Writer

Professor Yaneer Bar-Yam is a pandemic expert who has advised the UN, WHO, the U.S. NSC, CMS and CDC. He warned about pandemics for 15 years and contributed outbreak response protocols for stopping Ebola in Africa in 2014, which worked. He is an MIT trained physicist and complexity scientist. Since the late 1980s he has contributed to founding the field of complex systems science, introducing fundamental mathematical rigor, real world application, and educational programs for new concepts and insights of this field. His recent work quantitatively analyzes the origins and impacts of market crashes, social unrest, ethnic violence, military conflict and pandemics, and the structure and dynamics of social networks. He has advised the U.S. Government on global social unrest and the crises in Egypt and Syria, counterterrorism strategies, military force transformation, market regulation, delivery of disease prevention services and control of hospital infections. He regularly advises NGOs and corporations regarding their use of complex systems science. He has authored more than 200 journal articles. His work on the causes of the global food crisis was cited among the top 10 scientific discoveries of 2011 by Wired magazine. His scientific visualizations received recognition as “best of” from Wired in 2011 and 2013, and from Motherboard in 2013. International coverage of his work includes The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Die Zeit, and Le Monde, among others.

Daniel Yo-Ling Chen (he/they/他) is a writer and independent scholar based in Taipei. They studied Anthropology at the University of Virginia and write primarily about ethics.

Shen-yi Liao is an associate professor at University of Puget Sound in the philosophy department and the bioethics and neuroscience interdisciplinary programs.

Every little detail matters. 

Jenny Li is an M.A. candidate in International Affairs at Columbia University, specializing in International Security Policy and East Asia. She has a background in economics and policy research. Her views are strictly her own. 

Janine Sun Rogers is a California-based writer, artist, podcaster, and independent scholar.

Bart Dashorst is a textual laborer from the Netherlands with an MA in Taiwan Literature from National Taiwan University. He works as a full-time English editor, freelance Mandarin-to-English translator, and occasional writer in English and Mandarin. His specialization lies in Taiwanese history, culture, art, and literature.

Clarissa Wei is an American freelance journalist and video producer based in Taiwan. Her writing has been published in VICE, National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Eater, Bon Appetit, Nikkei Asian Review, CNN, NPR, Saveur Magazine, BBC, Eater, and Serious Eats (among other publications). She has also co-authored a handful of travel guidebooks.

Alex Barker is an M.A. Candidate in Asian Studies at Georgetown University, where his research focuses on security and technology issues related to U.S.-China relations. He previously worked in the tech sector in Taiwan. His opinions are his own and not reflective of his employer’s.

Sana Hashmi, Ph.D. is a Visiting Fellow at Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF), and a former Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Fellow at the Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University. She is the author of China’s Approach towards Territorial Disputes: Lessons and Prospects. She tweets @sanahashmi1.

Hideki Sunagawa is a cultural anthropologist and gay activist in Tokyo. He is the founder of Tokyo Pride and Pink Dot Okinawa. His books published in Japanese include “Cultural Anthropology of Shinjuku-ni-chome” and “Coming-out.”

Milo Hsieh studies international relations at American University. He is a freelance journalist based in Washington D.C. 

Ellie Olcott is a freelance writer based in Taiwan. She is currently completing her Master’s at Tsinghua University, researching pedagogical practices in rural schools. She tweets about life in Taipei @EllieOlcott.

She is a PhD Candidate at the Graduate Institute of International Politics, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan. She is the recipient of the Ministry of Education Taiwan Scholarship. Previously, she has worked as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Chinese Studies in New Delhi. She has completed her MPhil in International Organizations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and Masters from South Asian University, New Delhi. Her research interests include International Relations of South Asia, China’s provincial diplomacy (Yunnan), regional and sub-regional arrangements (Asia), and environment governance.

Andi Kao is a Ph.D. candidate in International and Comparative Labor at Cornell University. He is an affiliate with the Global Asia Research Center at National Taiwan University.

OCF Lab is a digital media platform established by the Open Culture Foundation (OCF). The Lab integrates topics regarding digital human rights, civic science, and technology by publishing various articles on a regular basis. It is expected to meet the various demands of open culture advocates, technology followers, and the general public on different levels of science and technology. OCF was founded in 2015 to promote three core issues: open source, open data, and open government.

Seb Morgan is a writer and editor based in Taipei, he specializes in drinking, dining, travel, and queer news. Over the past few years, he's covered the latest going on in East Asia for the likes of Time Out, Hotels Combined, and Taiwan Scene. Happiness for him is a bowl of cold sesame noodles or a dip in the hot springs. He hopes to one day enjoy both at the same time.

Daphne K. Lee is a New York-based journalist covering food and culture. She’s a former editor at The News Lens International.