Meet the people who make it happen

Eric W. Welch is a professor in the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University where he teaches organization theory, public policy, and social network analysis. He received his doctorate from the Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs specializing in science and technology policy and environmental policy and administration. Professor Welch directs the Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Studies (C-STEPS) at ASU. He is a Senior Global Futures Scientist in ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and an affiliated faculty member in the the ASU Center for Organization Research and Design, the ASU Center on Technology, Data and Society, the ASU Sweete Center for Sustainable Food Systems, the ASU Institute for Social Science Research, and the ASU School for the Future of Innovation and Society.

His research interests include climate change adaptation, science and technology policy,  technological innovation, research and data governance, and public management. He has 25 years of experience evaluating large multi-institution, interdisciplinary research projects in which he provides formative and summative assessments for research design and institutionalization, distributed network collaboration structures, integration of diversity, workforce development and knowledge production. He has evaluated major research investments for USAID, UN FAO, NIH, and the NSF EPSCoR program.

Welch has received funding for previous research projects from NSF, NIH, USGS, USAID BFS, USDA NIFA, UN FAO and others. He has led NSF-funded multi-institutional projects on topics including: data integration for decision making at the water-energy nexus; globalization of the scientific workforce; academic research excellence and competitiveness; impacts of regulation on science; crisis response; genomic data sharing and governance; university invention commercialization; and team science and collaboration. He is also the director of the Scientist Panel Opinion Survey (SciOPS) a science expertise opinion aggregator designed to bring greater communication and close knowledge gaps between science and society. 

Welch is currently leading a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded international team focused on understanding the role of meso-level organizations in amplifying investment in climate change adaptation finance in Ghana, Malawi, South Africa and Kenya. He is also currently collaborating with researchers at CIRAD France and the UN FAO to develop national guidance for advancing science policy interfaces for agrifood systems. The center he directs, CSTEPS, is supporting two long-term survey-based studies in public management: the Technology in Government Survey and the Transit Adaptation to Climate Change Survey.

Professor Welch has published more than 150 peer-reviewed articles, refereed proceedings, monographs, and book chapters. His most recent academic work is visible at google scholar and research gate.  He has published in journals such as Social Science and Humanities (Nature), Social Networks, Global Food Security, Research Policy, Science and Public Policy, OMICS, New Phytologist, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Biobanking and Biopreservation, Business Strategy and the Environment, Environmental Management, Journal of Technology Transfer and Technovation. He has also recently published outside of academia including for the CCAFS program on farmer networks and climate smart technologies, the UN FAO on the implications of digital sequence information on the International Plant Treaty, and the global governance of research and development.

Timothy Johnson is Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois, Senior Fellow at NORC at the University of Chicago, and Adjunct Faculty Member in the Center for Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy Studies at Arizona State University. He also served as Director of the University of Illinois at Chicago Survey Research Laboratory for 23 years. For most of his career, his research focus has addressed sources of survey error in health and social statistics with an emphasis on cultural variability in measurement and nonresponse errors and the sampling of professional populations such as health care clinicians and scientists. Johnson’s work has been recognized by the American Statistical Association (Fellow, 2015) and the American Association for Public Opinion Research (Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement, 2023). He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers, edited or co-edited 7 books & monographs and authored more than 40 book chapters. His research can be found on both Google Scholar and ResearchGate.

Lesley is the research project manager for the Center for Science, Technology & Environmental Policy Studies (C-STEPS) at Arizona State University. In this role, she supports a variety of research projects and the Center’s overall operations including: budget and human resources management, pre and post-award grant management, and assisting with the development of an online platform, SciOPS, designed to showcase STEM experts’ input on current events and timely science and tech issues.

Lesley holds a Master of Arts in Environmental Studies and a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Environmental Studies and Psychology from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She has over ten years of experience working in the public sector, with a focus on public policy as it relates to sustainability and environmental protection. Prior to joining C-STEPS, Lesley worked in ASU’s University Sustainability Practices department where she designed and implemented programs and policies to advance sustainability across the institution. She has also held previous roles as a rule and regulation writer for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and as an event manager for ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability.

Lesley began her work in the public sector through the AmeriCorps Public Allies program, where she gained leadership and community development training, while serving at 10-month apprenticeship at the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, an environmental conservation non-profit based in Scottsdale.

Lesley has held several leadership roles in community outreach and policy development in the Phoenix area, including serving as appointed commissioner on the City of Phoenix Environmental Quality & Sustainability Commission and most recently, member of Valley Leadership Accelerate 2019 cohort. She is currently pursuing a J.D. at ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law. 

Wenceslao Arroyo Machado is a Postdoctoral Researcher with a PhD in Information and Communication Technologies from the University of Granada (UGR), Spain. He completed his undergraduate studies in Information and Documentation in 2017 and his Master’s in Data Science and Computer Engineering in 2018, both at UGR. His doctoral research, which he completed in 2023, focused on the integration of big data techniques with scientometrics and social media analysis.

His research interests are centered on the science-society relationship and developing comprehensive new approaches to research evaluation. He has extensive experience in evaluative bibliometrics and, in recent years, has contributed to the development of the new narrative bibliometrics. During his PhD studies, he specialized in scientometrics and the study of social media from a big data perspective, with a particular focus on platforms such as Wikipedia and X (formerly Twitter). Additionally, he is interested in and conducts research on artificial intelligence (AI), exploring its applications in research, education, and other aspects related to the academic realm. This interdisciplinary approach allows him to contribute to understanding how science is disseminated and perceived in digital environments, leveraging advanced data analytics and AI technologies.

Mattia Caldarulo is an Assistant Professor in the Rochester Institute of Technology where he teaches public policy, and cyber-security in the public sector. His research lies at the intersection of public management, risk management, and technology policy and addresses established and emerging issues faced by public agencies. Specifically, he examines how public sector organizations navigate technological and environmental threats as well as the role of technology policy in tackling hazards and systemic issues. His work has been published in several journals, including Government Information Quarterly, Public Management Review, Public Administration, and Telecommunications Policy.

Mattia received his doctorate from the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University and holds a Master of Science degree in International Management from Bocconi University (Milan, Italy) and Fudan University (Shanghai, China). Before joining the academia he worked as a public sector consultant in Italy where he was part of several national projects on performance measurement and public procurement. More information on Mattia and his research can be found here.

Dr. Frandell is an assistant professor at UNLV’s School of Public Policy and Leadership at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Her research interests include policy communication and the use of technology in government, particularly artificial intelligence (AI).

Frandell’s scholarly works have explored topics such as the accessibility of health agencies’ websites during the COVID-19 pandemic, cybersecurity threats in local government, and women scientists’ media interactions. Currently, she teaches the “AI Use in the Public Sector” course for the Master of Public Affairs program at UNLV. For this course, she has partnered with Nectar.ai, an education AI startup, and is working with them to expand the use of AI in other courses.

Tipeng Chen is a PhD student in Public Administration and Policy at the School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University, Graduate Research Assistant in the Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Studies (C-STEPS) at ASU. Prior to joining ASU, he received his master’s degree and bachelor’s degree from Sun Yat-sen University in 2022 and 2019. 

His current research focuses on public management, state-citizen interaction, local government, and climate adaptation. His most recent projects are examining the implication of organizational setting and work characteristics on interaction between public organization and citizens as well as how public organizations address climate challenges to ensure public service delivery and organizational survival. His previous research centered on common-pool resources governance and institutional analysis, with a specific focus on water resources. He is also interested in qualitative methods, survey methods. His research has been published in the International Journal of the Commons, Water Alternatives, and Vaccines. More information on his research can be found here.

Shaika is a seasoned researcher and Ph.D. candidate in Public Administration & Policy with a robust background in Economics. She brings many years of extensive experience in data analysis using advanced statistical tools. Her expertise spans climate adaptation, risk management, extreme weather events, transit agencies, environmental policy, and quantitative methods. Shaika is committed to driving impactful policy solutions through rigorous, data-driven research and analysis. She holds a Master of Science in Applied Economics from Washington State University. Previously, she completed her Bachelor of Science in Economics at North South University in Bangladesh. Shaika’s research interests include Environmental Policy, Energy Policy, Climate Change, Econometrics, Gender, and Renewable Energy.

Jinghuan Ma is a PhD student in Public Administration and Policy at Arizona State University. She completed her BA in English and Economics and MM in Public Policy at Tsinghua University. She also holds a Master of Science in Innovation, Human Development, and Sustainability from the University of Geneva in Switzerland.

Her research interests lie in science and technology policy as well as the scientific workforce. She is currently working on how regulations impact academic scientists’ data and material-sharing behavior and its consequences on their research productivity.

With over six years of experience in assessment, data analytics, and research roles, Camila brings valuable expertise to the SciOps team. Concurrently completing her BA in Public Service and Public Policy and Master of Public Policy at Arizona State University, Camila specializes in data visualization and visualization design. She is fascinated with promoting data literacy and evidence-based decision-making, directly supporting SciOPS’s mission of systematically capturing and displaying diverse expert knowledge.

Her research interests focus on how science, technology, and innovation intersect with other policy areas such as economics, democracy, and immigration, recognizing the crucial role that well-communicated scientific information plays in informing policymakers, business leaders, journalists, and the public. Outside of work, Camila enjoys kickboxing and exploring local restaurants. Born and raised in Colombia, Camila moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 2015 to pursue higher education.

Rong Zuo is a PhD student in Public Administration and Policy at Arizona State University. Her research interests primarily include science and technology policy, knowledge transfer by scientists, and the transformation of government roles in the science and technology innovation system.