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Our Team

Meet the researchers and fact-checkers who make FactFinder possible. Our team brings together experts from various academic disciplines to ensure thorough and accurate fact-checking.

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Dr. Eleanor Richards

Lead Researcher, Music History

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Biography

Dr. Richards is a musicologist specializing in 90s alternative music with a PhD from Berkeley. Her research focuses on the cultural and historical influences on musical movements of the late 20th century. She has previously published in Rolling Stone and the Journal of Popular Music Studies, and taught courses on music history at several prestigious universities.

Selected Publications

  • The Historical Influences on 90s Alternative Rock (Journal of Popular Music Studies, 2020)
  • Symbolism and Mythology in Kurt Cobain's Lyrics (Music History Quarterly, 2018)
  • Underground to Mainstream: The Evolution of Grunge (University of California Press, 2016)
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Dr. Marcus Chen

Lead Researcher, Ancient History

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Biography

Dr. Chen is a classical historian with expertise in Roman economic history and archaeology. He earned his doctorate from Oxford University with a dissertation on trade networks in the ancient Mediterranean. He is the author of 'Commerce and Culture in the Ancient Mediterranean' and has participated in archaeological excavations throughout the Mediterranean region.

Selected Publications

  • Commerce and Culture in the Ancient Mediterranean (Oxford University Press, 2019)
  • Silphium: The Lost Treasure of Cyrene (Journal of Ancient Botany, 2021)
  • Economic Impacts of Plant Extinction in the Roman Empire (Classical Studies Review, 2017)
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Dr. Sophia Patel

Lead Researcher, Cultural Symbols

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Biography

Dr. Patel is an anthropologist specializing in the evolution of cultural symbols and their meanings across different societies and time periods. Her research examines how symbols transform and persist through cultural exchange and historical transitions. She has conducted fieldwork in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East studying the transmission of visual symbols from antiquity to modern times.

Selected Publications

  • The Heart Symbol: From Ancient Seeds to Modern Love (Journal of Symbolic Anthropology, 2020)
  • Persistent Symbols: How Ancient Icons Survive in Modern Culture (Harvard University Press, 2018)
  • Visual Language Across Millennia (Anthropological Quarterly, 2016)
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Dr. James Wilson

Lead Researcher, Environmental History

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Biography

Dr. Wilson is an environmental historian focusing on human impacts on ecosystems throughout history, with particular interest in ancient agricultural practices. His work examines how past civilizations interacted with their environments and the lessons these historical relationships offer for contemporary environmental challenges. He has collaborated with botanists and archaeologists to study extinct plant species.

Selected Publications

  • Ancient Extinctions: Human Impact Before the Modern Era (Environmental History Review, 2019)
  • Roman Agricultural Practices and Their Ecological Consequences (Journal of Historical Ecology, 2021)
  • Lost Plants: Reconstructing Extinct Species Through Historical Texts (Botanical History Journal, 2018)