Group members


Leader(s)

Dr Shona Koren Paterson Dr Shona Koren Paterson Building on an academic transdisciplinary background in Natural Sciences (Marine Biology, Resource Management) and Social Sciences (Climate Adaptation, Social Justice, Environmental Policy), Shona’s guiding focus remains the generation and translation of defensible research informed by the needs of society and co-created with the intended beneficiaries. Her research is motivated by international frameworks such as the UN 2030 Agenda, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the COP21 Paris Agreement. She has spent her working career building partnerships and knowledge exchange networks with local communities and stakeholders to achieve mutually beneficial social and ecological goals. With a special interest in marginalised communities and social justice and equity, Shona’s recent research has focused on global flood risk and resilience, climate risk assessments, adaptation and adaptive capacity in urbanising coastal areas. Embracing a transdisciplinary approach, Shona works at the interface of science-policy as well as effective and fit-for-audience communication of data and knowledge to ensure increased impactful discourse around risk. She has research experience in the Caribbean, USA, UK and Ireland, as well as a global perspective through involvement with Future Earth and its associated global research project Future Earth Coasts. Shona is the Research Challenge Area Lead for Creative Secure Connected Communities and Director of the Centre for Global Lives at Brunel. As a climate social scientist, her research focuses on the co-design and co-implementation of equitable pathways to sustainability with decision-makers and local communities. With a special focus on just resilience and equity, recent projects include work on transformative adaptation and adaptive capacity as well as local context governance. Shona’s transdisciplinary work aims to facilitates open discourse around risk and complexity by embracing plural ways of knowing. This includes art-science collaborations to catalyse community-led change by cross-pollinating challenge-led processes and outcomes. Examples of transdisciplinary projects include Catching a Wave and the co-curation of immersive installations on Long COVID and Bodies:Transdisciplinarity as Power in partnership with artists and scientitsts through the New York Gallery/Forum Relational Space. Shona is a partner in the UKRI Maximizing Climate Adaptation Hub led by Kings College London and the PATH project that addresses climate mobilities and precariously housed populations in four case studies around the world. She is an active member of the London Climate Ready Partnership and a member of the ACCESS Task Force on Adaptation and Resilience and co-author of Putting people at the centre of UK climate adaptation and resilience.

Members

Dr Fang Wang Dr Fang Wang Dr Fang Wang is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at Brunel University London. She received a PhD in artificial intelligence from the University of Edinburgh and worked as a senior researcher in the research centre of British Telecom (BT) Group, before she joined Brunel University London in 2010. Dr. Wang has published a number of papers in books, journals and conferences and filed a series of patents. Dr. Wang is an established teacher and researcher in computer science and artificial intelligence. Her research interests include nature-inspired computing, agents, intelligent information processing, intelligent distributed computing, cognitive radio networks, e-learning and cloud education, cognitive science and computer vision. She actively participated in a number of EU, EPSRC, BT long term research projects and received several technical awards, including the Gordon Radley Technical Premium Highly Commended award of BT and ACM Best Student Paper Award at the Third International Conference on Autonomous Agents. She is on the editorial boards of several international journals and serves on many program committees. Dr. Wang’s main research interest is in artificial intelligence and its applications. This includes using nature-inspired techniques such as intelligent agents, swarm intelligence, evolutionary computing and neural networks to solve real world applications such as network optimisation, radio spectrum management, decentralised computing, user analysis, self-organising communities, and so on. Lectured, administered, tutored and examined courses at undergraduate and MSc levels on topics including Introduction to programming, Algorithms and their applications, Systems in Context, Digital Innovation, level 1 and level 2 group projects and final year projects. Class sizes varied from 8 to 350. Supervised a number of undergraduate and MSc projects.
Mrs Mandekh Hussein Mrs Mandekh Hussein
Email Mrs Mandekh Hussein Honorary Senior Lecturer
Mandekh Hussein is a Senior Lecturer and Programmе Dirеctor for the BASc Global Challеngеs at Brunеl Univеrsity London. Evident in her approach to teaching, her practice and her network memberships, Mandekh is driven by initiatives grounded in collaboration, sustainability, and ownership. More specifically, she is passionate about work centred on equipping individuals and communities with the resources, skills and opportunities to lead change. With a consulting portfolio spanning over a decade around the world, Mandеkh's journey is truly a mosaic of lеadеrship and innovation. She has еmеrgеd as a prominent practitioner in the realm of furthering health equity and health justice through transformational knowledge-sharing/exchange opportunities underpinned by a commitment to disrupting and dismantling structures which reinforce oppression and fragmentation. -- About the BASc Global Challenges Degree: Through its purposeful design, the BASc Global Challenges degree offers an opportunity for learners to challenge conventional wisdom and cultivate a profound understanding of humanity's dynamic relationship with the world. From their first year, students specialize in one of four meticulously curated pathways (Planetary Health, Social Cohesion, Security and Global Innovation) taken alongside a common “Core Spine”. This degree, spanning sciences, social sciences, and humanities, fosters a transdisciplinary perspective—a necessity when addressing complex global issues. This approach enables students to dive into real-world application from their first year and experience first-hand the challenges and rewards that come from transcending disciplinary boundaries when addressing the urgent and intricate challenges of today. Additionally, certain aspects of the program have been collaboratively developed with local and international partners. We are proud members of the United Nations Academic Impact and the Planetary Health Alliance. In November 2022, the BASc Global Challenges programme won the UK and Ireland Green Gown Awards for Next Generation Learning and Skills. In July 2023, the BASc Global Challenges programme received a "Highly Commended" award at the International Green Gown Award for Next Generation Learning and Skills.
Dr Neveen Abdalla Dr Neveen Abdalla
Email Dr Neveen Abdalla Senior Lecturer in International Relations (Defence and Intelligence)
National and international security Intelligence and policy Social movement escalation Terrorism and counterterrorism Middle East and North Africa (MENA), west Africa focused International Security (Postgraduate) Terrorism and Counterterrorism (Level 6) Conflict in the Modern World (Level 4)
Dr Steven Sam Dr Steven Sam
Email Dr Steven Sam Lecturer in Computer Science
Steven’s research interests relate to the following: Data ethics, accountability, and governance frameworks for AI and digital systems Real-world behaviour, risks, and failures of automated decision-making systems Human-centred, participatory, and interdisciplinary design approaches Digital inequalities, access, and technology use in low-resource contexts Data-driven approaches to societal and sustainable development challenges Social and organisational implications of emerging technologies, including AI, automation, and digital platforms Responsible AI and Digital Governance Human-Centred and Context-Aware AI Systems Human Computer Interactions Human-Computer Interaction for Development Computing for Social Good and ICT for Development Module Leader Ethics and Governance of Digital Systems (CS5705) Supporting Taught Modules Human Computer Interaction (CS3009) Digital Societies (CS2608) Usability Engineering (CS2003) Computer Science – Business Computing Final Year Project (CS3702 – CS3605) Work Placement (CS2555) Year 2 Group Project (CS2001) MSc Dissertation Supervision (CS5500) Crop Classification Using Machine Learning with Environmental, soil and Economic Factors - 2026 Early ADHD Detection in Children in Non-Clinical Environments Using Multimodal Neurophysiological Signals and Video Analysis: Development of a Deep Learning-Based Classification - 2025 (Completed) Crop Yield Production with Machine Learning: Leveraging Environmental and Economic Factors for Crop Yield Production Prediction - 2024 (Completed) Predictive Analysis of Club Progression in the Premier League - 2024 (Completed) E-commerce demand forecasting using machine learning methods - 2024 (Completed) Crop Recommendation with Machine Learning: Leveraging Environmental and Economic factors for Optimal Crop Selection -2023 (Completed) Using advanced machine learning models and explanation methods to predict and identify the greatest risk factors leading to Preterm Births - 2023 (Completed) Analyzing the Effectiveness of Natural Language Processing Techniques for Sentiment Analysis in Social Media Data-2023 (Completed) Designing Emotionally Engaging Gamification To Enhance User Satisfaction And Experience -2023 (Completed) Academic Failure Prevention: A Study on Performance Prediction Models - 2023 (Completed) Analysis and Prediction of Road Accident Severity using Machine Learning - 2022 (Completed) Diagnosis of Facial Diseases using Deep learning Methods (Completed) - 2022 (Completed)