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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.
Deputy Director: Education
Tom O'Grady is Associate Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science. His research uses advanced quantitative and computational methods to analyse political discourse and public opinion data. He recently published a book on British welfare reforms since the 1980s, analysing the relationship between discourse and opinion. He has also written about the under-representation of working-class people in British politics and the foundations of popular support for redistribution and welfare. An experienced and award-winning teacher of quantitative methods and data science he is a core member of Q-Step, designing and teaching their cutting-edge data science curriculum to undergraduates in the social sciences.
Deputy Director
Néstor Castañeda is Associate Professor of Latin American Political Economy in the Institute of the Americas. He is a political economist who studies the politics of inequality and redistribution in developing economies. His current research seeks to understand the difficulties of making taxation more efficient and progressive in developing countries. His research also aims to understand the macro and micro-level factors explaining the resilience of inequality in Latin America. He teaches undergraduate and postgraduate modules in Latin American Economics, Political Economy of Economic Development, and Social Science Research Methods.
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.
Faculty Projects Manager
Zoe is Projects Manager in the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences, focusing on the faculty's strategic initiatives. She is responsible for both UCL Anthropocene and the SHS Health, Mind and Society initiative (HMS). Zoe also assists with the Social Data Institute (SODA) with specfic focus on the insitute summer school and CPD courses.
Zoe completed her BSc in Anthropology at UCL, before graduating from City University with a MA in International Journalism and working for seven years as a journalist.
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.