SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD

Mark S. Ashton, Ph.D.

Senior Associate Dean of The Forest School at Yale University

Mark S. Ashton is the Morris K. Jessup Professor of Silviculture and Forest Ecology and serves as the Director of the Yale Forests. With over thirty-five years of research experience, he is a global authority on the biological and physical processes governing natural forest dynamics and ecosystem restoration.

Professor Ashton has authored over 160 peer-reviewed journal papers and the primary silviculture textbook used throughout North America. His extensive work spans watershed management, climate mitigation, and land conservation. He has been recognized with numerous prestigious honors, including the UNESCO Sultan Qaboos Award for forest conservation.

Veronica Strang, FAcSS

Environmental Anthropologist & Affiliated Scholar at Oxford University

Professor Veronica Strang is a world-renowned environmental anthropologist whose work focuses on the complex relationships between human societies and water. For over 30 years, she has conducted ethnographic research across the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, providing critical insights into how cultural beliefs shape environmental sustainability. She is currently affiliated with the University of Oxford's School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography and has previously served as the Executive Director of Durham University's Institute of Advanced Study.

Professor Strang's expertise extends to international policy and rights, having consulted for UNESCO, the UN, and the World Bank on indigenous land and water rights. Her 2023 book, Water Beings: from nature worship to the environmental crisis, serves as a foundational text for understanding the spiritual and political dimensions of water. At Nexus Points Doc, she guides our interdisciplinary approach to river governance and the cultural documentation of water-dependent communities.

Coşku Çelik, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor & Vice Dean, Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, Kadir Has University. Advisory Board Member, Journal of Agrarian Change.

Dr. Çelik is an expert in Feminist Political Economy, Rural Development, and Extractivism. Her work provides critical analysis of public policy, social care, and labor studies, focusing on how large-scale economic and environmental shifts impact gender justice and rural communities.

Esin Paça Cengiz, Ph.D.

Head of Radio, Television, and Cinema Department at Kadir Has University

Dr. Esin Paça Cengiz is a scholar and filmmaker specializing in the intersection of cinema, memory, and gender studies. She currently serves as the Chair of the Radio, Television, and Cinema Department at Kadir Has University. With a Ph.D. from the University of London and professional training from the Prague Film School, she brings a unique blend of rigorous academic theory and practical filmmaking expertise to Nexus Points Doc.

Her extensive research focuses on historical film forms, trauma, and the representation of "invisible labor." She is currently the Principal Investigator of a major TÜBİTAK-funded project investigating the invisible labor of women in the Turkish film industry. Her insights into how narratives shape public memory are instrumental in guiding the documentary methodology of Nexus Points Doc.

Nazlı Özkan, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Media and Visual Arts, Koç University

Dr. Nazlı Özkan is a media anthropologist specializing in the intersection of digital media, journalistic authority, and the politics of visibility. She earned her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Northwestern University and was a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Widening Fellow. Her scholarship critically examines how media infrastructures, ethical reflexivity, and digital affordances shape public discourse and marginalized identities within Turkey's complex media landscape. Providing a crucial interdisciplinary bridge between cultural anthropology and visual advocacy, Dr. Özkan's work focuses on the deep-rooted dynamics of gendered labor and social representation. Her research offers a rigorous theoretical framework for ensuring that the documentation of socio-economic transitions remains grounded in ethnographic theory and ethical representation. Throughout her career, she has been supported by prestigious institutions such as Fulbright and Wenner-Gren, and she continues to publish extensively on media ethics and new media studies in international peer-reviewed journals.

Ethemcan Turhan, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Planning, University of Groningen

Dr. Ethemcan Turhan is an environmental social scientist and assistant professor of environmental planning at the University of Groningen, Faculty of Spatial Sciences. His work sits at the intersection of political ecology, climate justice, and energy democracy, with a specific focus on environmental conflicts and social movements in Turkey and the Mediterranean.

Prior to his current role, he served as a postdoctoral researcher at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (2016–2020) and held the prestigious Mercator-IPC Fellowship at Istanbul Policy Center. His academic contributions have been published in leading journals, including Nature Climate Change, Global Environmental Change, and Ecological Economics.

Erman Ermihan, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Researcher, Bilkent University

Erman Ermihan is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Bilkent University. Ermihan completed his doctorate in the Department of International Relations at Kadir Has University in 2025, after receiving his bachelor's degree in the same department at Istanbul Bilgi University and his master's degree in Political Science at Sabancı University. His research and areas of interest include Turkey-European Union relations, Turkish foreign policy, ontological security, and identity and emotions in foreign policy. His publications have been featured in journals such as the Journal of European Integration, Turkish Studies, All Azimuth, and International Relations.

Nurgül Akmanoğlu, Ph.D.

Professor, Anadolu University, Research Institute for the Handicapped

Dr. Akmanoğlu is a specialist in the field of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Developmental Disabilities (DD). Her areas of expertise include education for individuals with ASD and DD, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), and Evidence-Based Practices (EBP). In addition, she conducts work focused on sexuality education for individuals with ASD and DD, as well as the prevention of abuse. Along with her publications in the field of ASD and her participation in scientific conferences, she has also received various trainings in developmental assessment tools (e.g., Denver II Developmental Screening Test, the Gazi Early Childhood Development Assessment Tool (GEÇDA), and the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale).

Ayşen Eren, Ph.D.

Independent Researcher

Dr. Eren is an environmental social scientist with a background in engineering. Her aim is to utilize her knowledge and expertise on socio-technical and technological systems to understand human-nature issues.

Her current research interests include river basin development, energy infrastructures, environmental justice, and environmental governance. Her research approach is interdisciplinary, combining perspectives and methodologies from environmental sciences, social sciences, and political ecology.

Dr. Eren is committed to improving public understanding of environmental issues. She has been writing on sustainable living since 2007. Her articles published in various newspapers and journals are available online at https://surdurulebilir-yasam-ayseneren.blogspot.com. Her book, Vadinin Dönüşümü, sheds light on the ongoing debates in the field of sustainable development and renewable energy.