Scott Heckbert (PhD 2010) is the Principal Environmental Scientist at the Alberta Energy Regulator, and an Adjunct Professor at University of Alberta and University of Lethbridge, Canada. Scott’s area of specialization is combining agent-based models, GIS, and 3D visualization. These technologies are used as digital laboratories where scientists, decision makers, and stakeholders can interact for improved understanding of complex social-environmental systems.

He is a member of IEEE, a computer scientist, an Information Technologist, and a Research Lab Head at the Dig Connectivity Research Laboratory (DCRLab), Kampala, Uganda. My research broadly integrates and focuses on developing principled computationally and statistically efficient models and algorithms for various machine learning problems in Smart Agriculture, Ecological Informatics, Computer Vision, Applied AI, Cybersecurity and Privacy, and Smart Cities. I attained a Bachelor in Information Technology at the Faculty of Science & Computing, Ndejje University, Kampala, Uganda; a Master in Information Technology Engineering (Computer and Communication Networks); and PhD in Computer Science Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei. He has received additional training from, among others, the National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, and the Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA. Hundreds of scholarly publications, including those in prestigious peer-reviewed journal articles, numerous IEEE International, non-IEEE Conference proceedings, book chapters, and books have been published. Reviewer/editorial support of over twelve (Scopus, Compendex (Elsevier Engineering Index), and WoS International Journals, including Expert Systems With Applications, Scientific Reports and Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. I served in several capacities, including being departmental support for Mathematics for Data Science, Advanced Topics in Computing, and Advanced Algorithms. Prior to this, I served as a community data officer at Pace-Uganda, a research associate at TechnoServe, a research assistant at PSI-Uganda, a research lead at the Socio-economic Data Centre (SEDC-Uganda) and ag. managing director at Asmaah Charity Organisation.

S.R. Aurora, also known as Mai P. Trinh, is an Assistant Professor of Management at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Her interdisciplinary work intersects leadership, complex systems science, education, technology, and inclusion. Her research harnesses technology to cultivate future leaders and helps people thrive in our volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) high-tech world, aligning with four United Nations’ sustainable development goals: Quality education (#4), Gender equality (#5), Decent work and economic growth (#8), and Reduced inequalities (#10). She has published in top-tiered peer-reviewed journals such as The Leadership Quarterly and The Academy of Management Learning and Education and received multiple national and international awards for her research, teaching, and mentoring. Dr. Aurora earned her doctoral degree in Organizational Behavior from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in 2016.