Louise Comas is a Plant Physiologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) on campus at Colorado State University. She received her PhD from the Pennsylvania State University in University Park and was research faculty at Penn State and at the University of California in Davis prior to her current position with the USDA-ARS. She studies plant functioning under water stress, effects of co-limitations of water and nitrogen on plants, as well as functional root traits related to soil resource acquisition and interactions with soil microbes.

As a 2026 Fellow, she will exchange best practices and ideas related to precision management of water, nutrients, and agronomic systems in semi-arid environments in collaboration with host Dr. Vasileios Tzanakakis, researchers and students at the Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU) during a series of seminars and discussions. This exchange will foster collaboration among US and Greek scientists working in water-limited environments and contribute to HMU's long-term efforts to strengthen research excellence, promote international scientific collaboration, and prepare future collaborative research initiatives addressing the challenges of sustainable agriculture under water-limited environments.

Thomas Spiegelhalter, PhD, is a Full Professor at Florida International University in Miami and a licensed German-US architect, engineer, and urban planner. He is principal of Spiegelhalter Studio + Associates and works at the intersection of architecture, environmental engineering, computation, and urban systems. Across more than three decades of practice, research, and teaching, he has developed and studied solar, passive, zero-fossil-energy, carbon-neutral, and carbon-positive buildings; large-scale master plans and post-industrial landscapes; engineered bridges; and climate-resilient urban infrastructures in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa.

At FIU, Spiegelhalter’s research integrates geospatial and climatic data with AI- and machine-learning-assisted generative design, BIM, Python/Dynamo/Grasshopper workflows, bionics, and biomimetics. He served as principal investigator of the NSF/Belmont Forum CRUNCH project—Climate Resilient Urban Nexus Choices—investigating food-water-energy systems and long-term climate scenarios for cities. His recent work includes data-driven carbon-positive urban design, generative and synthetic-biological design research, and performance-based development of a 55-meter hybrid robotically fabricated steel bridge in Duisburg, Germany. His scholarship links performance metrics to design speculation, testing technological innovation against energy, carbon, climate adaptation, and human and ecological well-being.

Spiegelhalter has taught and held visiting positions internationally, including as Global Visiting Professor at Keio University in Tokyo, and has participated in the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021 and 2023. He is an affiliated member of FIU’s Institute of Environment and co-directs FIU’s Structures and Environmental Technologies Lab. His work has received 59 prizes, awards, and honors in competitions individually and with interdisciplinary collaborators. His publications include Post-Parametric Automation in Design and Construction and Analog to AI Futures: Pioneering SynBio Nexus Design, which traces the evolution of tools, workflows, and architectural experimentation from analog practice toward AI, synthetic biology, and climate-positive design futures.

During October 2026, Dr. Spiegelhalter will travel as a Fulbright Specialist to the University of Ioannina and collaborate with the Department of Architecture on a project titled "Integrating AI tools in Architectural Education." The scholar with the support of his host Dr. Polyxeni Mantzou will address challenges of AI applications in architecture and education and work alongside faculty and students.