Ali Fisunoglu

Name: Ali Fisunoglu
Academic Title: Assistant Professor
Email Address: ali.fisunoglu@ozyegin.edu.tr

Ali Fisunoglu is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Saint Louis University. He was previously a research fellow at the Carlos III – Juan March Institute of Social Sciences, Madrid, Spain, and an Assistant Professor of International Relations at Ozyegin University, Istanbul, Turkey. He received his B.A. in Economics from Koç University in 2009, M.A. in International Political Economy from Claremont Graduate University in 2012, and Ph.D. in Political Science and Economics from Claremont Graduate University in 2014. His research interests include the political economy of growth and development, peace and conflict studies, political demography, international political economy, econometrics, game theory, and system dynamics modeling.

He was awarded the Fulbright scholarship and fellowships from Vehbi Koç Foundation and Claremont Graduate University. He is also a Research Associate at the TransResearch Consortium.

Curriculum Vitae: Click Here

Kyungkook Kang

Name: Kyungkook Kang
Academic Title: Assistant Professor
Email Address: kyungkook.kang@ucf.edu

 

Dr. Kyungkook Kang is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Central Florida and a senior fellow at TransResearch Consortium. Areas of specialization include international relations, positive political economy, applied econometrics, and formal & computational modeling. He is especially interested in theories of interstate conflict initiation and deterrence. Before teaching at UCF, he taught various courses of security studies and research methods at Claremont Graduate University, the University of Southern California, and La Sierra University. His academic works appeared in International Studies Quarterly, International Interactions, International Area Studies Review, and several book chapters. He earned his BA in Political Science and International Studies from Yonsei University (Seoul, Korea), and MA in Economics and PhD in Political Science and Economics from Claremont Graduate University.

 

ResearchGate URL: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kyungkook_Kang

Hal T. Nelson

Name: Hal T. Nelson
Academic Title: Assistant Professor
Email Address:  hnelson@pdx.edu

His teaching interests include quantitative methods and research design, policy analysis, the policy process, energy policy, energy efficiency, policy and program evaluation, as well as social sustainability. Dr. Nelson’s pedagogical strategies include student skill development that they need to be successful as public managers, consultants, and analysts.

Dr. Nelson’s researches environmental, social and economic sustainability, primarily in the energy sector. His social sustainability research focuses on governance, stakeholder participation, as well as the development of decision support software. He is currently working on a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Civil Infrastructure System program to apply an agent-based model of socio-political conflict to the permitting of energy infrastructure projects. The NSF research builds on a grant from the John Randolph Haynes Foundation to study energy project permitting conflicts in Southern California. He has also received several grants from the California Energy Commission to improve the energy efficiency of existing residential buildings.

Dr. Nelson worked as a professor at Claremont Graduate University for 10 years prior to his appointment to PSU. Dr. Nelson received a B.S. in Finance from the University of Idaho and a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy from Portland State University. He has over 15 years as a renewable energy and energy efficiency consultant. He is a former member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and has been a Chartered Financial Analyst for nearly 20 years. 

For his work on land use and energy infrastructure project siting, Dr. Nelson was honored as a Lincoln Land Fellow at Claremont Graduate University. Given the diversity of his interests, Dr. Nelson has published in a wide range of journals and books. His Ph.D. dissertation on UK climate and energy policy was published in Power at the Crossroads (2009). Dr. Nelson has publications appearing in the Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, the Journal of Environment and Development, Environment and Behavior, Ecology and Society, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Energy Policy, the Journal of Public Policy, Social Science and Medicine, and other top energy and environment journals.

ResearchGate URL: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hal_Nelson
LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/profhalnelson
Curriculum Vitae: Click Here

Masami Nishishiba

Department Chair and Associate Professor of Public Administration
Associate Director of the Center for Public Service

Mark O. Hatfield School of Government
Portland State University

Email: nishism@pdx.edu
Work Phone: 1(503)­ 725-5151

Masami Nishishiba has taught graduate courses in organizational theory, organizational behavior, research methods, statistics, diversity in the workplace, and intercultural communication. She has been engaged in wide range of community-based research. Her current research includes: cultural assessment for the Bureau of Fire and Rescue and Bureau of Human Resources for the City of Portland; evaluation of the Center for Equity and Inclusion; exploration of public service motivation of local government administrators.  
Dr. Nishishiba has scholarly publications such as Japanese/English bilingual book, “Project management toolkit: A strategic approach to new local governance” by Gyosei, “Research Methods and Statistics for Public and Nonprofit Administrators: A Practical Guide” by Sage and “Culturally mindful communication: Essential skills for public and nonprofit professionals by Routledge. Her journal articles appeared in State and Local Government Review, Journal of College and Character, Journal of Public Affairs Education and others. 

Masami is currently a board member of the Japan-America Society of Oregon, and the Festina Lente, America. She is a member of Portland State University’s Diversity Action Council, President’s Taskforce on Asian American/Asian/ Pacific Islander Student Success and Faculty Senate. She is an associate member of the Institute for Asian Studies and works with the Center for Japanese Studies. 

Masami is also a trained Japanese-English conference interpreter. She has interpreted for President Jimmy Carter, Bill Gates (Microsoft), Phil Knight (Nike) and many others. 

Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy, from Portland State University

Other related research work, publication, websites, and links

  • Local Government Diversity Initiatives in Oregon: An Exploratory Study. 

  • Looking back on the founding: Civic engagement traditions in the United States. 

  • Capacity Building for the Common Good: PSU's Interdisciplinary Minor in Civic Leadership. 

  • Keep Portland Weird: Retaining the commission form of government. 

  • Project Management Toolkit: A strategic approach to new local governance ChihouGyourseiwoKaeru 'Project Management Toolkit': JichitaiShokuin no Tameno Shin-Shigotojutus.

  • Explicating factors that foster civic engagement among students.

Zining Yang

Ph.D., School of Politics and Economics, Claremont Graduate University
Email: zining.yang@cgu.edu
Work Phone: +1(909)­-621-8803

Dr. Zining Yang is Associate Director at TransResearch Consortium. She works as a Clinical Professor at Claremont Graduate University, Adjunct Professor at La Sierra University, and Data Science Advisor at Southern California Edison. She sits on the Board of Computational Social Science Society of the Americas (CSSSA), and serves as Scientific Advisory Board Member for Human Factors and Simulations.

Dr. Yang received her PhD in Political Economy and Computational and Applied Mathematics from Claremont Graduate University in 2015. She also received MA in International Studies from Claremont Graduate University in 2011, and LLB in International Politics from Beijing International Studies University in 2009. Her research interests include political economy, predictive analytics, computational modeling and simulation. She has numerous publications in the fields of agent-based modeling, complex adaptive systems, network analysis, human social cultural behavioral modeling, and international political economy. Her recent research is indexed by Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer Advances in Complex Adaptive Systems Modeling, Springer Advances in Intelligent Systems Computing, Institute for Scientific Information, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and Association for Computing Machinery Digital Library (ACM).

Courses Taught
•    Advanced Formal Modeling
•    Social Network Analysis
•    Game Theory
•    Quantitative Research Methods
•    Managerial Statistics
•    Introduction to Business Analytics
•    Data, Models, and Decisions
•    Economic Analysis for Business Decisions
•    Economic Development for Emerging Markets


Refereed Articles 

Wikstrom, Kristoffer, Zining Yang and Hal Nelson. “Agents in Space: Validating ABM-GIS Models.” Advances in Human Factors in Simulation and Modeling, Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, forthcoming 2018.

Yang, Zining, Jacek Kugler and Mark Abdollahian. “Conditional Deterrence: An Agent-Based Framework of Escalation Dynamics in an Era of WMD Proliferation.” Advances in Human Factors in Simulation and Modeling, Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, forthcoming 2018.

Abdollahian, Mark, Zining Yang and John Thomas. “Relationships Matter: Directors and Revenue Performance in the Fortune 500 Network.” 2017. Advances in Human Factors, Business Management and Leadership, Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 106-115.

Abdollahian, Mark, Zining Yang and Patrick deWerk Neal. 2017. “How Partial Behavioral Networks Drive Econometric Bias and Inefficiency.” Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Computing, Networking and Communications. 924-928.

Yang, Zining. 2016. “An Agent-Based Simulation of Heterogeneous Games and Social Systems in Politics, Fertility and Economic Development.” Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, and Prediction: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) 9708, 71-82.

Abdollahian, Mark, Zining Yang, Patrick Neal, and James Kaplan. 2015. “Human Development Dynamics: Network Emergence in an Agent Based Simulation of Adaptive Heterogeneous Games and Social Systems.” Agent-Based Approaches in Economic and Social Complex Systems VIII, 3-14, Springer Japan.

Abdollahian, Mark, Zining Yang, and Patrick Neal. 2014. “Human Development Dynamics: An Agent Based Simulation of Adaptive Heterogeneous Games and Social Systems.” Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, and Prediction: 7th International Conference, SBP 2014, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) 8393, 3-10, Springer Switzerland.

Abdollahian, Mark, Zining Yang and Hal Nelson. 2013. “Techno-Social Energy Infrastructure Siting: Sustainable Energy Modeling Project (SEMPro).” Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, 16(3).
Books

Abdollahian, Mark, Jaehoon Lee, Zining Yang and Khaled Eid. 2016. The Future of Korea’s Trade and Business Portfolio in North Africa: A Deep Horizon Political Economy Scan of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Studies in Comprehensive Regional Strategies 16-11, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy.

Book Chapters

Nelson, Hal T., Nicholas L. Cain and Zining Yang. 2015. “All Politics are Spatial: Integrating an Environmental Planning ABM with Spatially Explicit Landscape Data.” in Heather Campbell, Yushim Kim and Adam Eckerd, ed. Rethinking Environmental Justice in Sustainable Cities: Insights from Agent-Based Modeling, Routledge.

Yang, Zining and Mark Abdollahian. 2014. “Trade Networks, Regional Agreements and Growth.” in David Deese, ed. Handbook of the International Political Economy of Trade, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK.

Ayesha Umar Wahedi

Name: Ayesha Umar Wahedi

Academic Title: Adjunct Professor

Email Address: aumar@pdx.edu

Ayesha Umar Wahedi specializes in macroeconomic policy analysis, with focus on emerging markets. She has a keen interest in financial sector reform in emerging markets, role of capital flows in development, link between corruption and foreign investments, impact of foreign capital on income and gender inequality, role of institutions in development, financing sustainable development, foreign aid, security and general issues in international political economy. She is Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Portland State University and teaches regular courses in Multinational Corporations in World Politics, Political and Economic Reform in Emerging Markets and International Political Economy. Ayesha has broad experience in all aspects of macroeconomic data handling from data collection, data analysis, time-series analysis and forecasting. She received her Ph.D. in the field of Political Economy from Portland State University, M.S. in Economics from Oregon State University, a B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Mathematics and Statistics from Kinnaird College, Pakistan.

ResearchGate URL:  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ayesha_Umar_Wahedi

LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayesha-wahedi-34b67958

Curriculum Vitae: Click Here