Rising Stars New England 2024 Scholars
The 2024 New England Computing & Data Science Rising Stars program at Boston University is aimed at supporting doctoral students and postdocs from particularly underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds who will be entering the academic job market within 1-2 years. The scholars we are seeking will be from the computing and data sciences, engineering, or math disciplines and are emerging public-interest technology scholars interested in pursuing academic careers.
Learn More about the Rising Stars Program
2024 Scholars
Andrea Gallardo, Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University
About
Bio: Andy Gallardo is a Societal Computing PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University whose research focuses on societal implications of emerging and existing technologies. She has conducted human-centered studies regarding the usability of iPhone security features, AR glasses privacy, and AI fairness concerns about the use of voice technologies in high-stakes contexts.
Research Interests: "I am interested in how people use technologies to communicate or collaborate across cultures and languages."
About Andy: “My name is Andrea, but you can call me Andy. I'm a 5th year PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University, and my research mostly focuses on human factors and sociotechnical problems in computer security. More recently, I have begun doing research on potential opportunities and challenges of language technologies for speakers of non-standard dialects and languages, and I hope to do more research in this space in the future.”
About
Bio: Collins W. Munyendo is a fifth-year PhD candidate in the Usable Security and Privacy Lab at the George Washington University, where his research broadly focuses on human-centered security and privacy, with an emphasis on addressing the needs of underserved communities. Some of his past work has explored how users select PINs and Android patterns for smartphone unlocking, what motivates users to (not) use password managers, and security and privacy challenges and concerns in Kenya. His dissertation work investigates how security and privacy advice varies across several majority world countries. Collins holds a Master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor’s degree from Strathmore University.
Research Interests: "My research interests broadly lie in human-centered security and privacy, with an emphasis on addressing the unique needs of underserved communities."
About Collins: “My name is Collins Munyendo and I am a fifth year PhD student in Computer Science at the George Washington University. I have broad research interests in usable security and privacy, and have done work on usable authentication and understudied communities. More recently, I have been exploring how security and privacy practices and behavior vary across countries and contexts. So excited to meet you all in Boston soon : )”
About
Bio: Ezinne Nwankwo is a 4th year PhD student and an AI Policy Hub Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, where she works on problems at the intersection of AI and society. She is interested in how machine learning and causal inference can be used to improve decision-making in societally high-stakes settings and mitigate data issues of validity and measurement error that arise in social data. She works on data-driven methods to improve equity and enhance access for underserved communities. She previously completed her Masters in Statistics at Duke University and Bachelors degree at Harvard University. She is a passionate advocate for students from underrepresented backgrounds and served as a board member of the nonprofit organization, Black in AI.
Research Interests: "My research interests lie in using machine learning and causal inference to improve decision-making and improve equity and access for underserved communities."
About Ezinne: “My name is Ezinne (she/her), and I'm a fourth year PhD student at UC Berkeley where I work on problems at the intersection of AI/machine learning and society. I'm interested in how machine learning and causal inference can be used to improve decision-making in societally high-stakes settings and mitigate data issues of validity and measurement error that arise in social data. I try to develop data-driven methods to improve equity and enhance access for underserved communities. I'll be at INFORMS Annual Meeting in Seattle just before this workshop if anyone else is attending!”
About
Bio: Joy Ming is a 5th year PhD student at Cornell in Information Science. Her research goal is to examine how community organizers could leverage AI and data-driven technologies to build collective power in a way that takes into account technological harms. For her PhD, she has been partnering with a union-affiliated worker advocacy organization to see how data could be used to improve working conditions for home care workers. She also has experience working with other community-based organizations in global health, disability justice, and civic engagement.
Research Interests: "Data and technology for collective action with low-wage, frontline health workers."
About Joy: “I'm Joy and I'm a 5th year PhD student at Cornell in Information Science. My research goal is to examine how community organizers could leverage AI and data-driven technologies to build collective power in a way that takes into account technological harms. For my PhD, I have been partnering with a union-affiliated worker advocacy organization to see how data could be used to improve working conditions for home care workers. I also have experience working with other community-based organizations in global health, disability justice, and civic engagement.”
About
Bio: Kentrell Owens (he/him) is a fifth-year PhD candidate in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle. His research interests are broadly (usable) security & privacy, with a specific focus on ✨consumer protection✨ for non-traditional consumers. Some recent projects of his have focused on the use of compulsory surveillance technologies in the US criminal legal & immigration systems and user perceptions of the security & privacy risks of modified Android apps. Through his research, he attempts to do impactful computer security/privacy research that fulfills his senses of curiosity, justice, and hope.
Research Interests: "My research interests are (usable) computer security and privacy, emphasizing consumer protection for non-traditional consumers."
About Kentrell: “I'm Kentrell, a fifth year PhD candidate in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle. My research interests are broadly (usable) security & privacy, with a specific focus on consumer protection for non-traditional consumers (i.e., users). Some recent projects of mine have focused on the use of compulsory surveillance technologies in the US criminal legal & immigration systems and user perceptions of the security & privacy risks of modified Android apps. I will be at AIES right before the workshop! Excited to see folks in Boston!”
About
Bio: Kweku Kwegyir Aggrey is a PhD candidate in Computer Science at Brown University whose research investigates foundational questions in responsible machine learning. Recently, his work has focused on the design of algorithms that can mitigate issues surrounding data-driven decisions, by examining the various sources of uncertainty that arise when deploying automated tools in real-world contexts. The high-level goal of his research is to produce new ideas that can provide insight into existing and emerging challenges at the intersection of society and computation. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland-College Park with degrees in computer science and mathematics. He has also held industry positions at IBM and Adobe.
Research Interests: "I work on theoretical questions that arise when determining how to responsibly deploy machine learning technologies and how to protect AI consumers."
About Kweku: “My name is Kweku (he/him), and I'm a sixth-year PhD student at Brown. My research interests fall somewhere between machine learning, stats, and policy. Lately, I've been working on applying ideas from uncertainty quantification to some sociotechnical evaluation problems.”
About
Bio: Natalie Araujo Melo (any pronoun) is a PhD candidate at Northwestern University studying Computer Science and Learning Sciences (CS+LS). Natalie earned their BSE in CS at the University of Pennsylvania, having received the Moore School Council Cwikla Award for most improvement. With experience (and critiques of) learning and teaching computer science for over a decade, Natalie’s work emphasizes the need for pedagogical and epistemological examination of computing learning environments. Natalie researches justice-centered computing education through a transdisciplinary approach, with insights from a variety of critical theories and disciplines. For their dissertation, they are utilizing Black Studies and Linguistics approaches to study the pedagogies and organizing of Black scholar-activists who are prefiguring a future of computing research, education, and policy that prioritizes Black life.
Research Interests: "I study justice-centered computing education with a transdisciplinary lens, bridging critical disciplinary lenses together towards liberatory education for Black life."
About Natalie: “I'm Natalie (any pronouns), a 6th-year at Northwestern in the joint Computer Science and Learning Sciences program. I study tech ethics education through the lenses of Black Studies and relationality. Been reading a lot of Sylvia Wynter lately to incorporate into my dissertation if anyone ever wants to nerd out.”
About
Bio: Olumurejiwa (Mureji) Fatunde is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Operations Management and Statistics research group within the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. In her research, she leverages data-driven methods to improve decision-making in resource-constrained settings. Her research interests include informal supply chains, digital platforms, public sector decision-making, and business model innovation to achieve social objectives. Her work leverages methods from diverse fields including operations research, statistics, computer science, and economics, and she increasingly applies machine learning methods such as natural language processing to operations challenges. She hopes that her work will help companies, governments, and other organizations—especially those in emerging markets—improve their performance in order to better serve customers and society. Mureji received a PhD in Operations Management & Decision Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2022. Before pursuing doctoral studies, she worked on initiatives related to improving public health supply chains in West Africa.
Research Interests: "I use data-driven methods to improve decision-making by public- and private-sector organizations, with application areas including informal supply chains, digital platforms, and business model innovation to achieve social objectives."
About Olumurejiwa: “Hello all - my name is Mureji Fatunde, and I'm currently a second-year postdoc at University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. My research explores operational challenges in resource-constrained settings, mostly using an empirical approach drawing from econometrics and machine learning methods. I'm particularly interested in application areas such as supply chains in informal settings, designing incentives on digital platforms and marketplaces, public sector decision-making, and business model innovation to achieve important social objectives. I'm on the job market this fall, so this program is very timely for me as it coincides with a major career transition. I can't wait to engage deeply with this network and learn from the exciting work that you all are doing. I'll be arriving in Boston fresh from the INFORMS conference in Seattle, and look forward to meeting all of you!”
About
Bio: Tamara Lambert is a postdoctoral fellow at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, whose work focuses on developing pediatric medical devices. She has a background in biomedical engineering and public health. Her doctoral work focused on developing machine learning algorithms to detect progression toward crisis states in opioid use disorder and hypovolemia. Tamara is passionate about using innovation to reduce and eliminate healthcare disparities in marginalized populations. Her drive stems from witnessing the impact of income inequality on her own family, losing her parents early due to preventable and treatable illnesses, and in countries such as Nicaragua and India where she saw first-hand how those without resources lacked access to adequate healthcare. Determined to make a positive change in global healthcare, these challenges led Tamara to complete her Bachelor of Science in Biological Engineering at Cornell University, Master of Public Health in Global Environmental Health at Emory University, Master of Engineering in Bioengineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. Tamara desires to use her work to develop and expand access to quality healthcare technology for limited-resource communities.
Research Interests: "My research interests lie in developing and expanding access to quality medical technologies for limited-resource communities."
About Tamara: “My name is Tamara and I am currently a postdoctoral fellow at Lurie Children's Hospital working on developing a pediatric MedTech device using AI/ML. Previously, I completed my PhD in biomedical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, where I leveraged statistical methods and machine learning to detect progression towards crisis states in opioid use disorder and hypovolemia. I also have a background in public health. My research interests lie in developing medical technologies to diminish healthcare disparities in historically marginalized populations. I look forward to meeting everyone!”
About
Bio: Tessa Masis is a 4th year PhD student in Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Their research is in the domain of natural language processing and computational social science with a focus on using computational methods to investigate linguistic or social phenomena, especially ones relevant to marginalized groups, in multilingual social media data. Some of their previous work has explored the evolution of transnational online activist movements, understanding noisy self-identified locations from global social media users, and detecting linguistic features in low-resource Englishes. Tessa is passionate about developing low-resource and multilingual language tools, and collaborating with social scientists to conduct meaningful research at the intersection of language, society, and identity.
Research Interests: "Low-resource and multilingual natural language processing, computational social science."
About Tessa: “I'm Tessa (they/them), and I'm a fourth-year PhD student at UMass Amherst, where I work in natural language processing and computational social science. I'm interested in developing/using NLP tools to investigate social phenomena, especially ones relevant to marginalized groups, in multilingual social media data. My most recent projects have focused on transnational online activist movements and how they're sustained across geographic and linguistic boundaries.”