MEET THE PANELISTS
DAY 1 | DISINFORMATION PANEL
Professor Katharine Donato
Director Institute for the Study of International Migration, Georgetown University
Katharine Donato is the Donald G. Herzberg Professor of International Migration and Director of the Institute for the Study of International Migration in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Her area of expertise is global migration, addressing topics such as International Migration, Global Cities, Refugees, and Migrants. Her most recent work explores refugee integration in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and the U.S. legal migration.
Before joining the Georgetown faculty, she was on the faculty of Vanderbilt and Rice Universities and was a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation. Prof Donato holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Stony Brook University.
Professor Hany Farid
School of Information / School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, UC Berkeley
Hany Farid is a Professor at the University of California, Berkeley with a joint appointment in Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences and the School of Information. His area of research is digital forensics, forensic science, misinformation, image analysis, and human perception.
Before his appointment at UC Berkeley, Farid completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Cognitive Sciences at MIT and later joined the faculty at Dartmouth College where he remained until 2019.
Farid holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from the University of Rochester in 1989, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.
Professor Jane Suiter
Director of Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society, Dublin City University
Jane Suiter is a Professor in the School of Communications at Dublin City University and Director of the Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society (FuJo). FuJo researches the digitalization of media, democracy, and society, focusing on countering disinformation and digital hate and strengthening public participation through democratic innovations.
Suiter holds a BA in Economics from the University College of Dublin and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Trinity College of Dublin.
In 2020 she was awarded the Irish Research Council Researcher of the Year award for her research on the public sphere and the electoral information environment.
Scott Tranter
CEO & Founder, 0ptimus Analytics
Scott Tranter is the founder and CEO of 0ptimus Analytics. Founded in 2013, the firm helps its clients by transforming data-based behavioral trends into actionable prediction models. The firm operates in the field of data science, specializing in opinion and prediction through the use of machine learning. Tranter and his team use this technology to advise businesses, NGOs, and political campaigns.
Before establishing his firm, Tranter served as Director of Data Science for Marco Rubio for President.
Tranter holds a degree in Finance from American University and an M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College.
Michael Urquhart
Society Research Practice Lead, Media Measurement
Michael Urquhart is the Lead Consultant for Media Measurement’s Society Research Practice. Media Measurement (MM) is a digital research consultancy devoted to drawing actionable intelligence from online media data to deliver to their global clients.
Michael’s research interest includes strategic communications, digital intelligence, international security, and development & P/CVE. As the Lead of Society Research Practice, he coordinates a team of analysts in supporting not-for-profit organizations, including major charities and government departments, to solve complex digital research problems.
Urquhart holds a BA in History and an MSc in Sociology and Global Change from the University of Edinburgh.
Lalini Veerassamy
IOM Chief Ireland, co-lead Global Migration and Media Academy
Lalini Veerassamy is the Chief of Mission for IOM in Ireland and co-lead Global Migration and Media Academy.
The Global Media Academy to Tackle Misinformation on Migration was launched in 2020, in response to the spread of misinformation and xenophobia in the media surrounding migration.
Before her current appointment, she served as Chief of Mission for IOM Djibouti. Earlier assignments were as Head of Programme in Tunisia, Chief of Mission for IOM Mauritius, and IOM consultancies in Ghana, Micronesia, South Africa, Brussels, and Geneva.
Veerassamy holds an LL.B. from the University of Geneva and a master’s in law from the Quebec Bar School.