RhizomeMind
A Lab for Mapping Digital Environmentalism(s)
Mark Daley
Project Advisor
Mark is the Chief AI Officer at Western University and a full professor in the Department of Computer Science with cross-appointments in five other departments, The Brain and Mind Institute, The Rotman Institute of Philosophy, and The Western Institute for Neuroscience. He is also a faculty affiliate of Toronto's Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence.
Mark has previously served as the Vice-President (Research) at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), and Chief Digital Information Officer, Special Advisor to the President, and Associate Vice-President (Research) at Western.
Mark is the past chair of Compute Ontario and serves on a number of other boards.
Junyu Ke
Project Lead • Producer • Program Director
Junyu is completing her PhD in Theory and Criticism with a collaborative specialization in Environment and Sustainability at Western University. Her current research explores the role of art in promoting urban sustainability through phenomenology and Daoist embodied traditions, particularly in relation to how these frameworks inform human perception of the environment. As the project lead of Mapping Digital Environmentalism through AI-based Arts, Junyu is interested in extending this inquiry by examining the evolving role of media technologies—such as AI and VR—in reshaping our sensory, proprioceptive engagement with space, narrative, and aesthetics. She brings to the project her experience as a film producer, project manager, and dancer, weaving together critical theory and creative practice in support of environmental storytelling and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Liam Morantz
Research and Content Development Team Lead
Liam Morantz is a third-year PhD candidate at the Centre for the Study of Theory and Criticism, in London, Ontario, with an interdisciplinary focus on the embodied and relational dimensions of digital technologies. In particular, his work constructs a dialogue between contemporary, critical phenomenology and media studies paradigms of witnessing and testimony to ask how witnessing is mediated by contemporary digital technologies, as well as how such affordance of witnessing is constitutive of selfhood. He is interested in the relationship between locality, embodiment and heritage that interface with such technologies can make explicit, alter, and nurture. He enjoys cycling and wishes every day to be a dog-owner. Liam leads the Research & Content Development stream.
Zahra Moosavi
Digital Management Team Lead
Zahra Moosavi is a multilingual researcher and final-year PhD candidate in Comparative Literature at Western University. Her interdisciplinary work explores the intersections of science, literature, and ethics, with a focus on game theory, environmental narratives, and digital storytelling. With academic roots in both engineering and the humanities, Zahra brings a unique analytical lens to cultural and ecological questions. She currently serves as Digital Management Team Lead for the Mapping Digital Environmentalism project, where she coordinates content strategy, digital curation, and outreach. Zahra has also contributed to international conferences and scholarly publications on topics ranging from AI and aesthetics to postcolonial literature and Cold War politics. Fluent in several languages and passionate about cross-cultural engagement, she is committed to making research accessible, ethically grounded, and globally relevant.
Yadira Lizama Mué
Event Planning & Organization  Team Lead
Yadira Lizama Mué is a Postdoctoral Associate at The CulturePlex Lab, supported by the Western Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. She is also an Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities in the Department of Languages and Cultures at Western University. She holds a PhD from Western University and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science Engineering (ECA Certified) from the Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas, Cuba. Yadira’s academic work sits at the intersection of technology and the humanities, where she investigates how computational methods can be harnessed to analyze, model, and interpret cultural data. Her research and teaching emphasize not only the technical dimensions of Digital Humanities but also the importance of integrating humanistic perspectives into the design, deployment, and ethical use of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence. By bridging critical inquiry with digital innovation, she contributes to a deeper understanding of culture in the digital age and promotes thoughtful, inclusive approaches to technological development.