FOUNDER & DIRECTOR

Daniel Hoyer is a computational historian and complexity scientist. He holds a PhD in Classics from New York University, and since 2014 he has been part of Seshat: Global History Databank (full CV available here). He is an affiliated researcher with the Complexity Science Hub, Vienna in the Social Complexity & Collapse Working Group. He is also affiliated with the Evolution Institute, a research scientist with the SocialAI lab at the University of Toronto, and a member of the UN Foundation hosted Accelerating Systemic Risk Assessment Network. His research seeks to understand societal responses to shifting ecological, social, and economic contexts that determine well-being outcomes in the past, as well as how this may shed light on critical social pressures today.

RESEARCH DIRECTOR

Rachel Ainsworth is an historian and social scientist with an expertise in politics, law, social justice, and human rights. Her background is studying historical revolutions, with a dissertation from the University of East Anglia, U.K on social transformations in Crete during the late Ottoman Empire.  She has been a researcher with Seshat: Global History Databank since 2019 and has worked with the Gender and Migration team at United Nations House Scotland since 2022.

DATA SCIENCE DIRECTOR

James Bennett is a data scientist and complexity scientist focusing on the dynamics of human history. Since 2015 he has been a part of Seshat: Global History Databank, and is an affiliated researcher in the Social Complexity & Collapse Working Groupat the Complexity Science Hub, Vienna. His current research seeks to model and understand the rise, spread, and fall of societies, from the Neolithic to the modern. Prior to these investigations, he was a founder, successful entrepreneur, executive and software developer for several companies in Silicon Valley.

GLOBAL RISK LEAD

Florian Ulrich Jehn is a Senior Researcher in Environmental Science specializing in food security, climate impacts, and civilizational resilience. Following doctoral studies analyzing hydrological systems, Florian’s research expanded to extreme climate change scenarios and innovative approaches to prevent global famine after catastrophic events. Beyond academic research, Florian writes the newsletter “Existential Crunch” and delivers public lectures on food security and climate change, aiming to contribute to human sustainability by investigating the relationships between environment, food systems, and civilization resilience.

HISTORICAL RESEARCHER
& CRISIS ANALYST

Samantha is a historical researcher and writer with an MA in Public History. Her specialist areas of study include the social history of Britain, seventeenth century Europe, and public engagement in history. Samantha has worked for the Seshat: Global Databank since 2019 and, as the lead researcher on the Crisis Database project, has spent the last three years researching, analysing and writing on periods of intense crisis throughout history and how they relate to modern considerations of polycrisis. 

BRAND & COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR

Lisa Light is a writer, brand consultant, editor, and creative advisor. A co-founder of The Djinn Dept., a strategic branding agency, she helps people and businesses find their purpose, then articulates that deep meaning in visual and verbal storytelling. Lisa’s practice is concerned with solving for greater wellbeing across many institutions and industries, from the built environment and the arts to the evolution of work, healthcare, technology, education, and sustainability. She has written eight design books and is a founding editorial advisor at Lot21, a content platform focusing on design for decarbonization.