A/Prof Rodrigo Praino
Associate Professor of Politics and Public Policy, Flinders University
Dr Rodrigo Praino is Associate Professor of Politics and Public Policy at Flinders University’s College of Business, Government and Law. He is a political scientist with expertise in decision-making and political behaviour, who has published extensively in top peer-reviewed academic journals in the Social Sciences. His research has attracted funding from a wide range of sources, including the Australian Research Council, the Australian Space Agency, the Department of Defence, SmartSat CRC, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Canadian government. It uses a cutting-edge combination of experiments, statistical modelling, and real-world data to explain social and political phenomena. He is interested in space politics and space policy, with particular focus on the importance of space assets for defence, economic development, international relations and decision-making.
A/Prof Alice Gorman
Associate Professor, College of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Flinders University
Dr Alice Gorman is an internationally recognised leader in the field of space archaeology. Her research focuses on the archaeology and heritage of space exploration, including space junk, planetary landing sites, off-earth mining, space habitats, rocket launch pads and antennas. She also is a heritage consultant with over 25 years’ experience working with Indigenous communities in Australia. In collaboration with NASA and Chapman University, she is conducting the first archaeological study of the International Space Station. Gorman is a member of the Advisory Council of the Space Industry Association of Australia, a Board Member of the JustSpace Alliance, and a Senior Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In 2020-2021 she serves as a mentor in the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs Space4Women Network, which aims to address the Sustainable Development Goals by increasing the participation of women and girls in space. Her book Dr Space Junk vs the Universe: Archaeology and the Future (MIT Press, 2019) won the NIB Literary Award People’s Choice for Non-Fiction and the John Mulvaney Book Award.
Dr Kathryn Robison Hasani
Lecturer, College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University
Dr Kathryn Robison Hasani is a Lecturer in Government at the Flinders University’s College of Business, Government and Law. She is a political scientist specializing in the role of political communication in the formation and dissemination of space policy at both the domestic and international level. She is the Vice Chair of Career Development for the International Astronautical Federation’s Workforce Development/Young Professionals Programme Committee and serves on their Space Education and Outreach Committee. Dr Robison previously worked with the Space Generation Advisory Council as a member of its Executive Committee and is also a member of the UN’s Space4Women Network, the Launchpad Mentorship Programme at IAF, and was nominated by NASA to receive recognition as an IAF Young Space Leader in 2021. Her current research interests include public opinion on government spending on space, legislative processes which affect national and international space policies, and equitable and just access to space and space resources.
Dr Luis da Vinha
Lecturer, College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University
Dr. Luis da Vinha is a Lecturer in International Relations and the coordinator of the Master of International Relations at Flinders University’s College of Business, Government and Law. He received his Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Coimbra (Portugal) and, prior to joining academia, he worked in the area of planning and development. His teaching and research interests are in International Relations, International Security, U.S. Foreign Policy, and Political Geography and his research has been published with Routledge, Palgrave Macmillan, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Comparative Strategy, Journal of Policy History, European Journal of Geography, and the Brown Journal of World Affairs, among others. Luis is also the author of Geographic Mental Maps and Foreign Policy Change and Three Approaches to Presidential Foreign Policy-Making in the Twenty-First Century.
Marco Aliberti
Senior Research Fellow, European Space Policy Institute (ESPI)
Marco Aliberti is Senior Research Fellow at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) in Vienna, Austria, where he has carried out and published a number of research projects – including five books and dozens of position papers, public reports and conference proceedings – providing European decision-makers with informed analysis and advice on a broad range of space policy issues. His research focus areas cover governance and space security issues, access to space and exploration, and Asia’s space programmes, particularly those of China, Japan and India.
Clémence Poirier
Resident Fellow, European Space Policy Institute (ESPI)
Clémence Poirier is a Resident Fellow seconded by CNES (the French Space Agency) at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) in Vienna, Austria. She has expertise in topics at the intersection of space and cybersecurity as she conducted policy research on the militarization of outer space and cyberspace, the cybersecurity of the French space infrastructure, the applicability of personal data protection laws to satellite imagery, etc. She is also a member of the Space Generation Advisory Council’s Space and Cybersecurity Project Group. She holds a master’s degree in International Relations, International Security, and Defense from University Jean Moulin Lyon 3, France.
Dr Daniel Floreani
Co-founder, CyberOps
Dr Daniel Floreani achieved his PhD whilst working at DSTO and is a co-founder of CyberOps, a specialist Australian Defence, Space and Cyber company. Daniel has direct experience in Defence surveillance projects as a Design Authority within the JORN project. Subsequently he worked at Cisco Systems in the Global Defence and Space team as the lead space architect designing space-based internet systems intended as technology demonstrators for US Defence. In 2019 CyberOps was awarded a DIH contract to develop Space Cyber capability for the Nation and this project is ongoing. In addition, CyberOps has successfully carried out multiple demonstrator projects and delivered reports to AFHQ and WASSSPO in the area of Passive RF SDA leading to the ability to contribute to JP9360 and JP9358.
Sara Dalledonne
Lead on Regulatory Affairs, European Space Policy Institute (ESPI)
Sara Dalledonne has been working as Research Fellow and Lead on Regulatory Affairs at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) since January 2020. She is also the Space Law expert reference at the University of Bologna, Italy, and a Member of the Support Committee for the Aviation & Space Journal (ASJ). Prior to joining ESPI, she worked at the Institute of Air and Space Law (McGill University) as Research Assistant. She holds an L.L.M. in Air and Space Law from McGill University, an L.L.M. in International Trade Law from the International Training Centre of the ILO (University of Turin) and a 5-year Law degree from University of Bologna. She also successfully completed an ITU Training Course in Satellite Coordination Procedures and Fillings.
Michelle Hermes
Space, Climate, and Transatlantic Cooperation Policy Researcher
Michelle Hermes is currently employed at a think tank specialized in transatlantic relations where she acts as a project manager and researcher on different topics aimed at fostering increased cooperation between countries. Previously, she worked at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) on a variety of projects, but largely focusing on policy analysis and landscaping of EU and ESA Member States climate policies and the role of space-derived data in informing these policies. She was also previously employed at the NASA Langley Research Center Legislative Affairs Office in Hampton, Virginia, USA. Michelle has an international educational background, having studied Government & German Studies (B.A.) at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA and Political Science (M.A.) at the University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria.
Dr Ottorino Cappelli
Senior Researcher, Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”
Dr Ottorino Cappelli is Senior Researcher at the University of Naples “L’Orientale” (Italy), where he teaches Political Science and Comparative Politics. Since 2018 he is also the Director of the MA in “Governance of the processes of internationalisation and communication” at Link Campus University in Rome, Italy. He conducted research and teaching activities at the State and Law Department of the University of Moscow M. V. Lomonosov (1989); the Harriman Institute for Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies of Columbia University (1989-90); the Center for Russian Studies of Harvard University (1991); the Emmanuel College of Cambridge University (1993); and from 2010 to 2015 he was Scholar in Residence at the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, City University of New York.
Vinícius Guedes G. De Oliveira
Research Assistant & PhD candidate, Flinders University
Vinícius Guedes is a lawyer specialised in Criminal and International Law, graduated with a first-class honours’ degree from the Federal University of Espírito Santo (Brazil), being a Scholarship holder in the research project “Doctrinal Researchers and Elaboration of Juridical Texts”, part of the Full Scholarship Program (PIB). Besides working as a Lawyer, he also acted as a Lecturer, co-founding a series of workshops and lectures in the legal field. He is currently working as a Research Assistant at Flinders University, in projects mainly involving Space and Cyber Law, Space policy and Defence. He is a PhD candidate working on a doctoral project co-funded by SmartSat CRC and Flinders University.
Matteo Cappella
Operations Manager, Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC)
Matteo Cappella is Operations Manager at the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) in Vienna (Austria), where he contributes to run a global organization while enabling students and young professionals around the world to grow, be heard and thrive in the space sector. Passionate about space policy, he previously worked at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), conducting research activities on the concept and measurement of Spacepower, as well as on the European space entrepreneurial environment. He holds an MA in International Politics and Economic Relations.
Francesco Maria Villani
Research Assistant to the Comparative Politics Chair, Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”
Francesco Maria Villani holds a Master’s Degree in International Studies. In July 2020, he graduated summa cum laude from “L’Orientale” University in Naples with a thesis on the comparative analysis of autocratization episodes in the early 21th century. In September 2020, he was awarded a scholarship from the “Italian Institute for Philosophical Studies” for attending a course in Political Philosophy. His major research interests are in the field of comparative politics, political theory and international relations.