAID Feed The Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy. As a Senior Research Fellow and Head of Capacity Strengthening at IFPRI, he oversees global, regional, and national programs in institutional and capacity development. Dr. Babu has led focused research and national dialogues that informed food security and climate change policies in countries across Africa and Asia, including India, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, and Nepal. He has published extensively, including 24 books and over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, and he serves on the editorial boards of leading journals such as Food and Nutrition Bulletin and Food Security. Dr. Babu holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Economics from Iowa State University. He is a visiting professor at the Madras School of Economics, and an Elected Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NASS) in India.
Margarita M. Balmaceda Professor of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University; Associate, Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI) Margarita M. Balmaceda is a political scientist working at the intersection of international relations, energy political economy, and technology. She is the author of Russian Energy Chains: The Remaking of Technopolitics from Siberia to Ukraine to the European Union (2021). Dr. Balmaceda holds a PhD in Politics from Princeton University and certifications in sustainable fertilizers from the Sustainable Fertilizer Academy. She is a 2024-2025 Wilson Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Her article, Ukraine’s Reconstruction Will Raise Key Energy and Natural Resource Challenges and Choices, is forthcoming in the winter 2025 issue of the Fletcher Forum.
Polina Beliakova Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Dr. Polina Beliakova is a scholar of international security specializing in civil-military relations and the use of force, with regional expertise in Russia and Ukraine. Her book project, Know Thy Military and Know Thyself, examines how governmental policies on the use of force can unintentionally weaken civilian control of the military. Beliakova earned her Ph.D. in International Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. She has held postdoctoral positions at Dartmouth College's Dickey Center for International Understanding and MIT’s Security Studies Program. In August 2025, she will join the faculty of American University’s School of International Service as an Assistant Professor of Global Security and Foreign Policy.
Anja Berestetska Urban Innovation Specialist, UNITAC, United Nations Innovation Technology Accelerator for Cities, HafenCity University Hamburg Anja Berestetska is an urban innovation specialist with a professional background in urban planning and translation. Her focus is on data-driven decision-making and capacity building in support of sustainable urban recovery in Ukraine. At UNITAC Ukraine, she works on the application of innovative, data-driven solutions to urban challenges, facilitating strategies for resilient and sustainable post-war recovery. She equips future urban professionals with practical tools for informed and impactful urban planning as the curator of the course "Urban Data Science and Quantitative Methods" at the Kyiv School of Economics. With expertise in sustainable mobility, urban revitalization, and project management, Berestetska integrates spatial data and collaborative methods to develop resilient, citizen-centered urban strategies. Her professional experience includes fostering partnerships and promoting innovative practices in urban development on projects in Ukraine and Germany.
Eve Blau Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University; Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University Eve Blau is the Director of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University and Adjunct Professor of the History and Theory of Urban Form and Design at the Graduate School of Design where she is also Co-Director of the Harvard Mellon Urban Initiative. A principal concern of her research is with the complex dynamics of urban transformation in the context of rapidly changing sociopolitical, environmental, and technological conditions. A major focus is on cities and urban regions in the post-socialist world. Her books include Baku: Oil and Urbanism; The Architecture of Red Vienna, 1919-1934; Project Zagreb: Transition as Condition, Strategy, Practice; Shaping the Great City: Modern Architecture in Central Europe. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the Society of Architectural Historians.
Thammy Evans Non-Resident Fellow, Atlantic Council Thammy Evans is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the GeoTech Center of the Atlantic Council and a Senior Research Associate of the Climate Change and (In)Security Project, a collaboration between the University of Oxford and the British Army’s Centre for Historical and Armed Conflict Research (CHACR). Having worked for NATO, the UN, the UK MOD, private sector, and NGOs, her career spans systems and resource sustainability, security sector reform, gender and security, public information, and political advising. She has worked around the world, and published with Carnegie Europe, Chatham House, British Army Review, Modern Asian Studies, Small Wars Journal, and the London Ukrainian Review. Most recently she has written on measuring conflict prevention and co-authored the chapter on “Ecological Security: The New Military Operational Priority for Humanitarian and Disaster Response” for Climate Change, Conflict & (In)Security: Hot War. Bluesky: @thammyevans.bsky.social Instagram Threads
Santiago Garces Chief Information Officer, City of Boston; Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School Santiago "Santi" Garces is an expert in civic technology and urban innovation, dedicated to improving government efficiency and public service delivery. As the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the City of Boston, he leads the Innovation and Technology Cabinet, leveraging data science and human-centered design to drive government transformation. Garces has an extensive background in civic technology, having served as CIO for the cities of South Bend and Pittsburgh. He co-founded enFocus, a nonprofit focused on developing innovative solutions for government and industry. His leadership in urban planning, sustainability, and technological infrastructure has earned him recognition, including a Bloomberg Mayor’s Innovation Award for the Commuter’s Trust initiative. A native of Bogotá, Colombia, Garces remains committed to shaping cities into more efficient, inclusive, and technologically advanced communities.
Bart Gruyaert Project Director, Neo-Eco Ukraine Bart Gruyaert is an experienced leader in industrial technologies, business strategy, and circular economy. Currently, he focuses on restoring Ukraine's ecology and rebuilding territorial economies using circular economy principles implemented by Neo-Eco Ukraine. Gruyaert has served as CEO for both HP Robotics and Altifort and has worked in senior management positions at PUNCH Metals, ArcelorMittal, Ahlers, and Saint-Gobain. He has over 10 years of experience in turning around companies (machine building and metals) and is an experienced manager of industrial technologies (including IOT, AI and robotics). Gruyaert holds a Master’s in Business Administration from EHSAL Management School in Brussels and a degree in naval engineering from the University of Gent.
Kristina Hook Assistant Professor of Conflict Management, Kennesaw State University; Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council Eurasia Center Dr. Kristina Hook is an anthropologist specializing in civilian protection, Ukrainian-Russian relations, and Ukrainian national identity formation. She has been conducting research and extended fieldwork across Ukraine since 2015, supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, USAID, Fulbright, National Endowment for the Humanities, and others. Hook's forthcoming book focuses on the dynamics and legacy of the Ukrainian Holodomor. Her analysis has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Genocide Studies and Prevention, Small Wars and Insurgencies, CNN, USA Today, Washington Post, and elsewhere. Hook received her joint PhD in anthropology and peace studies from the University of Notre Dame. She previously served as a U.S. Department of State policy adviser for mass atrocity prevention, as a nonresident research fellow at the Marine Corps University, and as a U.S. Presidential Management Fellow. She is presently a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center. X: @Kristina__Hook; @kennesawstate
Kateryna Ivanchenko CEO, Center for Innovation Development (CID) Kateryna Ivanchenko is the CEO of the Center for Innovations Development (CID), a leading Ukrainian analytics and consulting center specializing in data and IT solutions for government, parliament, regional administrations, territorial communities, international organizations, and media. CID’s expertise lies in data-driven approaches and advanced technologies, including geoinformation technologies, Big Data, and AI. Under Ivanchenko's leadership, CID has established itself as the groundbreaking organization in developing strategic and planning documents, designing IT solutions, conducting in-depth research, and preparing road maps. CID is a pioneer of digital democracy in Ukraine and the founder of the UAct Network, uniting over 60 regional CSOs to enhance transparency, efficiency, and democratic reconstruction. Additionally, CID has developed the eIDEA platform to foster civil society engagement and public participation in Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery efforts. In addition to managing CID, Ivanchenko co-founded the Economic Profile platform, aggregating data from over 100 sources to support local governments in economic recovery, investment attraction, and business development. She also advises international projects, including the EU Commission’s Digital Twin for Reconstruction, offering guidance on stakeholder engagement and platform development.
Bogdan Kelichavyi Mayor, Kopychyntsi Municipality, Ukraine Bogdan Kelichavyi is an accomplished public servant and expert in e-governance, international law, and project planning. Since October 2020, he has served as Mayor of Kopychyntsi Municipality, leading a community of approximately 15,000 citizens in Ukraine's Ternopil region. Previously, Kelichavyi contributed to Ukraine’s decentralization reforms through the USAID DOBRE program, where he supported governance in over 75 communities as a Local Economic Development Officer at Global Communities. Kelichavyi holds a Master's in e-Governance Technologies and International Law from Tallinn University of Technology and a Bachelor’s in Law from Chernivtsi Yuriy Fedkovych National University. He also studied electronics and telecommunications during an Erasmus exchange in France, where he spent a year living and working in Canada before returning to Ukraine to rebuild his community. Since the full-scale invasion, his community has welcomed many internally displaced persons from all over Ukraine, with over 10% of its population now being newcomers. Facebook Instagram
Oleksandra Keudel Associate Professor, Kyiv School of Economics; Associate, Harvard University Oleksandra Keudel is an Associate Professor at the Kyiv School of Economics. She studies democratic transformation and societal resilience in hybrid regimes, specializing in Ukraine’s sub-national politics. She combines academic research with policy consulting on open government and public integrity for international organizations, such as the EU and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin and has been a visiting researcher at Harvard University, George Washington University, NYU, and Södertörn University. X: @sashkovska Facebook
Olga Khakova Deputy Director, European Energy Security, Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center Olga Khakova leads GEC’s portfolio on synchronizing climate, energy security, and competitiveness efforts through transatlantic cooperation. She addresses these issues through in-depth reports and high-level convenings, many of which are focused on reducing Russia’s energy influence and support for Ukraine’s energy security. Before joining the Atlantic Council, Olga was a senior program coordinator for the US Energy Association’s Energy Technology and Governance Program. She helped start and manage the Western Balkans’ Electricity Market Initiative working group. Her experience also includes serving as program director for The Climate + Energy Project (CEP), a clean energy nonprofit in the Midwest. While at CEP, she co-led the conception and development of the Clean Energy Business Council and facilitated statewide stakeholder engagement on energy issues, such as education and outreach on rate design dockets at the Kansas Corporation Commission. During her time at Bombardier Aerospace, she organized aviation safety programming focused on human factors called Safety Standdown, which took place in Brazil, Canada, China, and the United States. Olga holds a professional science masters in environmental assessment from the University of Kansas. X
Jojo Mehta Co-Founder and CEO, Stop Ecocide International Jojo Mehta co-founded Stop Ecocide in 2017, alongside barrister and legal pioneer the late Polly Higgins, to support the establishment of ecocide as a crime at the International Criminal Court. As CEO and key spokesperson, she has overseen the remarkable growth of the movement while coordinating between legal developments, diplomatic traction, and public narrative. Mehta is the Chair of the charitable Stop Ecocide Foundation and convenor of the Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide chaired by Philippe Sands QC and Dior Fall Sow. The resulting definition, launched in June 2021, has catalyzed legislative developments, recommendations, and resolutions at national, regional, and international levels. X: @ecocidelaw Instagram: @ecocidelaw
Juliy Morozov Co-Founder, Stop Poisoning Kryvyi Rih Juliy Morozov is the co-founder and the deputy director of the Charity Foundation “Shelter Plus” which established the first independent cultural community center in the city of Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. In 2015, he and his colleagues started the NGO “Union of Responsible Citizens” which works to strengthen civic activism on a city level. In 2016, he founded the coalition “Stop Poisoning Kryvyi Rih,” which deals with environmental issues in one of the most polluted Ukrainian cities. He was also a city council member, actively involved in the development of a young and progressive political party on a state level. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Morozov has been focused on coordinating the work of several organizations united around helping the Armed Forces and civilians affected by hostilities, including recently liberated war-torn communities. He is currently leading the launch of a large-scale project of Hart, a comprehensive Military and Civilian Recovery Space, which involves the renovation of old buildings to provide professional physical, psychological, and social rehabilitation primarily for wounded veterans.
Corey Scher Researcher, CUNY Graduate Center Corey Scher studies landscape changes in war and conflict settings using satellite radar data, cloud computing, and geoscience theory. He successfully defended his doctoral dissertation in January 2025 on the use of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) to monitor landscape changes caused by conflict. Scher’s research has been featured in major publications including The New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, BBC, CNN, NPR, and Bloomberg. He has been interviewed about mapping wartime damage by organizations such as NPR, Scientific American, Marketplace, and Democracy Now. His work is also cited in international humanitarian reports and used as evidence in litigation related to international humanitarian law. He actively contributes to the emergent field of conflict Earth observation, coordinating closely with the Conflict Ecology group at Oregon State University and organizing with the Conflict and Environment Academic Network and the Decentralized Damage Mapping Group.
Milena Sterio James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law, Cleveland State University College of Law Milena Sterio specializes in International Law, International Criminal Law, and Human Rights and Transitional Justice, and has done extensive work on Ukraine-related projects. She is the author of ten books and numerous law review articles and other writings. She is co-editor of a new book, Ukraine and the New World Order, which will be published by Routledge in 2025. She holds leadership positions at the American Society of International Law, the American Branch of the International Law Association, the International Penal Law Association, and the American Association of Law Schools. Sterio has testified before the U.S. Department of State Foreign Relations Committee, presented at the United Nations, and participated in International Criminal Court proceedings as an amicus expert. She was also a Fulbright scholar in Azerbaijan in 2013 and currently serves on the Fulbright Specialist Roster. She holds law degrees from Cornell University Law School and Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne University. X: @Milena Sterio
Phil Tinn Research Advisor, MIT Ukraine, Center for International Studies, MIT; Research Scientist, SINTEF Phil Tinn is a research scientist at the Norwegian applied research foundation, SINTEF, where he investigates the applications of AI and Machine Learning across the domains of security, logistics, public policy, bioinformatics, and space exploration. At MIT Ukraine, Phil builds partnerships across the Atlantic to support the development of its research portfolio. Drawn from experiences of the Open Government movement in Taiwan, his research aims at building capabilities for socio-technical innovations that leverage both civil society and contemporary technologies. Tinn's key areas of focus include countering influence operations and humanitarian demining. Beyond his Ukrainian dossier, Tinn curates the AISD Forum, a cross-disciplinary learning community for MIT alums and diverse practitioners to explore the intersection of AI and Security & Defense challenges. Tinn completed his B.A. at UC Berkeley and Sciences Po Paris, MCP in Transportation at MIT, and MSc in Computer Science at UT Austin. Bluesky: mntmrtr1540.bsky.social Mastodon: @mntmrtr1540 Instagram
Darya Tsymbalyuk Assistant Professor, University of Chicago Darya Tsymbalyuk is an interdisciplinary scholar, and her practice includes writing and image-making. Most of her work lies at the intersection of environmental humanities and artistic research. She is a recipient of the Mary Zirin Prize from the Association of Women in Slavic Studies (2023). Tsymbalyuk serves as Assistant Professor at the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Chicago. Her latest publication is "Ecocide in Ukraine: The Environmental Cost of Russia's War", forthcoming with Polity. X: @DaryaTsymbalyuk Instagram: @darya_tsymbalyuk
Jonathon Turnbull Junior Research Fellow, Jesus College, University of Oxford Jonathon Turnbull is a cultural, environmental, and urban geographer from Newcastle upon Tyne. His research examines how understandings of nature are produced and contested across geographical contexts and why this matters for more-than-human social, political, and economic life. Turnbull completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2023. He conducted long-term more-than-human ethnographic fieldwork exploring narratives of nature's recovery in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine. His first monograph, Radioactive Resurgence, explores how nature is made sense of at Chornobyl by diverse scientists, publics, and local communities. He is currently making a film—The Dogs That Survived / Собаки Що Вижили—that draws from his research with a crew in Ukraine. In 2021, Turnbull co-founded the Ukrainian Environmental Humanities Network and curated several artistic residencies, public seminar series, and public-facing journals. He is a co-editor of Digital Ecologies: Mediating More-Than-Human Worlds and Solomiya: The Environmental Issue published in 2025. X: @jonnyjjt Bluesky: @jonnyjjt.bsky.social Instagram: @jonnyjt
John Vsetecka Assistant Professor of History, Nova Southeastern University John Vsetecka is Assistant Professor of History at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL. He is a specialist in eastern European and Soviet history, with a particular emphasis on the history of famine in Ukraine. Vsetecka is the co-author (with Daria Mattingly) of the forthcoming edited volume, The Holodomor in Global Perspective: How the Famine in Ukraine Shaped the World (ibidem-Verlag, distributed by Columbia University Press), which will be released in 2025. He is also currently completing his first solo-authored book that is tentatively entitled, In the Wake of Hunger: Confronting the Legacies of the Holodomor in Soviet Ukraine during the 1930s. Vsetecka is the founder and co-editor of H-Ukraine, an online site (part of the larger H-Net platform) dedicated to promoting academic and scholarly content related to the study of Ukraine and a podcast host for the New Book Network's Ukrainian Studies series. X: @JohnVsetecka

Anna Ackermann

Policy Analyst, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD); Board Member, Centre for Environmental Initiatives Ecoaction

Anna Ackermann is a policy analyst with the Energy team at the IISD, where she works on the green reconstruction of Ukraine. She supports European organizations in designing approaches to Ukraine’s sustainable post-war recovery and development.

Ackermann is a founding member of the Center for Environmental Initiatives Ecoaction, where she previously served as Head of the Climate Department and now serves as a board member. She has contributed to projects on just transitions for coal regions in collaboration with international and Ukrainian partners.

Previously, Ackermann managed the Energy Policy Reform expert group within Ukraine's Reanimation Package of Reforms, contributing to key initiatives such as establishment of the Energy Efficiency Fund and reforms in the electricity and building sectors in Ukraine.

Suresh Babu

Head of Capacity Strengthening and Senior Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Extraordinary Professor, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Dr. Suresh Babu is the Asia Lead for the Comprehensive Action for the Climate Change Initiative (CACCI) and Capacity Strengthening Lead, Asia, for the USAID Feed The Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy. As a Senior Research Fellow and Head of Capacity Strengthening at IFPRI, he oversees global, regional, and national programs in institutional and capacity development.

Dr. Babu has led focused research and national dialogues that informed food security and climate change policies in countries across Africa and Asia, including India, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, and Nepal. He has published extensively, including 24 books and over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, and he serves on the editorial boards of leading journals such as Food and Nutrition Bulletin and Food Security.

Dr. Babu holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Economics from Iowa State University. He is a visiting professor at the Madras School of Economics, and an Elected Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NASS) in India.

Margarita M. Balmaceda

Professor of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University; Associate, Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI)

Margarita M. Balmaceda is a political scientist working at the intersection of international relations, energy political economy, and technology. She is the author of Russian Energy Chains: The Remaking of Technopolitics from Siberia to Ukraine to the European Union (2021).

Dr. Balmaceda holds a PhD in Politics from Princeton University and certifications in sustainable fertilizers from the Sustainable Fertilizer Academy. She is a 2024-2025 Wilson Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Her article, Ukraine’s Reconstruction Will Raise Key Energy and Natural Resource Challenges and Choices, is forthcoming in the winter 2025 issue of the Fletcher Forum.

Polina Beliakova

Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Polina Beliakova is a scholar of international security specializing in civil-military relations and the use of force, with regional expertise in Russia and Ukraine. Her book project, Know Thy Military and Know Thyself, examines how governmental policies on the use of force can unintentionally weaken civilian control of the military.

Beliakova earned her Ph.D. in International Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. She has held postdoctoral positions at Dartmouth College's Dickey Center for International Understanding and MIT’s Security Studies Program. In August 2025, she will join the faculty of American University’s School of International Service as an Assistant Professor of Global Security and Foreign Policy.

Anja Berestetska

Urban Innovation Specialist, UNITAC, United Nations Innovation Technology Accelerator for Cities, HafenCity University Hamburg

Anja Berestetska is an urban innovation specialist with a professional background in urban planning and translation. Her focus is on data-driven decision-making and capacity building in support of sustainable urban recovery in Ukraine.

At UNITAC Ukraine, she works on the application of innovative, data-driven solutions to urban challenges, facilitating strategies for resilient and sustainable post-war recovery. She equips future urban professionals with practical tools for informed and impactful urban planning as the curator of the course "Urban Data Science and Quantitative Methods" at the Kyiv School of Economics. With expertise in sustainable mobility, urban revitalization, and project management, Berestetska integrates spatial data and collaborative methods to develop resilient, citizen-centered urban strategies. Her professional experience includes fostering partnerships and promoting innovative practices in urban development on projects in Ukraine and Germany.

Eve Blau

Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University; Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University

Eve Blau is the Director of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University and Adjunct Professor of the History and Theory of Urban Form and Design at the Graduate School of Design where she is also Co-Director of the Harvard Mellon Urban Initiative.

A principal concern of her research is with the complex dynamics of urban transformation in the context of rapidly changing sociopolitical, environmental, and technological conditions. A major focus is on cities and urban regions in the post-socialist world. Her books include Baku: Oil and Urbanism; The Architecture of Red Vienna, 1919-1934; Project Zagreb: Transition as Condition, Strategy, Practice; Shaping the Great City: Modern Architecture in Central Europe. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the Society of Architectural Historians.

Thammy Evans

Non-Resident Fellow, Atlantic Council

Thammy Evans is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the GeoTech Center of the Atlantic Council and a Senior Research Associate of the Climate Change and (In)Security Project, a collaboration between the University of Oxford and the British Army’s Centre for Historical and Armed Conflict Research (CHACR).

Having worked for NATO, the UN, the UK MOD, private sector, and NGOs, her career spans systems and resource sustainability, security sector reform, gender and security, public information, and political advising. She has worked around the world, and published with Carnegie Europe, Chatham House, British Army Review, Modern Asian Studies, Small Wars Journal, and the London Ukrainian Review.

Most recently she has written on measuring conflict prevention and co-authored the chapter on “Ecological Security: The New Military Operational Priority for Humanitarian and Disaster Response” for Climate Change, Conflict & (In)Security: Hot War.

Bluesky: @thammyevans.bsky.social
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Santiago Garces

Chief Information Officer, City of Boston; Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School

Santiago "Santi" Garces is an expert in civic technology and urban innovation, dedicated to improving government efficiency and public service delivery. As the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the City of Boston, he leads the Innovation and Technology Cabinet, leveraging data science and human-centered design to drive government transformation.

Garces has an extensive background in civic technology, having served as CIO for the cities of South Bend and Pittsburgh. He co-founded enFocus, a nonprofit focused on developing innovative solutions for government and industry. His leadership in urban planning, sustainability, and technological infrastructure has earned him recognition, including a Bloomberg Mayor’s Innovation Award for the Commuter’s Trust initiative.

A native of Bogotá, Colombia, Garces remains committed to shaping cities into more efficient, inclusive, and technologically advanced communities.

Bart Gruyaert

Project Director, Neo-Eco Ukraine

Bart Gruyaert is an experienced leader in industrial technologies, business strategy, and circular economy. Currently, he focuses on restoring Ukraine's ecology and rebuilding territorial economies using circular economy principles implemented by Neo-Eco Ukraine.

Gruyaert has served as CEO for both HP Robotics and Altifort and has worked in senior management positions at PUNCH Metals, ArcelorMittal, Ahlers, and Saint-Gobain. He has over 10 years of experience in turning around companies (machine building and metals) and is an experienced manager of industrial technologies (including IOT, AI and robotics).

Gruyaert holds a Master’s in Business Administration from EHSAL Management School in Brussels and a degree in naval engineering from the University of Gent.

Kristina Hook

Assistant Professor of Conflict Management, Kennesaw State University; Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council Eurasia Center

Dr. Kristina Hook is an anthropologist specializing in civilian protection, Ukrainian-Russian relations, and Ukrainian national identity formation. She has been conducting research and extended fieldwork across Ukraine since 2015, supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, USAID, Fulbright, National Endowment for the Humanities, and others.

Hook's forthcoming book focuses on the dynamics and legacy of the Ukrainian Holodomor. Her analysis has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Genocide Studies and Prevention, Small Wars and Insurgencies, CNN, USA Today, Washington Post, and elsewhere.

Hook received her joint PhD in anthropology and peace studies from the University of Notre Dame. She previously served as a U.S. Department of State policy adviser for mass atrocity prevention, as a nonresident research fellow at the Marine Corps University, and as a U.S. Presidential Management Fellow. She is presently a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.

X: @Kristina__Hook; @kennesawstate

Kateryna Ivanchenko

CEO, Center for Innovation Development (CID)

Kateryna Ivanchenko is the CEO of the Center for Innovations Development (CID), a leading Ukrainian analytics and consulting center specializing in data and IT solutions for government, parliament, regional administrations, territorial communities, international organizations, and media. CID’s expertise lies in data-driven approaches and advanced technologies, including geoinformation technologies, Big Data, and AI.

Under Ivanchenko's leadership, CID has established itself as the groundbreaking organization in developing strategic and planning documents, designing IT solutions, conducting in-depth research, and preparing road maps. CID is a pioneer of digital democracy in Ukraine and the founder of the UAct Network, uniting over 60 regional CSOs to enhance transparency, efficiency, and democratic reconstruction. Additionally, CID has developed the eIDEA platform to foster civil society engagement and public participation in Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery efforts.

In addition to managing CID, Ivanchenko co-founded the Economic Profile platform, aggregating data from over 100 sources to support local governments in economic recovery, investment attraction, and business development. She also advises international projects, including the EU Commission’s Digital Twin for Reconstruction, offering guidance on stakeholder engagement and platform development.

Bogdan Kelichavyi

Mayor, Kopychyntsi Municipality, Ukraine

Bogdan Kelichavyi is an accomplished public servant and expert in e-governance, international law, and project planning. Since October 2020, he has served as Mayor of Kopychyntsi Municipality, leading a community of approximately 15,000 citizens in Ukraine's Ternopil region.

Previously, Kelichavyi contributed to Ukraine’s decentralization reforms through the USAID DOBRE program, where he supported governance in over 75 communities as a Local Economic Development Officer at Global Communities.

Kelichavyi holds a Master's in e-Governance Technologies and International Law from Tallinn University of Technology and a Bachelor’s in Law from Chernivtsi Yuriy Fedkovych National University. He also studied electronics and telecommunications during an Erasmus exchange in France, where he spent a year living and working in Canada before returning to Ukraine to rebuild his community. Since the full-scale invasion, his community has welcomed many internally displaced persons from all over Ukraine, with over 10% of its population now being newcomers.

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Oleksandra Keudel

Associate Professor, Kyiv School of Economics; Associate, Harvard University

Oleksandra Keudel is an Associate Professor at the Kyiv School of Economics. She studies democratic transformation and societal resilience in hybrid regimes, specializing in Ukraine’s sub-national politics. She combines academic research with policy consulting on open government and public integrity for international organizations, such as the EU and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.

She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin and has been a visiting researcher at Harvard University, George Washington University, NYU, and Södertörn University.

X: @sashkovska
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Olga Khakova

Deputy Director, European Energy Security, Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center

Olga Khakova leads GEC’s portfolio on synchronizing climate, energy security, and competitiveness efforts through transatlantic cooperation. She addresses these issues through in-depth reports and high-level convenings, many of which are focused on reducing Russia’s energy influence and support for Ukraine’s energy security.

Before joining the Atlantic Council, Olga was a senior program coordinator for the US Energy Association’s Energy Technology and Governance Program. She helped start and manage the Western Balkans’ Electricity Market Initiative working group. Her experience also includes serving as program director for The Climate + Energy Project (CEP), a clean energy nonprofit in the Midwest. While at CEP, she co-led the conception and development of the Clean Energy Business Council and facilitated statewide stakeholder engagement on energy issues, such as education and outreach on rate design dockets at the Kansas Corporation Commission. During her time at Bombardier Aerospace, she organized aviation safety programming focused on human factors called Safety Standdown, which took place in Brazil, Canada, China, and the United States. Olga holds a professional science masters in environmental assessment from the University of Kansas.

Jojo Mehta

Co-Founder and CEO, Stop Ecocide International

Jojo Mehta co-founded Stop Ecocide in 2017, alongside barrister and legal pioneer the late Polly Higgins, to support the establishment of ecocide as a crime at the International Criminal Court. As CEO and key spokesperson, she has overseen the remarkable growth of the movement while coordinating between legal developments, diplomatic traction, and public narrative.

Mehta is the Chair of the charitable Stop Ecocide Foundation and convenor of the Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide chaired by Philippe Sands QC and Dior Fall Sow. The resulting definition, launched in June 2021, has catalyzed legislative developments, recommendations, and resolutions at national, regional, and international levels.

X: @ecocidelaw
Instagram: @ecocidelaw

Juliy Morozov

Co-Founder, Stop Poisoning Kryvyi Rih

Juliy Morozov is the co-founder and the deputy director of the Charity Foundation “Shelter Plus” which established the first independent cultural community center in the city of Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. In 2015, he and his colleagues started the NGO “Union of Responsible Citizens” which works to strengthen civic activism on a city level. In 2016, he founded the coalition “Stop Poisoning Kryvyi Rih,” which deals with environmental issues in one of the most polluted Ukrainian cities. He was also a city council member, actively involved in the development of a young and progressive political party on a state level.

Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Morozov has been focused on coordinating the work of several organizations united around helping the Armed Forces and civilians affected by hostilities, including recently liberated war-torn communities. He is currently leading the launch of a large-scale project of Hart, a comprehensive Military and Civilian Recovery Space, which involves the renovation of old buildings to provide professional physical, psychological, and social rehabilitation primarily for wounded veterans.

Corey Scher

Researcher, CUNY Graduate Center

Corey Scher studies landscape changes in war and conflict settings using satellite radar data, cloud computing, and geoscience theory. He successfully defended his doctoral dissertation in January 2025 on the use of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) to monitor landscape changes caused by conflict.

Scher’s research has been featured in major publications including The New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, BBC, CNN, NPR, and Bloomberg. He has been interviewed about mapping wartime damage by organizations such as NPR, Scientific American, Marketplace, and Democracy Now. His work is also cited in international humanitarian reports and used as evidence in litigation related to international humanitarian law.

He actively contributes to the emergent field of conflict Earth observation, coordinating closely with the Conflict Ecology group at Oregon State University and organizing with the Conflict and Environment Academic Network and the Decentralized Damage Mapping Group.

Milena Sterio

James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law, Cleveland State University College of Law

Milena Sterio specializes in International Law, International Criminal Law, and Human Rights and Transitional Justice, and has done extensive work on Ukraine-related projects. She is the author of ten books and numerous law review articles and other writings. She is co-editor of a new book, Ukraine and the New World Order, which will be published by Routledge in 2025. She holds leadership positions at the American Society of International Law, the American Branch of the International Law Association, the International Penal Law Association, and the American Association of Law Schools.

Sterio has testified before the U.S. Department of State Foreign Relations Committee, presented at the United Nations, and participated in International Criminal Court proceedings as an amicus expert. She was also a Fulbright scholar in Azerbaijan in 2013 and currently serves on the Fulbright Specialist Roster. She holds law degrees from Cornell University Law School and Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne University.

X: @Milena Sterio

Phil Tinn

Research Advisor, MIT Ukraine, Center for International Studies, MIT; Research Scientist, SINTEF

Phil Tinn is a research scientist at the Norwegian applied research foundation, SINTEF, where he investigates the applications of AI and Machine Learning across the domains of security, logistics, public policy, bioinformatics, and space exploration. At MIT Ukraine, Phil builds partnerships across the Atlantic to support the development of its research portfolio. Drawn from experiences of the Open Government movement in Taiwan, his research aims at building capabilities for socio-technical innovations that leverage both civil society and contemporary technologies.

Tinn's key areas of focus include countering influence operations and humanitarian demining. Beyond his Ukrainian dossier, Tinn curates the AISD Forum, a cross-disciplinary learning community for MIT alums and diverse practitioners to explore the intersection of AI and Security & Defense challenges. Tinn completed his B.A. at UC Berkeley and Sciences Po Paris, MCP in Transportation at MIT, and MSc in Computer Science at UT Austin.

Bluesky: mntmrtr1540.bsky.social
Mastodon: @mntmrtr1540
Instagram

Darya Tsymbalyuk

Assistant Professor, University of Chicago

Darya Tsymbalyuk is an interdisciplinary scholar, and her practice includes writing and image-making. Most of her work lies at the intersection of environmental humanities and artistic research. She is a recipient of the Mary Zirin Prize from the Association of Women in Slavic Studies (2023).

Tsymbalyuk serves as Assistant Professor at the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Chicago. Her latest publication is "Ecocide in Ukraine: The Environmental Cost of Russia's War", forthcoming with Polity.

X: @DaryaTsymbalyuk
Instagram: @darya_tsymbalyuk

Jonathon Turnbull

Junior Research Fellow, Jesus College, University of Oxford

Jonathon Turnbull is a cultural, environmental, and urban geographer from Newcastle upon Tyne. His research examines how understandings of nature are produced and contested across geographical contexts and why this matters for more-than-human social, political, and economic life.

Turnbull completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2023. He conducted long-term more-than-human ethnographic fieldwork exploring narratives of nature's recovery in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine. His first monograph, Radioactive Resurgence, explores how nature is made sense of at Chornobyl by diverse scientists, publics, and local communities. He is currently making a film—The Dogs That Survived / Собаки Що Вижили—that draws from his research with a crew in Ukraine.

In 2021, Turnbull co-founded the Ukrainian Environmental Humanities Network and curated several artistic residencies, public seminar series, and public-facing journals. He is a co-editor of Digital Ecologies: Mediating More-Than-Human Worlds and Solomiya: The Environmental Issue published in 2025.

X: @jonnyjjt
Bluesky: @jonnyjjt.bsky.social
Instagram: @jonnyjt

John Vsetecka

Assistant Professor of History, Nova Southeastern University

John Vsetecka is Assistant Professor of History at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL. He is a specialist in eastern European and Soviet history, with a particular emphasis on the history of famine in Ukraine.

Vsetecka is the co-author (with Daria Mattingly) of the forthcoming edited volume, The Holodomor in Global Perspective: How the Famine in Ukraine Shaped the World (ibidem-Verlag, distributed by Columbia University Press), which will be released in 2025. He is also currently completing his first solo-authored book that is tentatively entitled, In the Wake of Hunger: Confronting the Legacies of the Holodomor in Soviet Ukraine during the 1930s.

Vsetecka is the founder and co-editor of H-Ukraine, an online site (part of the larger H-Net platform) dedicated to promoting academic and scholarly content related to the study of Ukraine and a podcast host for the New Book Network's Ukrainian Studies series.

X: @JohnVsetecka