Speakers & Trainers

Katja Mayer

Dr. Katja Mayer, a sociologist at the University of Vienna, works at the
intersection of science, technology, and society. Since 2019, she has
focused on the politics of open science and open data, emphasizing
citizen science, computational social sciences, and artificial
intelligence.

Dr. Mayer has served as the PI for international research projects and as rapporteur for the European Commission's open science MLE in 2018. She has contributed extensively to policy advice and promoting open science in science diplomacy. Her practical experience from prior work in IT industry and her former role as a research advisor to the President of the European Research Council have enriched her transdisciplinary approach. Additionally, she has mentored and trained individuals in open research practices and taught critical data studies at TU Munich and the University of Lucerne, among others.

More information: univie.ac.at

Maina Muniafu

Dr. Maina Muniafu, an Associate Professor of Natural Sciences in the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at the United States International University – Africa based in Nairobi, Kenya is also the Chair of CitSci Africa Association and Vice Chair of the Xand has been actively teaching and researching in the area of environmental sustainability (in particular the energy-water-food nexus) for the past 30 years.

Community efforts have targeted lifting the livelihoods of youth in the low-income areas of the capital city Nairobi by involving them in finding entrepreneurship solutions through innovative nature-based solutions in their immediate environments.

More information: //usiu.ac.ke/

Gesine Heinrich

After completing her Master of Education in 2014, Gesine Heinrich worked in quality development and assurance in Higher Education at university. Subsequent professional activities include various projects in extracurricular education for sustainable development. Since 2020, Gesine has been a researcher at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin in the research area Society and Nature. She developed a regional training program for scientists on Citizen Science for the Citizen Science platform mit:forschen.

Since 2022, Gesine has worked as a researcher and project manager in the Citizen Science contest “Take It to the Streets! Citizen Science in Your City”, which promotes local Citizen Science ideas as collaborative projects between academia, civil society organisations and local governments. With her research, Gesine depicts how local Citizen Science networks with civil society participation in the context of the contest look like.

More information on the project here (in German)

Florence Mühlenbein

Florence Mühlenbein is working in the field of science communication at Wissenschaft im Dialog, Germany’s leading organization for the promotion of dialogue between science and society. Since 2018, she has been focusing on Citizen Sscience, starting as a project manager for the German Citizen Science platform mit:forschen! Along the way, she joined the European research project “CS-Track” which aimed to broaden the knowledge about Citizen Science and the impact Citizen Science activities can have.

Since 2021, Florence is the project leader of the Citizen Science contest “Take It to the Streets! Citizen Science in Your City”, which promotes local Citizen Science ideas as collaborative projects between academia, civil society organisations and local governments. Florence has a background in intercultural communication, public law, and European Studies, having studied in Germany, France and Turkey.

More information on the project here (in German)

Yvonne Riaño

University of Neuchâtel

Prof. Dr. Yvonne Riaño is an Associate Professor at the Geography Institute of the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland), where she direct the Association of Swiss Geographers (ASG) and chair Switzerland's National Committee for the International Geographical Union (IGU). She studied contemporary geographies of inequality and injustice in European and South American cities and the Colombia-Venezuela border. Using a feminist intersectional perspective, Yvonne is interested in understanding the professional integration of migrants and their coping strategies, transnational mobility strategies in zones of geopolitical conflict, and gender equality. She is passionate about participatory research methods and their possibilities for social engagement and scientific innovation. Yvonne uses documentaries to communicate the realities experienced by transnational migrants, giving a voice to women in particular.

More information here

Mirko Bischofberger

Dr. Mirko Bischofberger is a lecturer and expert in Science Communication at EPFL, ETH Zurich and University of Zurich. He studied molecular biology at ETH Zurich and received his PhD from EPFL. After working for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the Swiss Parliament, he continued to the SNSF and EPFL. Mirko has won numerous communication grants and awards, and has worked for numerous funding institutions, such as the ERC, the FWF, the FNR and many more.

More information: here

Ruth Förster

Dr. sc. ETHZ, dr. ruth förster training & beratung, chair saguf Working Group education for sustainable development

Ruth Förster has long-term experience and expertise in designing and facilitating transdisciplinary collaboration and learning processes particularly in higher education and research for sustainable development, f.e. in ETH Zurich and University of Basel. She has a multidisciplinary background in mechanical and environmental engineering, didactics, Expressive Arts & Movement – the Tamalpa Life-Art process - and psychological counselling. Nowadays Ruth is working as consultant for designing transformative learning environments as well as personal coach with emphasis on transition processes.

More information here and here (ETHZ HR)

Annette Jenny

Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW )

Dr. Annette Jenny is a lecturer and researcher at the Institute of Natural Resource Sciences (IUNR) of ZHAW. She is a social and environmental psychologist with in-depth experience on sustainable consumption and lifestyles, as well as on how to design and evaluate projects in the most impact-oriented way. Previously, Annette has worked for various NGOs and foundations and was a project manager and member of the board of directors in a private research and consultancy office. She therefore has a lot of practical as well as academic experience.

More information here

Pia Viviani

catta gmbh, founder and director

Pia Viviani has a background in biotechnology, scenography, nonprofit management and science communication. Working for the foundation Science et Cité she established the Swiss citizen network schweiz forscht and therefore knows diverse Swiss citizen science projects. She was a steering committee member of the European Citizen Science Association ECSA when initiating and planning the ECSA conference 2018 in Geneva. In Spring 2019, Pia founded her own company catta gmbh for consulting, initiating and managing citizen science projects in Switzerland.

More information here

Rosy Mondardini

Rosy Mondardini is Director of Research and Development at Citizen Science Zurich. She has a background in physics and started her research career at FERMILAB (USA) and CERN (Switzerland), where she worked for almost 10 years in research before focusing her energy and passion on science for social change. From 2008 to 2015 she was Associate Director at the World Economic Forum, where she established and managed the Young Global Leaders Alumni community.

In 2015 Rosy took up the role of Co-Director at the Citizen Cyberlab in Geneva, a partnership between CERN, UNITAR, and University of Geneva, working with international organizations to shape the contribution of Citizen Science to sustainable development. Rosy joined the Competence Center – Citizen Science in Zurich at its creation in 2017 and managed its establishment of growth till 2022.

As of 2023, she’s responsible of Research and Development, focusing on current and future projects to raise the impact, scientific reputation, and national and international visibility of Citizen Science Zurich and of its funder institutions. Rosy is active in national and international Citizen Science task forces and networks, and she has been a driving force behind the establishment of the Citizen Science Global Partnership.