I am currently recruiting Computer Science graduate students.
If you are interested in working with me, please apply to one of our graduate programs. If you are already a student at UofT and would like to collaborate, email me. More details on the Prospective Students page.
I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto working on crisis informatics, human-centered computing (HCC), and science and technology studies (STS). My research uses a range of ethnographic, participatory, and design research methods to evaluate and improve the technologies we use to understand and respond to environmental challenges like disasters and climate change.
I have a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Colorado Boulder, a Master's Degree in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development from American University and Bachelors Degrees in History and Political Science from the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Prior to starting my PhD, I was was a researcher at the The Center for Neighborhood Technology and the World Resources Institute, a software developer at Development Seed, and a consultant to the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). At GFDRR I launched the Open Data for Resilience Initiative, a worldwide effort to harness open data, open source software, and civic technology to improve disaster and climate risk management. I am also a co-founder and member of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, an international organization working towards creating a free and open map of the world for humanitarian and development purposes.
While a PhD student at CU Boulder, I was visiting student researcher with University of California, Berkeley's Center for Science, Technology, Medicine, and Society, and a visiting researcher and lecturer with the Stanford Urban Resilience Initiative.
Research Areas:
Crisis Informatics, human-computer interaction (HCI), computer supported cooperative work (CSCW), infrastructure studies, critical design, participatory sensing, civic technology, environmental justice
Teaching Areas:
Introductory computer science and programming, HCI, social computing, user-centered design, qualitative research methods, ethics of technology and computing, science and technology studies (STS), information communication technology for development (ICTD)
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Recent News
- October 2020 - Our team organized and facilitated a 2 day online design sprint focusing on improving online tools hurricane risk communications. More details coming soon.
- July 2020 - Our DIS2020 Paper, The Disaster and Climate Change Artathon: Staging Art/Science Collaborations in Crisis Informatics, is now available.
- July 2020 - I began a new position as an Assistant Professor in Computer Science & the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto
- June 2020 - I published a short essay on Crisis Informatics and Mutual Aid during the Coronavirus Pandemic
- May 2020 - I co-organized a (virtual) workshop on Embracing Uncertainty in HCI at CHI 2020
- November 2019 - I co-organized a workshop on Fostering Historical Research in HCI and CSCW at CSCW 2019 in Austin, TX.
- September 2019 - I gave a talk at called Modes of Uncertainty: Negotiating Flood Risk Between Engineers, Bureaucrats, and Publics at the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) in New Orleans, LA.
- July 2019 - I started a one-year Post-Doc in Computer Science at Columbia University where I work with Lydia Chilton.
- May 2019 - I co-organized a workshop called CHI4Evil: Creative Speculations on the Negative Impacts of HCI Research at CHI2019 in Glasgow, Scotland.