Conference Participants

Maria C. Donoso, Ph.D.

UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Water Security
Institute of Environment
College of Arts, Sciences & Education
Florida International University

Maria Concepcion Donoso is presently coordinating the International Programs for the Institute of Water and Environment (InWE) at Florida International University (FIU). She has a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the People's Friendship University (Moscow, Russia) and a M.Sc. in Ocean Engineering from University of Miami, and has a Doctoral Degree (Honoris Causa) from the Universidad Federico Villarreal (Lima, Peru).

Ms. Donoso's research and professional interests are in integrated water resources management, air-sea-land interaction processes, and in climate change and variability impacts on the natural environment and society. She was Director of the Center for Hydraulic and Hydro-technical Research of the Technological University of Panama (1981-1983, 1985-1989), and Invited Professor of Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at the Naval Academy of Colombia (1989, 1990 and 1992). Presently, she is a Faculty Member at FIU.

Ms. Donoso's previous employment was as Director of the Global Water for Sustainability Program (GLOWS) from 2010 to 2016. From 2003 through 2010, she was the UNESCO's Regional Hydrologist for Latin America and the Caribbean. Throughout her professional career, Ms. Donoso has acted as director of various projects and studies on water sciences. Similarly, she has served as Technical Adviser to national and regional organizations, and to private engineering consulting firms. Mrs. Donoso has served as a Member of the Inter-American Water Resources Network (IWRN) Executive Council and at the World Water Council (WWC) Board of Directors. Dr. Donoso is member of the Editorial Board of the journals AquaLAC and the Hydrological Research Letters, the latter published by the Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources.

Leslie Paul Thiele, Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Florida

Leslie Paul Thiele is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida. His interdisciplinary research focuses on political thought, technology, sustainability, and the intersection of political philosophy and the natural sciences. His central concerns are the responsibilities of citizenship and the opportunities for leadership in a world of rapid technological, social, and ecological change.

Dr. Thiele serves as the Specialty Chief Editor for Politics of Technology in Frontiers in Political Science. His journal articles have appeared in: American Political Science Review, Canadian Journal of Political Science, Perspectives on Politics, Polity, New Political Science, Policy Studies Journal, Political Theory, Contemporary Political Theory, Theory and Event, Theoria, Critical Review, Journal of Modern History, Journal of Human Rights, Politics and the Life Sciences, Technology in Society, Environmental Ethics, Climatic Change, Journal of Environmental and Sustainability Science, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, and Global Environmental Politics, among others. Dr. Thiele has published 10 books, including The Art and Craft of Political Theory (Routledge 2019), Sustainability (Polity 2024) and Human Agency, Artificial Intelligence, and the Attention Economy: The Case for Digital Distancing (Palgrave Macmillan 2025).

Beatriz Perez de la Heras, Ph.D.

Professor of European Law and Jean Monnet Chair on European Integration
Deusto University, Spain

Beatriz Pérez de las Heras is Professor of European Union Law and Jean Monnet Chair on European Integration at the University of Deusto (UD). PhD in Law (UD), she accomplished post-graduate studies at the Centre Européen Universitaire de Nancy, where she obtained the DESS and DEA en Droit Communautaire. She was Director of the European Studies Institute at UD from 1996 to 2009, and Academic Coordinator of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on European Union Law and International Relations from 2013 to 2016.

She also served as Vice-Dean for Research and International Relations at Deusto Faculty of Law from 2013 to 2015. She has been a visiting scholar at the Universities of Oregon (2009), Georgetown (2012), Fordham (2013), Boston College (2014) and Florida International University (2016). She is currently Editor-in- Chief of Cuadernos Europeos de Deusto Journal and Main Researcher of the Integración Europea y Derecho Patrimonial en un contexto global research team. She is author of several books on European legal issues, such as Hacia un Derecho Común en la Unión Europea (Dykinson, 2003) and El Mercado Interior Europeo (Universidad de Deusto, 2008). She has also published numerous papers in scientific journals.

Her current research interests are chiefly focused on the European Union (EU) climate change and energy policy, democracy and citizenship in the EU, and the role of the EU as an international actor. She has been granted two research terms.

Louisa Rosemary Parks, Ph.D.

Professor in Political Sociology
University of Trento, Italy

Louisa Parks is Full Professor in Political Sociology at the School of International Studies and the Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, Italy. Her research interests centre around citizen activism and its links to global environmental governance, and she has published articles and books on themes including climate and biodiversity activism at the local, regional, and international levels.

Her current projects include research on environmental activism and its contributions to transformative governance, climate democracy and activism, and citizens’ trust and participation in the EU. She is an editor of the journal Environmental Politics.

Tatiana Kostadinova, Ph.D.

Professor, Politics & International Relations
Director, European & Eurasian Studies Program
Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs
Florida International University

Tatiana Kostadinova is a professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations and the director of the European & Eurasian Studies Program at FIU. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the Florida State University. Her research and teaching interests include elections, institutions, democratization, political corruption, and populism.

She has been the recipient of several grants, among which the American Political Science Small Research Grant (2002) and a Fellowship Program Award from the German Marshall Fund of the United States (2003-2004). Kostadinova is the author of two books. In Bulgaria 1879-1946: The Challenge of Choice (East European Monographs/Columbia University Press, 1995) she explored institutional arrangements, party competition, and voting patterns in Bulgarian parliamentary elections. The second book, Political Corruption in Eastern Europe: Politics After Communism (Lynne Rienner, 2012) analyzed the emergence of corruption as a major obstacle to successful democratic transition. Her findings turn the attention to the eroding impact of malfeasance on citizen trust in institutions and the role of the European Union for promoting integrity in public life. Other publications include journal articles in American Journal of Political Science, Electoral Studies, Journal of Peace Research, European Journal of Political Research, Political Research Quarterly, Party Politics, and Europe-Asia Studies.

Professor Kostadinova’s primary teaching area is comparative politics. At the undergraduate level, she teaches courses on Russian and Eastern European politics, electoral behavior, and research methods. Her graduate level courses include seminars on democratic transitions, political parties, political corruption, and advanced research.

Mr. Giacomo Montrasio

Deputy Consul General
Consulate General of Italy in Miami

Giacomo Montrasio assumed his duties as Vice Consul General of the Consulate General of Italy in Miami in September 2024. He entered the Italian Diplomatic Service in 2021, serving at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome, within the Directorate General for Human Resources, Budget and Innovations.

After completing a bachelor’s degree in International and European Studies, he earned a master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Milan. He also holds an MBA from Luiss Business School in Rome and a Master in Diplomacy from the Italian Institute of International Political Studies (ISPI) in Milan.

Hon. Raphaël Trapp

Consul General of France in Miami

Raphaël Trapp took over as Consul General of France in Miami on September 2nd, 2022.

An alumnus of the Faculty of Law at the University of Paris XII and the Institute of Administration, Mr. Trapp joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2003. In 2004, he was assigned to the Budgetary Office at the General Administration Department before joining the Human Rights office of the Ministry (2006-2009). Starting from 2009, Mr. Trapp was appointed as Legal Advisor at the Human Rights unit of the Permanent mission of France to the United Nations in Geneva (Switzerland). In 2012, he took over the unit as Head of the Human Rights department of the Mission. He participated in the establishment of the Commission of inquiry on Human Rights violations in Syria, worked more broadly on the universal protection of freedom of speech, and the fight against arbitrary detentions and death penalty. In 2013, Mr. Trapp joined the French Embassy in Rabat (Morocco) as First secretary at the Political Affairs unit, a period during which he worked in close relationship with the Moroccan civil society.

Back in Paris, at the Secretary General department of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, he served as a Policy officer to follow up management and general Consular affairs; the last year of his posting, he managed the policy officers’ team of the Secretary General.

In 2019, he was appointed Deputy permanent Representative of France to the United Nations and the International Organizations in Vienna (Austria) and worked on the nuclear Iranian file, on space affairs and on combatting cybercrime.

Marcie Washington, Ph.D.

Associate Teaching Professor
Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies
Politics and International Relations
Florida International University

Dr. Washington received her Master's degree in International Affairs in the College of Social Sciences at Florida State University and her Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from Nova Southeastern University. Her research interests are diverse, but most of the time she focus on topics related to conflict and cooperation, international and domestic migration, and transnational and domestic security. Dr. Washington's research interests assists in delivering an understanding that refugees, the diaspora, and internally displaced persons are also challengers whom have the capacity in certain political and social environments to organize unrest and promote peace. Her work builds upon the rich and current scholarship of conflict and peace studies - demonstrating that understanding collective action is impractical in the absence of close attention to how memories influence collectives to engage in contentious tactics to re-frame a 'real and/or perceived' grievance from the past in order to reinforce their desired identity.

When teaching about international relations, security studies, conflict and cooperation, and the politics of immigration- she delves into the socio-psychological and sociopolitical processes that occurs within and between groups that promotes collective action and cooperation. Thus, she regularly offer courses that lends attention to the nexus between conflict, power, agency, promotion and protection of human rights, and security. Such as, International Negotiation; Challenges of Refugees and Migrants; Conflict, Security, and Peace Studies; Politics of Development and Underdevelopment; and Strategic Studies and National Security

William J. “Popeye” Osceola

Secretary, Miccosukee Tribe

Popeye (William J. Osceola) is a member of the Bird Clan, and has taught language, culture, and digital arts at the Miccosukee Indian School before he was elected Secretary of the Miccosukee Business Council in 2021. Recently re-elected to a 2nd term, Popeye is in his mid-thirties and is somehow still the Council’s youngest member, balancing tradition and modernity with a creative flair.

As Secretary, he is in charge of all aspects of communication within the Tribe, including recordkeeping, handling correspondence, publishing notices about meetings and events, and keeping track of Tribal membership. Some of his goals include shaping future leaders by placing an emphasis on education, increasing community involvement, and investing in infrastructure to improve roads, sidewalks, and important buildings within the Reservation.

He was born in Florida and raised in different camps inside the Reservation; when he was 5 years old, his family moved to Connecticut. Living there for 7 years gave him an in-depth perspective on the outside world and increased his appreciation for his Tribal community.

Being an enthusiastic proponent of history, he loves sharing with others what he’s learned about humanity’s collective past, as well as the Tribe’s. His biggest artistic influences are Shel Silverstein, Raymond Pettibon, John Carpenter’s THE THING & the Atom Bomb. He also thinks that people wash their hair way too often.