Science is most interesting when it subverts expectations. As a medic in the army, I used to think of the world in terms of strict hierarchies; some central governing agency gives orders, which trickle down the chain of command. However, it turns out that most biological systems do not work this way, instead distributing control among the members of the group (be they genes, cells, animals). I have since dedicated my research career to understanding how this works. Currently, I am a postdoctoral fellow at Arizona State University in the School of Complex Adaptive Systems, which is the same university where I received my PhD.

Dr. Jiin Jung is a social psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Lehigh University. She also serves Secretary of the Computational Social Science of the Americas. Dr. Jung’s research focuses on how minority voices influence society and drive changes in social norms and cultural practices. She directs the Group Dynamics & Social Change Lab, which is dedicate to investigating psychological explanations for social change. Her lab explores topics such as minority influence on social change, minority responses to identity uncertainty and threat, and minority contributions to collective adaptation. Dr. Jung engages in policy initiatives geared toward democracy and gender equity.