I studied Molecular Biology and Genetics at Istanbul Technical University. During my undergraduate studies I became interested in the field of Ecology and Evolution and did internships on animal behaviour in Switzerland and Ireland. I then went on to pursue a 2-year research Master’s in Evolutionary Biology (MEME) funded by the European Union. I worked on projects using computer simulations to investigate evolution of social complexity and human cooperation. I also did behavioural economics experiments on how children learn social norms by copying others. After my Master’s, I pursued my dream of doing fieldwork and investigating human societies. I did my PhD at UCL, researching cultural evolution and behavioural adaptations in Pygmy hunter-gatherers in the Congo. During my PhD, I was part of an inter-disciplinary Hunter-Gatherer Resilience team funded by the Leverhulme Trust. I obtained a postdoctoral research fellowship from British Academy after my PhD. I am currently working as a British Academy research fellow and lecturer in Evolutionary Anthropology and Evolutionary Medicine at UCL.

I work as a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Modeling Social Systems (CMSS) at the Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE) sinde 2023. Before, I worked as an Expert Research Engineer at the CEA LIST Institute, Paris-Saclay University in France from 2013 to 2023. I hold a PhD in Artificial Intelligence degree from the Paul Sabatier University (France) and a PhD in Computer Engineering degree from the Ege University (Turkey).

I am a computational archaeologist with a strong background in humanities and social sciences, specialising in simulating socioecological systems from the past.

My main concern has been to tackle meaningful theoretical questions about human behaviour and social institutions and their role in the biosphere, as documented by history and archaeology. My research focuses specifically on how social behaviour reflects long-term historical processes, especially those concerning food systems in past small-scale societies. Among the aspects investigated are competition for land use between sedentary farmers and mobile herders (Angourakis et al. 2014; 2017), cooperation for food storage (Angourakis et al. 2015), origins of agriculture and domestication of plants (Angourakis et al. 2022), the sustainability of subsistence strategies and resilience to climate change (Angourakis et al. 2020, 2022). He has also been actively involved in advancing data science applications in archaeology, such as multivariate statistics on archaeometric data (Angourakis et al. 2018) and the use of computer vision and machine learning to photographs of human remains (Graham et al. 2020).

As a side, but not less important interest, I had the opportunity to learn about video game development and engage with professionals in Creative Industries. In one collaborative initiative, I was able to combine my know-how in both video games and simulation models (\href{https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92843-8_15}{Szczepanska et al. 2022}).

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Computational Social Science (CSS) program at George Mason (GMU). I hold a MAIS from GMU and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Tasmania. My research interests are the application of ABMs, network analysis, and machine learning to financial markets. My email address and website is [email protected] and www.aussiecas.com

Positions held today:
• Associate Professor for Geoinformatics and Ecology at the University of Salzburg (since 2017)
• UNIGIS Program Director (since 2020)
• Head of the Research Group “Spatial Simulation” (since 2013)

Major academic milestones:
• Assistant Professor, Department for Geoinformatics, University of Salzburg (2013-2017)
• Associate Faculty in the FWF Doctoral College “GIScience” (2013-2017)
• Director of Studies UNIGIS MSc distance learning programs, University of Salzburg (2012-2020)
• PhD at the University of Innsbruck on ecological modelling (2011)
• Research Assistant Austrian Academy of Sciences, GIScience Institute (2007-2011)
• Magistra in Ecology, Univ. of Innsbruck (2001) and MSc in GIS, Univ. of Edinburgh (2006)

Lu Ping is a dedicated researcher in interdisciplinary fields including artificial intelligence (AI), digital economy, technological innovation, and industrial economics. Currently serving as an Associate Research Fellow at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), Lu Ping focuses on examining the impacts of digital technologies (e.g., AI, big data, and IoT) on economic growth, industrial ecosystems, policy formulation, and societal ethics through multidimensional data modeling and empirical research.
Representative Academic Contributions:
1. AI Development and Societal Implications
A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence Development in China (2017): Explored the technological evolution and policy-driven pathways of China’s AI industry.
Ethical Dilemmas Faced by AI Algorithms (2018): Analyzed ethical challenges such as algorithmic bias and data privacy, proposing governance frameworks.
A Brief History of the Evolution of Smart Hardware in China (2018): Systematically reviewed the technological iterations and market dynamics of China’s smart hardware sector.
2.Technological Innovation and Industrial Economics
An Empirical Analysis of Technological Innovation Driving Growth in Internet Companies: Evidence from A-Share Listed Internet Firms in Shanghai and Shenzhen (2019).
Research on Competitiveness Measurement of Frontier Emerging Industries Based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Models (2019).
3.Digital Economy and Market Behavior
Correlation Analysis of Crowdfunding Behavior and Funding Performance for Internet Products: A Bayesian Approach Based on JD.com Crowdfunding Data (2018): Uncovered nonlinear relationships between user participation and project success rates using crowdfunding platform data.
Analyzing the Effects of Developer and User Behavior on Mobile App Downloads (2019): Built predictive models for app market performance based on user behavior data.
4.Policy Simulation
General Equilibrium Analysis of Beijing’s Water Supply and Consumption Policies: A Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Model-Based Approach (2015).
Impact Analysis of EU Food Safety Standards on China’s Food Industry: A Dynamic Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) Model-Based Study (2015).
Academic Contributions:
Pioneered interdisciplinary paradigms in industrial economics research by integrating perspectives from econometrics, data science, and sociology. Published high-impact research in AI ethics, digital economy policies, and resource-environmental economics, providing decision-making references for academia and policymakers.

GIS enthusiast and ABM practitioner