Working Groups (WG) focus on key elements of the Ronin Institute. They are an important part of the Governance structure for our Institute, because they offer one way (but not the only way!) for Ronin Research Scholars to participate in the running of the Institute (part of our “Everybody drives a truck” philosophy). Each WG has a lead, who also participates in the Ronin Institute Advisory Board. WGs meet once a month, and are open to all Ronin Institute Research Scholars.
Our WGs and the current leads:
- Governance WG: Organization, coordination, and development of Ronin as a community. Leads: Arika Virapongse & Jon Wilkins
- Communication WG: Develops approach and guidance for how Ronin messages and disseminates information about the institute. Lead: Emily Monosson
- Events WG: Organizes events to help Scholars showcase their work, engage with each other, and expand knowledge. Lead: TBD
- Infrastructure WG: Coordinates and makes recommendations about the technical aspects of Ronin. Leads: Alex Lancaster & Vesta Korniakova
- Membership WG: Develops transparency, flow, and strategy to how people join and get more involved in the Institute. Lead: John Paulas
- Research WG: Helps guide and build capacity for scholars to conduct research through Ronin. Lead: Michelle Susberry Hill
Interest Groups (IG) are self-organized groups of Scholars that focus on specific topics. Their goal is to stimulate discussion and enhance collaboration. The general idea behind IGs is to convene Scholars in organized groups–much like departments in a conventional university, but much more fluid and community-based. Sub-groups within IGs could also form around specific projects and goals (e.g., leading a seminar or writing a paper). In particular, we welcome IGs that address cross-disciplinary topics (e.g., storms, sustainability). Currently, our IGs have a presence on our Slack workspace through specific channels (using the prefix “IG-” in the channel name), and are only open to Ronin Institute Research Scholars. Some IGs also meet weekly on Remo, which is a platform that allows participants to easily move around to different discussions.
These are our current IGs, their scope, and the contact/lead:
- #ig-artificialintelligence: Dedicated to AI and emerging technologies discussion and collaboration. Contact: Laura Musgrave
- #ig-basic-income: Discussion about basic income, also known as universal basic income, unconditional basic income or UBI. Contact: Aleeza Howitt
- #ig-bookadmirers: Whether you publish a book, write a story, read a novel, feel free to share! Contact: Laure Haak
- #ig-careers: For Scholars to discuss their career/job aspirations, including how to implement their academic skills and credentials, and navigate their academic journey (e.g., school). Contact/lead: Keith Tse
- #ig-climatefactoids: A place to park interesting climate-related tidbits. Suggestions of things Ronin can do to help; discussion of any relevant topics. Contact: Ruth Duerr
- #ig-complexsystems: To discuss the explanation and modeling techniques of complex systems. Contact: Ashton Sperry
- #ig-consulting-business: Discussing and trading information about consulting, contracting, and doing business, particularly in the context of being an Independent Scholar. Contact: Emily Lankau
- #ig-covid19-biology: investigating basic biology/ecology of virus, mitigation strategies, short/medium term therapies, vaccine development for COVID-19. Contact: Alex Lancaster
- #ig-covid19-social: To discuss how COVID19 affects BAME groups globally. Welcome all to also participate in a research study. Contact: Michelle King-Okoye
- #ig-ecology-and-environment: Research, careers, and questions about our ecology & environment, including conservation, sustainability, natural resources, wildlife, and people. Contact: Jon Walter
- #ig-education: How do we improve or think more openly about teaching and learning? Contact: Carolyn Sealfon
- #ig-engineering-and-engineering-science: For those conducting research on engineers within specialty fields of science and technology studies, social sciences, and history. Contact: Julie Mark Cohen
- #ig-math-physics: Scholars interested in math and physics and collaborations. Contact: Siamak Tafazoli
- #ig-project network: working on the development of a network map. Contact: Yasmina Jraissati
- #ig-quantum_computing: focuses on discussions and materials relevant to the progress in Quantum Computing and its applications as possible enhancement of modern AI and ML algorithms. Contact: V. G. Gueorguiev
- #ig-socialscience: dedicated to social science discussion and collaboration. Contact: Laura Musgrave
[Illustration by Karolin Schnoor]
Arika is a Research Scholar and Community Director of the Ronin Institute. She is a social-ecologist who works with human-environmental issues including, community resilience, natural resource management, and the application of science. In addition, she is the Founder of Middle Path EcoSolutions, a consulting firm that helps organizations with community building.
This post is a perspective of the author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Ronin Institute.