People

Rachna Mathur
Graduate Research Assistant

Mike Vargas
Convergence Lead, Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

Amanda Whitehurst
Convergence Lead, Arizona STEM Acceleration Project
arober16@asu.edu

Brook Thompson
Brook Thompson is a Yurok and Karuk Native from Northern California. Brook fights for water and Native American rights through speaking to groups and frontline activism. Brook was the 2019

Melanie Valencia
Melanie Valencia is an Andean, originally from Ambato, Ecuador. She is currently pursuing her interdisciplinary PhD in circular economy from both economics and engineering perspectives. Her research focuses on the

Nandita Kumar
Nandita Kumar is a new-media artist who works at the intersection art, environmental science, technology, and community. She explores the elemental process through which human beings construct meaning from their

Aravind Hari Nair
Content Specialist

Benjamin Ong
Applied Imagination Fellow, 2021-2022 Benjamin Ong is an ecologist by training, an educator by passion, and an explorer at heart. Between 2014 and 2019, he anchored volunteer engagement and environmental

Regina Kanyu Wang
Applied Imagination Fellow, 2021-2022 Regina Kanyu Wang is a writer, researcher, and editor, currently pursuing her PhD as part of the CoFUTURES project at the University of Oslo. Her research

Ian Edwards
Applied Imagination Fellow, 2021-2022 Ian Edwards is executive director of the Cape Cod Center for Sustainability, a registered nonprofit organization in Provincetown, Massachusetts that is focused on the question, “What’s

Sultan Sharrief
Applied Imagination Fellow, 2021-2022 Sultan Sharrief is a trans-media activist, filmmaker, and XR designer. He holds a BA in Film from University of Michigan, an MS in Comparative Media from

Panthea Lee
Applied Imagination Fellow, 2021-2022 Panthea Lee is a strategist, organizer, designer, and facilitator working for structural justice and collective liberation, and the executive director of Reboot. She builds healing coalitions

David J. Staley
David J. Staley is an Associate Professor of History, with courtesy appointments in the Department of Design and the Department of Educational Studies at The Ohio State University. He is the author of Alternative Universities: Speculative Design for Innovation in Higher Education,

Aleks Romano
Aleks Romano is a human-centered designer, eternal reimaginer, and incurable bookworm. Embodying the literary tradition of Octavia E. Butler and Ursula K. LeGuin, Aleks creates experiential learning workshops that challenge

Stefania Metzger
Graduate Research Assistant

Zeinab Serhan
Graduate Research Assistant

Steven Weiner
Imaginary Graduate Fellow

Dani Pogue
Communication and Research Specialist

Adam Clark
Graduate Research Assistant

Deena Gould
Teacher-In-Residence
Assistant Research Professor, School of Molecular Sciences
deena.gould@asu.edu