Research Team

Dharma Dailey conducts public interest field research and analysis on community based communication projects, working with groups such as the Federal Communications Commission, Social Science Research Council, Ford Foundation, Media and Democracy Coalition, Media Justice Fund, and Prometheus Radio Project. Dharma’s work has focused on the task of taking the issues of media reform beyond the beltway, she provides expert testimony on many topics, including smart radios, FCC licensing regimes, appropriate technology, and community media to audiences across North America. Dharma is currently co-Director of DeepTech.org, a research consultancy that investigates the impact of information and communication technologies on people and the planet.

Amelia Bryne is a researcher, media theorist and filmmaker, and co-Director of DeepTech.org. Trained in cultural anthropology and new media, she uses a hybrid of social research and media making techniques to approach her work. Amelia’s media research and writing has focused on the human side of communications infrastructure and technology, including work on the digital divide, wireless internet infrastructure, and frameworks for developing broadband in ways that benefit communities. She has worked with public interest research groups including the Community Wireless Infrastructure Research Project, The Ethos Group, and eCommons.

Alison Powell is an SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute. She completed a PhD in Communication Studies at Concordia University in 2008. She has researched the social impact of networks on communities since 2003, when she formed part of the Canadian Research Alliance on Community Innovation and Networking. Alison has studied community wireless networks in the United States, Canada and Western Europe and contributed to the Ethos Wireless Better Broadband Toolkit. Her current work examines the evolution of community innovation and its impact on the future of the internet, and develops qualitative methods for policy research. Alison is committed to conducting empirical social research that helps to develop communication and information policy for the public good.

Joe Karaganis directs SSRC projects on Media, Technology, and Culture, including the ‘Necessary Knowledge for a Democratic Public Sphere’ Program and the ‘Culture, Creativity, and Information Technology’ Program. His research focuses on the relationship between digital convergence and cultural production, and has recently included work on media piracy, broadband adoption, and data policy. He is the editor of Structures of Participation in Digital Culture (2007) and of the forthcoming Toward Detente in Media Piracy (2010).

Jaewon Chung is a Program Assistant at the SSRC, where she has worked with the Media, Technology, and Culture Program and the American Human Development Project. She has a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania, with a focus on Asian American Studies and Women’s Studies. Her primary interests are in qualitative methods and the practical application of social science research.