My pronouns are she/her.
WHO: I am a human-centered computing PhD student at Georgia Tech and a member of the DataWorks research team. I am primarily advised by Dr. Betsy DiSalvo, co-advised by Dr. Carl DiSalvo, and collaborate closely with Dr. Ben Rydal Shapiro (GSU). Before Georgia Tech, I studied computer science at Wellesley College.
WHAT: At a high level, I am interested in how people understand the datafication tools and devices they use, ranging from machine learning (ML) models to mobile phones. I examine how the data produced in a user-tool engagement is shaped by the user’s perception of the tool. Beyond critical data studies, my approach is also informed by prior research experience and ongoing interest in programming languages, usable security and privacy, and information dissemination in modern media.
HOW: My dissertation research is specifically focused on preserving the sociotechnical context in which a dataset is constructed, so that later use of systems (e.g., an ML classifier) trained on a given dataset can be contextualized; I care about contextualization as a way to more enact more just and respectful deployment of data-intensive systems, along with increasing system accuracy. Right now, I am exploring how context can be preserved in data work mediated by digital pieceworking platforms (e.g., Amazon Mechanical Turk). I am also working on building software systems and tools that support documentation in data work, while minimizing additional human labor and respecting the privacy of those working with, represented by, or included in the data being processed.
In my spare time, I enjoy:
- reading about anything tangentially related to data and computing;
- keeping a kind of data diary of the temporal and financial cost of protecting my personal information on the web – mostly to highlight the barriers to doing so;
- de-Googling my personal devices;
- and both guerilla gardening and guerilla Linuxing (making obsolete computers usable again).