Dr Simon Coulombe is an assistant professor in community psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. He is visiting Surrey this winter and this spring to collaborate with Dr David Frost, lecturer in the School of Psychology. As part of a larger study (project SHARe) directed by Dr Allen LeBlanc, professor in sociology at San Francisco State University, the three researchers are analyzing the dyadic processes underlying the influence of minority stress on the relationship projects (i.e., goals, concerns) and well-being of LGBT individuals. Using data from the first wave of this large study with same-sex couples, Dr Coulombe’s visit at Surrey will be an opportunity to develop several manuscripts showcasing the results from such analyses. This should also set the foundations for a future collaborative study to explore stigma toward LGBT individuals and their projects, in relation to LGBT rights and social policy in different parts of the world. See personal webpage
Born in New Zealand, Duncan attended the University of Canterbury in Christchurch (NZ) for his honours degree in Astronomy. He then worked at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore (USA), before embarking on his PhD at Cambridge University (UK). After a postdoc position at the University of California Santa Cruz (USA), he took up a Lectureship at the University of Birmingham (UK). In 2000, he moved to a new astronomy group at Swinburne University in Melbourne (Australia). Since then the group has grown from half a dozen to over 80 people, and is now one of Australia’s largest. Duncan has travelled extensively related to his research on nearby galaxies and their ancient star clusters. Most recently, he visited Ecuador and gave a seminar at the University in Quito. Quito is located at about 2.7 km above sea level. Several years ago, Duncan gave a seminar 2.7 km below sea level – at a dark matter experiment located in a nickel mine in Canada. See personal webpage
Dr Kristen Knutson is a biomedical anthropologist, and as such, she is interested in how sociocultural factors intersect with sleep and circadian physiology to impact human health. Her research studies involve a combination of clinical laboratory assessments and field-based, “real-world” assessments. Her research focuses on the association between sleep, circadian rhythms and cardiometabolic diseases, including diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. She is also interested in identifying biopsychosocial factors that are associated with disturbances in sleep or circadian rhythms. Her research also examines whether sleep and/or circadian rhythms partially mediate socioeconomic or racial/ethnic disparities in cardiometabolic diseases. See personal webpage
Annick Masselot’s research interests focus upon European Union and comparative law, specifically with regards to gender equality and equal treatment, social and employment law, reconciliation between work and family life, pregnancy and maternity rights. Her expertise on the achievement of gender equality represents a primary reference point and has both shaped the field conceptually as well as impacted directly on policy making, especially in the fields of reconciliation between work and family life, and pregnancy and maternity rights in the context of employment law and social policy. She has also researched and written extensively on the interconnection between gender equality and a wide breadth of law and societal areas, including corporate and financial governance; international trade negotiations; diversity in the sciences; aid and development; disaster risk management; democratisation, intersectional disadvantages and gender mainstreaming. See personal page