Christopher is a doctoral researcher in Development Studies, focusing on Chinese investment policy in Africa. He has lived in Finland since the autumn of 2018 and previously  lived for many years in Italy, the UK, Saudi Arabia, and China. He joined the EXALT initiative because of his interest in digital forms of extractivism. For example: 1) how personal data is extracted and used by transnational companies (especially in the global south); 2) the real world impacts of digital extractions (e.g. cryptocurrency mining is digital, but it can have significant environmental impacts because of the large amount of power it uses, not to mention societal impacts). He is really happy to get to talk with the diverse EXALT global community and share in their stories, experiences, and expertise through the podcast.

Sophia is in the final year of her doctorate in the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. Her research addresses sense of place, locality, and food consumer geographic imaginaries. She has been living and working in Finland for the last 6 years. She is deeply interested in the concept of intellectual extractivism and engages with a slow scientific practice (think slow food, but science). Sophia is super excited to be involved with this podcast and looks forward to sharing our guests with the listeners.