Meet the Team

Academic Director

James Cheshire is the inaugural director of the institute and is Professor of Geographic Information and Cartography in the Department of Geography. He has been heavily involved in the expansion of data science teaching within the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences and across the university. His research focuses on visualisation and analysis of new forms of data for the study of social science and he is co-author of the critically acclaimed books London: The Information Capital, Where the Animals Go and Atlas of the Invisible. James is the recipient of a number of major awards from the Royal Geographical Society, The American Association of Geographers, The North American Cartographic Information Society and British Cartographic Society.   

Institute Manager

Moira Hague has worked in the education industry for over 6 years, nearly 5 of those  higher education. As a key leader on the team she spearheads our Internship scheme, fostering essential external partnerships and securing project funding. As the primary contact for the Social Data Institute, she collaborates closely with the Academic Director. Moira's responsibilities encompass the daily operations of the Institute, including event management, media, PR, website upkeep, HR and finance duties, as well as supporting strategic initiatives and helping to grow the internal and external profile of this new unit.

Lecturer in Social Data Science

Igor Tkalec is a Lecturer in Social Data Science at UCL. His research interest intersects political economy, social policy, and research methods with an emphasis on data science. His current research focuses on data storytelling and the utility of machine learning models for answering pressing social issues. He has taught social science research design, introduction to statistics and econometrics, data storytelling, and international political economy. 

Deputy Director

Caroline Parker is a Lecturer of Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology, and the founder of Learning in Prison, an organization dedicated to expanding access to higher education for incarcerated people. She is the author of “Carceral Citizens: Labor and Confinement in Puerto Rico,” published by University of Chicago Press. Her current research explores the health and social impacts of incarceration, and she is the Principal Investigator of the HIPS Study—Hidden in Plain Sight: Incarceration’s Racialized Health Impacts in Latin America—funded by a 5-year Wellcome Trust Career Development Award.

Deputy Director

Tone Walford (they/them) is Associate Professor of Digital Anthropology at UCL. Their research and teaching explores the effects of the exponential growth of digital data on social, cultural and political imaginaries and practices, with an ethnographic focus on Brazil and the environmental sciences.  They have recently been working collaboratively on projects exploring data justice in different contexts around the world, and are interested in developing new forms of trans-discplinary practice. 

Deputy Director

Julia de Romémont is a Lecturer in Quantitative Research Methods and Political Science in the Department of Political Science at UCL. Her research interests lie in the fields of political economy, public opinion and behaviour and the politics of migration. In particular, in her research, she aims to better understand how and when anti-redistributive, exclusionary and reactionary attitudes and political behaviour emerge, using diverse quantitative methods techniques, including causal inference approaches and survey experiments.

Faculty Projects Manager

Emma Hart is Faculty Officer (Communications and Strategic Initiatives) in the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences, focusing on the faculty’s strategic initiatives. She is responsible for the UCL Anthropocene and the SHS Health, Mind and Society Initiatives (HMS), and also assists with the Social Data Institute (SODA).

Emma has been working at UCL for the past 5 and a half years in the Office of the Vice Provost External Engagement (VPEE) at UCL as Events Manager and has over 10 years of experience working in events and communications based roles within higher education.

Project Coordinator: Data Storytelling for Digital Research Infrastructure

Vaishnavi Gondane is an experienced project coordinator and researcher with a strong background in architectural history and heritage studies. She currently coordinates projects at the intersection of research, community engagement, and cultural heritage. With experience at institutions such as University College London (UCL), , University of West England, and Studio Sakha, Vaishnavi has led initiatives in grant management, event organisation, and heritage research.

Her work focuses on fostering community engagement, decolonisation, and interdisciplinary collaboration, and she has successfully curated exhibitions and organised academic events, such as the MA Architectural History Symposium. Vaishnavi is committed to integrating Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) principles into her projects, ensuring diverse perspectives and voices are included.

Holding a Master’s in Architectural History from UCL, Vaishnavi is dedicated to bridging the gap between academic research and real-world applications, working to make heritage more accessible and inclusive for all communities.

Honorary Professor of Practice

The UCL Social Data Institute is delighted to announce Alan Smith OBE, Head of Visual and Data Journalism at Financial Times, has become an Honorary Professor of Practice. Alan Smith is a data visualization specialist and Head of Visual and Data Journalism at the Financial Times. He leads the newsroom team of data reporters and visual journalists. Before joining the FT, Alan was the head of digital content at the UK Office for National Statistics, where he was awarded an OBE in 2011 for services to official statistics.