Topics in Extraordinary Achievement in Historically Excluded Groups : Creating Spaces of Opportunity

Miguelina Nuñez-Zippelius is a Chief Communications Officer for a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) company in the emerging technology sector, where she drives efforts to make learning and innovation accessible in the climate mitigation space. She has over 12 years of experience as a researcher, creative consultant, and storyteller; her work spans the fields of education, STE(A)M-based talent development, and corporate communications. Inspired by the Chinese concept of ‘super-normal’ children, Miguelina’s work has focused on raising awareness of gifted behavior, particularly in historically excluded groups. By promoting visibility and thus, identifying more role models within these communities, she aims to influence the next generation of students and professionals. Previously, Miguelina held a research fellowship at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany, where she specialized in addressing equity gaps in education and the science of eminence. She contributed to initiatives such as the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s “Promoting Excellence in School Education” and was an active member of the Integrated Research Training Group’s coalition on Equity Gaps in Education. 
 
Dr. Skylor Zhitian Zhang is a creativity specialist and coach at the University of Tübingen, with over a decade of expertise in creativity research, gifted education, and talent development. She earned her doctoral degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. Her research has been featured in prestigious journals such as the Journal of Creative Behavior and the Creativity Research Journal. Beyond her roles as a researcher and lecturer, Dr. Zhang is a career and life coach with extensive experience mentoring early-career and prospective researchers. Since 2022, she has led the EU-Fair Play project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. As project manager, she oversees a European research network dedicated to addressing educational equity through innovative game-based approaches. Her educational program has been recognized with the "InnoSpark: Idea Challenge" award at the University of Tübingen.
 
Dr. Peter Merrotsy is a Senior Honorary Research Fellow in the Graduate School of Education at The University of Western Australia. Previously, he enjoyed eighteen years’ experience as a teacher and head teacher of Mathematics in rural Australia, before joining the School of Education at the University of New England where his research focused on highly able children and youth from backgrounds of disadvantage. In 2013, Peter was appointed to UWA where he has continued to conduct research on high ability Aboriginal children, as well as on creativity and problem solving. Peter is the editor of the journal TalentEd, and has published approximately 150 books, book chapters and articles on the education of disadvantaged, high ability students, and on creativity and problem solving. In 2019, Peter received an Australian University Teaching Award for his innovative approaches to mathematics education.