Jenny Tilsen
I am a British American STS scholar, currently working as a postdoctoral researcher in the electrical and computer engineering department at Bucknell University. In this role, I conduct ethnographic research on how faculty and students work on socio technical problems during the engineering design process, implement practical approaches to grappling with ethical considerations in machine learning, and take up storytelling as a STS pedagogical method. My scholarship is focused on examining epistemic cultures, public pedagogies of STS, narrative construction of STS, and science fiction in technoscientific realities.
Alina Geampana
If elected as council member, I would bring both experience in organisational activities and enthusiasm for our field. For the past two years I have been a convenor of the British Sociological Association (BSA) STS study group; I have organised seminar series, conference panels, and plenary streams. I have been a regular attendee and panel organiser at STS conferences (including EASST, 4S, STS Italia) for more than 10 years. Given my interest in topics related to inequality, I would be keen to bring a focus on issues pertaining to diversity and inclusion. This interest also comes from my mentoring activities through the BSA and the Pro North East mentorship network. I believe interdisciplinarity and collegiality are essential to moving STS inquiry forward.
Sigrid Vertommen
I am an inter/transdisciplinary scholar of reproduction who works at the intersection of science and technology studies, gender studies and global health and medicine. I work as a lecturer at the University of Amsterdam (30%) where I teach a course on Critical Perspectives of Global Health, Gender and Care and as a senior research fellow at Ghent University where I conduct research on transnational reproductive technologies (70%). Building on my experiences as a feminist STS researcher, lecturer and civil society organizer, I am excited to submit my candidacy as EASST council member.
Michela Cozza
I am an Associate Professor at the Department of Organisation and Management at Mälardalen University, Sweden. I have been an elected member of the EASST Council since 2021. My first mandate expires in 2024. The European STS community is steadily growing and requiring the EASST Council both continuity and change. As the current Secretary of EASST and Chair of the EASST Ethics Committee, a second mandate would allow me to put my past experience at the service of the Council and the larger STS community and move forward with the present and new Council members.
Mette Kragh-Furbo
I’ve been an STS scholar since my PhD days at Lancaster University (2011-2015), and throughout my 8 years as a postdoctoral researcher. I am now a lecturer in sociology of public health in the Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems at the University of Liverpool. Overall, my research focuses on the relationship between science and medicine, including how biomedical knowledge gets translated into public health policy and practice, healthcare practice, and what this means for people’s everyday lives.
Melanie Smallman
I am currently Professor of Science and Technology Studies at UCL in London, where I research and teach issues relating to the role of technology in inequality and how the social effects of advanced technologies like AI and data science drive wider social and political attitudes. Previously, I have worked on a number of EU funded projects, including leading RRI-Tools, and prior to academia, ran two communications companies and worked as an adviser in the UK Government. I have also sat on the scientific committee of the PCST (public communication of science and technology) Network, experience that I believe would be valuable to EASST.
Govert Valkenburg
I am a research professor of STS at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. I earlier worked at several universities in the Netherlands and I was coordinator of the PhD programme of WTMC, the Netherlands Graduate School of Science, Technology and Modern Culture. My research has covered many empirical fields such as energy, digital technologies and (bio)medical research. I have applied a range of lenses, including ethics and various perspectives on justice, responsible research and innovation, and studies of innovation systems.
Francis Lee
I am an Associate Professor working at the Division of Science, Technology, and Society at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. My main research interests focus on how knowledge infrastructures—such as algorithms, AI, and big data—reshape knowledge production in both society and science. I have conducted research on how algorithms for pandemic surveillance shape how we understand and manage disease. I am currently leading a project that investigates the impact of machine learning and big data on scientific knowledge production in the biosciences.
Interested in hosting the next EASST conference in 2026?
EASST council is waiting for applications from interested parties who would like to host the next EASST conference for the European STS community in 2026.
Nominations round closed for 2024 EASST Council Election
2024 EASST Council Representatives Election: seven Council members and President. Election will take place in October-November 2024.
