Kwasi Anane-Asare is the Chief of Agriculture for the town of Akyem Dwenase. He has had a number of careers in his life time but now prefers now tend his goat farm, cocoa plantation, and work to help the community of Dwenase. Anane was a co-designer and problem solver extraordinaire. He makes excellent palm wine.
Otieku Bismah (or Bismark) is a gold miner from Osino, Ghana. He cares a great deal for his health and the health of others. Bismark co-designed the mercury retorts with the student team. He has become the biggest champion of their use.
Laureen Elgert is Associate Professor of International Development at WPI. She is interested in the environment-development nexus, examining how politics shapes global environmental policy that can, and often does, have profound impacts on local livelihoods. Laureen has worked in a UNESCO Man and Biosphere Site in the Interior Atlantic Forest (Paraguay), where she helped facilitate the emergence of local and regional governance institutions. She has researched environmental politics in the context of soy production in South America.
Kofi Gyimah Amakao-Gyimah is Executive Secretary to the Okyeman Environmental Foundation. Gyimah overseas environmental protection, restoration, and development in Akyem Abuakwa.
Robert Krueger created the Development Design Lab in 2018 to support his ongoing collaborations with students and colleagues at WPI, Europe, and West Africa. The focus of the Lab to partner with communities in West Africa to co-define problems and co-design solutions to those problems around spatial development. This includes basic and applied research in the areas of natural resources, education, community autonomy, economic practices, and the public policies to support sustainable, self-reliant, and dignified local and regional economies.
Kim Noonan Krueger is a graphic design professional with experience in the non-profit, museum, fine arts, and education sectors. She is highly skilled in environmental, publication, brand, and exhibition design. Krueger successfully develops, distills, and translates design concepts to create compelling visuals for a wide range of audiences. She is especially interested in cross-cultural design. She is a painter, photographer, and writer.
Kwabena Kyei-Aboagye, Jr. is an environmental professional with over 20 years of government and academic experience. Kwabena specializes in planning, law, public policy, environmental justice, community engagement, and interdisciplinary projects. Kwabena works with stakeholders in formulating and implementing effective technical and environmental strategies. He is the Chief of Akyem Dwenase, Akyem Abuakwa State, Ghana.
Gbeton Somasse is an economist who is policy-oriented with a focus on development from the perspective of applied economics and policy evaluation. From my experience as economist and development practitioner in West Africa, I came to realize that as long as actual or potential growth is lagging, promoting economic and social development can be extremely challenging. That is why my research focuses on how economic theory and empirical analysis can provide insights to improve growth and development strategies.
Alex Smith is an economist whose research focuses on altruism, trust, cooperation and honesty. In particular, he is interested in learning how behavior relates to beliefs about the actions of others and how psychology can be used for promoting pro-social behavior. These areas of research provide a better understanding of the factors underlying real-world pro-social behaviors such as volunteering and charitable giving. In essence, they provide insight into how to make the world a better place.
Yunus Telliel is an Anthropologist whose work is animated by an intellectual curiosity with how ideas travel across time and space, and generate diverse practices of acting, seeing, and being in the world. I am especially intrigued by situations in which people come to ask new questions about themselves and others, in ways that require reconsideration of past experiences and imagining of future possibilities. Such situations, I believe, capture an important aspect of human condition—the intertwining trajectories of power and authority, on the one hand, and creativity and innovation, on the other.