I study how networked human, machine, and hybrid systems produce cognition, information diffusion, error, coordination, and collective action. My work connects social networks, organizational behavior, computational social science, experimental network science, behavioral measurement, AI-mediated communication, and applied research infrastructure.

Ronja Hotz is a PhD student in the Land Use Change & Climate Research Group at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where she has been working since August 2023. Her research focuses on understanding and modelling the social processes underlying land use change using agent-based modelling, with a particular emphasis on the CRAFTY framework. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Freie Universität Berlin and a Master’s degree in Theoretical Physics from Technische Universität Berlin.

Prior to her PhD, she worked at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, where she implemented a generic decision-making layer for land managers in agent-based socio-ecological models. The framework was analysed in a stylised model to investigate emergent dynamics and critical transitions and was subsequently integrated into the InSEEDS model, which simulates the adoption of conservation agriculture at regional to global scales.

• GIS Analyst / GIS Specialist: Experienced in applying GIS tools and spatial analysis techniques to
support decision-making in urban planning, environmental management, transportation, and infrastructure
projects. Skilled in producing high-quality maps, conducting spatial analysis, and delivering actionable
geospatial insights for operational and policy use.
• Geospatial Data Scientist: Specialized in developing spatial predictive models by integrating machine
learning and geospatial data to perform risk assessment, suitability analysis, and forecasting using large-
scale datasets such as satellite imagery, climate variables, and land-use data.
• Spatial Data Engineering & Processing: Strong ability to manage and preprocess complex geospatial
datasets, including raster and vector data, DEMs, remote sensing products, and climate projections, with
rigorous attention to spatial reference systems, accuracy, and data quality control.
• GIS Workflow Automation & Optimization: Proven experience in automating geospatial workflows
using ArcGIS Pro, ArcPy, ModelBuilder, FME (ETL), and Python to improve efficiency in spatial analysis,
data processing, and large-scale mapping tasks.
• Remote Sensing & Earth Observation Analysis: Proficient in satellite imagery processing and analysis,
including cloud masking, spectral analysis, vegetation indices, land cover classification, and temporal
change detection using Google Earth Engine and Python.
• Geospatial Visualization & Cartography: Skilled in producing professional-grade thematic maps, spa-
tial dashboards, and web-based geovisualizations to communicate complex geospatial patterns to both
technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Experienced working with multidisciplinary teams across academia,
government, and industry to deliver geospatial solutions for planning, environmental risk assessment, and
policy-driven decision-making.

I am a computational social-ecological systems researcher working at the intersection of biodiversity science, complexity science, and public policy. My research integrates ecological data, computational modeling, machine learning, network analysis, and policy analytics to understand how interactions among biodiversity, society, and institutions shape the dynamics of social-ecological systems. Through interdisciplinary approaches, I aim to generate evidence that supports sustainability, conservation, and adaptive decision-making.

a geographer

Flaminio Squazzoni is Full Professor of Sociology at the Department of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Milan and director of BEHAVE. He teaches “Sociology” to undergraduate students, “Behavioural Sociology” to master students and “Behavioural Game Theory” to PhD students. Untill November 2018, he has been Associate Professor of Economic Sociology at the Department of Economics and Management of the University of Brescia, where he led the GECS-Research Group on Experimental and Computational Sociology.

He is editor of JASSS-Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, co-editor of Sociologica -International Journal for Sociological Debate and member of the editorial boards of Research Integrity and Peer Review and Sistemi Intelligenti. He is advisory editor of the Wiley Series in Computational and Quantitative Social Science and the Springer Series in Computational Social Science and member of the advisory board of ING’s ThinkForward Initiative. He is former President of the European Social Simulation Association (Sept 2012/Sept 2016, since 2010 member of the Management Committee) and former Director of the NASP ESLS PhD Programme in Economic Sociology and Labour Studies (2015-2016).

I have a special interest in food security, agriculture, climate change, and human - ecosystem interactions. My PhD research focused on developing site-specific strategies for enhancing food production by linking process-based models and empirical models with crop production drivers in Kenya. I am advancing the ideas from my doctorate research to exploring the potential of process-based models coupled with climate data and human decisions at agricultural landscapes for food systems analysis

In my research I focus on understanding human behaviour in group(s) as a part of a complex (social) system. My research can be characterised by the overall question: ‘How does group or collective behaviour arise or change given its social and physical context?‘ More specifically, I have engaged with: ‘How is (individual) human behaviour affected by being in a crowd?’, ‘Why do some groups (cooperatively) use their resources sustainably, whereas others do not?‘, ‘What is the role of (often implicit simplistic) assumptions regarding human behaviour for science and/or management?’

To address these questions, I use computational simulations to integrate and reflect synthesised knowledge from literature, empirics and experts. Models, simulation and data analysis are my tools for gaining a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying such systems. More specifically, I work with agent-based modelling (ABM), simulation experiments and data analysis of large datasets. Apart from crowd modelling and social-ecological modelling, I also develop methodological tools to analyse social simulation data and combining ABM with other methods, such as behavioural experiments.

Science is most interesting when it subverts expectations. As a medic in the army, I used to think of the world in terms of strict hierarchies; some central governing agency gives orders, which trickle down the chain of command. However, it turns out that most biological systems do not work this way, instead distributing control among the members of the group (be they genes, cells, animals). I have since dedicated my research career to understanding how this works. Currently, I am a postdoctoral fellow at Arizona State University in the School of Complex Adaptive Systems, which is the same university where I received my PhD.