Ms. Kathryn Lauren Roman Banda is a doctoral degree candidate in international relations and research methodology. Her methodological scholarship is interdisciplinary. Her Political Science research focuses on the intersection of civil wars with outcomes such as terrorism and sexual violence. Her doctoral dissertation dissects the responses of terrorist groups to economic shocks; this research highlights violence within central sub-Saharan Africa, including the Sahel region and the Lake Chad River basin. 

Dr. Mahtab Shafiei is a peace and conflict studies scholar. Her work primarily focuses on peacekeeping within war-torn areas. Her research combines qualitative, archival research with quantitative methods. Her forthcoming publications analyse the effectiveness of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, as well as the use of United Nations radio broadcasts for mitigating wartime violence.