Jihyeon Bae is a PhD candidate in the Political Science Department at the University of Washington. She is interested in comparing design choices around international organizations and how they influence cooperation among states. She is also passionate about applying NLP models to explore how rhetoric changes in international forums like the United Nations General Assembly. During the UW DSSG program, she will work on a project assessing water reuse patterns, based on substantive knowledge in actor-based institutional design. Born and raised in South Korea, she received her B.A. in International Studies from Kyung Hee University in 2019, with additional training from the Applied Mathematics Department.

Sakshi Vinayak Chavan is a graduate student dedicated to driving positive social change through data science. She is pursuing a Master’s in
Information at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, focusing on UX experience. Her versatility in data analysis and UX design enables her to create impactful solutions. She holds a Bachelor’s of Engineering in Computer.

Sakshi’s technical expertise spans various programming languages . She also has foundational knowledge of design tools like Figma and Adobe XD. As a Database Management Intern at Accumaths, she developed a scalable database for tutorials. Her project portfolio includes a Voice-Based Emailing System for the Disabled, an Employee Clock-in System using Facial Recognition, and a Web Application for the Supply Chain of Confectionery Products. These projects showcase her ability to blend technical skills with user-centered design principles.

Sakshi is also involved in community service, leading initiatives through the Rotaract Club, such as supporting transgender and gender-diverse
individuals, promoting mental health awareness, and organizing charity events.

Participating in the UW DSSG program is a strategic step for Sakshi to apply her data analysis and UX skills to impactful projects. She is eager to
collaborate with interdisciplinary teams and leverage data to address societal challenges.

I am a community ecologist that uses field, lab, and computational methods to explore biogeographical questions and host-microbe interactions. I am interested in understanding the biotic and abiotic drivers of bee gut microbiome variation and parasite dynamics. Specifically, I study bee communities in two systems: pristine, high-elevation mountain meadows in the Madrean Sky Islands Archipelago in Arizona and New Mexico and highly human-modified industrial timber plantations in the Oregon Cascades mountain range.

In the field, I perform bee and plant community surveys and collect insect specimens using hand-netting and passive capture trapping to understand the patterns of diversity of pollinators and floral resources. In the lab, I employ Illumina next-generation sequencing and qPCR techniques to characterize bacterial and parasite communities living in bee guts, as well as the species of pollen they collect. I utilize bioinformatics, Bayesian structural equation modeling, and machine learning methods to infer the causes and consequences of interspecific spatial variation of host-associated organisms and interactions. I am currently working towards a PhD in Ecology and Evolution. I hope to expand my data science skillset and grow my professional network through participation in the UW DSSG program.

I’m Jiaqi He (Kiki), a Master of Science in Information Management student at the University of Washington. My academic journey is driven by a keen interest in leveraging data science and machine learning to address contemporary challenges and enhance accessible technologies to everyone. I am particularly fascinated by the power of data, and I really hope to use my knowledge to contribute to society. I am really thrilled to join this program as this is a valuable opportunity for me to address a real-world social challenges, and also enhance my technical skills in machine learning, data analysis, and programming by working with a diverse team of students, faculty, and external stakeholders. I have always found open-source projects incredibly useful as they have facilitated my study journey significantly. Thus I have been looking for the opportunity to contribute to this community as well. I hope that our contributions can provide valuable tools and insights for others in the field, promoting fairness and equity in generative crowd-flow models and beyond.

I am currently a Scientific Computing graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. My interest lies in developing ML models at the intersection of Science and Mathematics, in particular how these models can be of particular significance in creating real social impact. I bring a broader perspective to my projects with my diverse background in engineering and liberal arts. While my engineering education provided a solid quantitative foundation for computational pursuits, my master’s in liberal studies helped me understand the ethical complexities of my field. Besides work, I take pleasure in cooking, especially experimenting with new dishes by blending Indian cuisine with other culinary traditions. It’s fascinating to see how diverse yet adaptable cultures can be. I also have a keen interest in exploring museums. It’s on my wishlist to visit all the major museums around the world. Every summer, I spend my time in the Himalayas- trekking and participating in water sports. I also find it humbling to read about astronomy, realizing how tiny we are and how limited our knowledge is.

Brooke grew up in North Dakota and received a bachelor’s degree in natural resources and applied ecology from Cornell University. Brooke’s early career focus was on climate and biogeochemical cycling in arctic ecosystems and the Olympic Peninsula. Brooke later served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama with a focus on environmental education and sustainable agriculture. For the past decade, Brooke has been deeply involved in local agriculture and food advocacy, working as an organic farmer, nutrition educator, and local food advocate. While running her own organic vegetable farm, Brooke partnered with the Oregon Food Bank to get more produce into the emergency food system. Brooke is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Data Analytics through Oregon State University. She is excited to join the DSSG program and put into practice using data to drive positive social change.

Felix Junior Appiah Kubi is a dedicated scholar and data scientist with a passion for leveraging statistical methodologies to drive societal advancement. Born in Ghana, Felix earned his undergraduate degree in Statistics from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology before pursuing a Master of Philosophy in Statistics at the University of Ghana. Currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Applied Statistics and Research Methods at the University of Northern Colorado, his research focuses on adaptive leveraged causal inference. As a Research Fellow at the University of Washington’s Data Science for Social Good program, he collaborates with stakeholders to address complex societal challenges using data-driven approaches.

With practical experience as a Data Scientist and Senior Research Consultant, Felix is equipped with expertise in data analysis, research methodology, and project management. Driven by a commitment to ethical research practices and a desire to make a positive impact, Felix is excited to participate in the UW DSSG program. With a deep-rooted passion for data science, Felix’s academic and professional interests lie in applying advanced machine learning techniques and artificial intelligence to address complex societal issues. He aims to further develop his skills in data science and contribute to evidence-based decision-making for social good.

Himanshu Naidu is a graduate student at the University of Washington (UDub), Seattle, pursuing a Masters of Science in Data Science. With a solid background in Computer Vision, Responsible Artificial Intelligence, and Full-Stack Software Development, Himanshu is deeply committed to leveraging data science for societal benefit, which drives his aspiration to join the Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) program. Since Fall 2023, Himanshu has been working on accessibility-oriented projects at the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology.

His primary focus is on developing semantic segmentation-based applications to automatically identify points of interest that influence accessibility. This work has sparked a keen interest in transit equity, which fueled his interest in contributing to the ‘Investigating Transit Equity Through ORCA Fare Card Analysis’ project at the DSSG program. In addition, he is also involved in the Responsibility in AI Systems and Experiences (RAISE) group at UDub as a student researcher. In this role, he utilizes Knowledge Graphs to address alignment issues related to Large Language Models, furthering his expertise in Responsible AI development.

Siman is a PhD student in Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington. She holds a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture. Prior to joining UW, Siman worked at Turenscape Design Institute, where she focused on identifying locations for potential green infrastructure. Her research centers on understanding the factors that influence organizational decision-making in climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. Additionally, she is interested in the interaction between human and environmental well-being. Siman is enthusiastic about joining the DSSG program for its unique opportunity to use analytical techniques to tell stories from data and create a positive societal impact.

Nora Povejsil is a Master’s student studying Information and Data Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Nora’s dedication to using her technical skills for good was recognized through the Jack Larson “Data for Good” Fellowship award she received during the 2023-2024 academic year from her university.

Her educational background includes a double major Bachelor’s degree in Data Science and Public Health from UC Berkeley. During that time, she served as an Undergraduate Student Instructor for a class on the U.S. healthcare system. Driven by a desire to address public health inequities, Nora sought out experiences to advocate for underserved communities in women’s healthcare as a Medical Assistant for the Midwifery unit at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis and as a volunteer at the Daytime Women’s Drop-In Center in Berkeley.

Nora also has a strong passion for environmental work. She applied her data science skills as an Undergraduate Research Assistant for the Power Lab, an integrative biology/ecology lab, creating machine learning algorithms to identify fish species and track ecological patterns and migration trends in Northern California.

Nora is excited to further pursue her passion for data science, public health, and environmentalism this summer as a DSSG Fellow.

Jess Robinson is a PhD student in Sociology at Columbia University and an incoming JD student and Furman Academic Scholar at New York University. As a mixed-methods researcher, Jess studies criminal-legal institutions such as policing and prisons, the politics of science and technology, and social networks. Before graduate school, Jess worked as a Senior Data Analyst at CORNERS: The Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research & Science, where she partnered with community violence intervention practitioners to collaboratively develop new tools, dashboards, and visualizations using geospatial and social network analysis to support their work. Jess is excited to participate in the University of Washington’s Data Science of Social Good program to further her commitment to action-oriented participatory research.

Ishan is a Data Science graduate student at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering from the University of Mumbai, India. He interned at Reliance Jio last summer, working on building their real-time recommendation engine. He’s currently focused on large language models and data-driven marketing as a data science intern at Aug X Labs, a New York-based startup. Having served as the Secretary of an animal welfare nonprofit and being an active community volunteer in Mumbai, he saw the DSSG program as the perfect combination of his two worlds. He is excited to use his technical acumen to solve real social problems.

Mbye is currently pursuing a master’s degree in applied economics at Ohio University. He also holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Finance and Banking from Suleyman Demirel University. Being from a low-income country, The Gambia, his research interest focuses on development economics, specifically financial development, and household welfare. Realizing the potential of data science in unraveling complex societal problems and motivated by his commitment to bridging the gap between economic theory and practical solutions, he is eager to join the DSSG fellowship. With a background in economics, he hopes to enhance his data science skills, which he can utilize to understand and provide practical solutions to societal issues.

Rebecca is a Ph.D. candidate in Social Psychology at the University of Washington. Her work employs experimental methods to examine biases in responses to and perceptions of women’s sexual harassment. She is excited to grow her data science skills and apply them to better understand a meaningful local social issue. Before coming to UW, she received her B.A. in Psychology from Lawrence University, and then worked as a Research Assistant for three years at for the Centre for Evidence and Implementation and the Centre for Workplace Leadership.

Apoorva is a Master in Data Science student at the University of Washington. Her research interests include evaluation of generative models, with a focus on computer vision. She is especially interested in investigating social biases in new-age generative models and using machine learning techniques to create safeguards against them. This interest prompted her to join the DSSG fellowship, where she is working on measuring fairness and equity in crowd-flow generation models. Prior to this, she worked as a Management Consultant with McKinsey & Co., leading digital transformation and strategy projects across Life Sciences, Healthcare, and Agriculture. She has a bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in Literature from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. 

I am currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Data Science at the University of Washington. Before graduate school I worked as a management consultant, primarily supporting clients in healthcare and retail. I graduated with a B.A. from Princeton University in 2021. I am deeply interested in the intersection between data science, machine learning, and energy, especially in data-driven approaches to energy policy. I am excited to participate in the DSSG program for the opportunity to further explore how data science can help communities pursue sustainable development as part of the Water Reuse project.

Zack W. Almquist is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Statistics, and a Senior Data Science Fellow in the eScience Institute at the University of Washington. He serves as the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology’s Training Core PI/Director. Before coming to UW in 2020, Prof. Almquist held a Research Scientist position at Facebook, Inc. and was an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Statistics at the University of Minnesota.

He has held visiting scholar positions at Stanford University and the University of Washington. Almquist was elected Vice-Chair (Chair-Elect) of the American Public Health Association Caucus on Homelessness, starting in Fall 2024. He has received the NSF CAREER award and the Leo Goodman mid-career award from the American Sociological Association Section on Methodology. His research is currently focused on homelessness and housing.

Dr Almquist’s research has been published in highly regarded peer-reviewed journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics, Sociological Methods & Research, Sociological Methodology, Population Space and Place, Mathematical Population Studies, American Journal of Human Biology and Political Analysis.

Naomi is a STEM education researcher and systems software hacker with a background in computer networking and electrical engineering. The primary focus of her work is on inclusive pedagogy at entrances to the STEM learning pipeline in postsecondary education, and how to build engineering communities of practice. She loves thinking about the interface between complex domains of information, be they hardware, software, or people. She comes to the DSSG program as its data-scientist-at-large excited to be a general resource for its participants wherever they may face obstacles: technical, conceptual or inter-personal!

Curtis Atkisson joined the eScience Institute in Feb 2024. He received his PhD in Evolutionary Anthropology from UC Davis with a designated emphasis in Computational Social Science. His dissertation was on how changes in people’s complex social networks impact their cooperative behavior. The analysis of those data required complex networks, designing new measures of information in those networks, and modeling those changes with custom-built Bayesian statistical models.

His postdoctoral work applied his methodological expertise to understanding Open Source Software communities and how they persist, as well as expanding his tools to include Text As Data/Text Mining, machine learning, and AI approaches to understanding text (e.g., GPT as a zero-shot translator). Curtis brings a broad and mixed set of both qualitative and quantitative methods that can be used to understand dynamic processes as well as their surrounding contexts.

His approach to statistics is to maximize the information that can be drawn from data by developing custom-built Bayesian models that can use MCMC to reason about quite diverse data-generating mechanisms. He has worked extensively with qualitative data analysis methods and machine analysis of qualitative data. He has an emphasis on network analysis, including complex networks.

Ryan Avery is the Deputy Director of the Washington State Transportation Center (TRAC) at the University of Washington, where he facilitates connections between UW researchers and state and local agencies. Ryan supports research projects and specializes in large-scale data analysis, applying his database and programming knowledge to efficiently process and analyze massive datasets to support public transportation agencies. He is the lead data architect and developer for a research project using ORCA fare card data to develop data dashboards to support transit analysts at King County Metro and Sound Transit. He is also the lead architect for data reporting for the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Toll Division.

Ryan is highly skilled in the use of geographical information systems (GIS) to support planning efforts and perform detailed geospatial analysis. During his previous experience as a consultant, Ryan worked as a GIS specialist and transport planner and has multimodal transportation planning experience working on numerous transit studies in the Puget Sound as well as international experience working on transit and rail in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. He teaches courses in sustainable transportation planning and is interested in the DSSG program to help smart students tackle unique data challenges!

Dr. Dharma Dailey is a Research Associate at the eScience Institute at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on how human-centered design can be incorporated into data intensive research. As part-time faculty in the Computing & Software Systems Division of the University of Washington Bothell School of STEM, she teaches User Research and Interaction Design. Her PhD research focused on the use of social media during crises with special attention to how information of value to crisis-affected communities is produced and diffused. Starting in the 1990s, Dailey has been immersed in community-based participatory design and public policy research aimed at empowering low-income communities in the U.S. in the areas of community-controlled, community-accountable media and communications. Her research has informed federal, state, and local policy. Clients have included the Federal Communications Commission, the Social Science Research Council, the Ford Foundation, and many others

Dr. Miriam Hacker serves as a Research Program Manager at the Water Research Foundation, building bridges between research and practice. Her research portfolio through the Foundation focuses on projects related to Utility Management, Workforce Management, Water Reuse, and Decentralized Systems. Dr. Hacker earned her BS, MS and PhD degrees in Civil Engineering at the University of Washington with an emphasis in construction, energy, and sustainable infrastructure. Her professional experience includes local permitting, stormwater management, network development, and the housing-water nexus. More recent research experience includes institutional and governance considerations for implementation of alternative water systems (e.g. onsite water reuse, general water reuse) and community engagement best practices.

Mark Hallenbeck is the recently retired Director of the Washington State Transportation Center (TRAC) at the University of Washington (UW.) Mark was with TRAC for 39 years. He continues to teach Urban Transportation Planning and Sustainable Transportation in the Department of Civil and Environment Engineering as well as serving on various boards and panels. Mark’s research involved the collection, use, summarization, and reporting of data that describe transportation system use and performance. His most recent research involved working with multiple regional agencies to examine how “big data” and new technology can be used to improve regional mobility, how those data describe the equity of those services, and how changing mobility options are affecting land use decisions.

Carolyn Hayek holds a PhD in Sustainable Development from Columbia Climate School, a B.S. in Chemistry from Boston College with a minor in environmental studies, as well as a Masters in Environmental Engineering and a Masters in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Carolyn spent 10 years at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) New England regional office in Boston, MA. While there, she was selected for a highly competitive 2-year developmental program designed to expose employees to the full breadth and scope of the Agency. Areas in which Carolyn has worked include: effective management of drinking water and wastewater utilities, grants management and federal oversight of Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs, water quality sampling, compliance assistance and enforcement for chemical storage and usage, hazardous waste site cleanup, green chemistry, wetlands permitting, low impact development, climate change, and the Significant New Alternatives Policy Program for ozone-depleting substances.

Bryna Hazelton is a Senior Research Scientist in the Physics Department and the eScience Institute. Bryna’s primary research is in astrophysics and cosmology, she helps design and build telescopes to detect signatures of the first stars and galaxies forming 13 billion years ago. She is an expert in the statistical analysis of peta-byte scale data from these telescopes, trying to detect an incredibly faint signal from the early universe in the face of very bright foreground galaxies and subtle instrumental systematics.

Bryna received her PhD in Physics from UC Santa Cruz in 2009, where she used satellite, airborne and ground-based instruments to study x-ray and gamma-ray emissions from thunderstorms. She came to UW as a postdoctoral researcher in 2009 to study astrophysics and cosmology with custom-built radio telescopes. Bryna is the lead developer and maintainer of several widely used astronomical and cosmological open source packages.

Bryna joined the eScience Institute in April, 2015 and has been very involved in DSSG and the Incubator ever since. Bryna really enjoys learning about challenges in new fields and enjoys bringing her skills in statistical analyses, SQL databases and open source software development to bear in new projects.

Bernease Herman joins the eScience Institute as a Data Scientist. Bernease was most recently a Software Development Engineer at Amazon, where she collaborated with operations research scientists and statisticians to add economic constraints and buying models to Amazon’s Inventory Planning and Control system. Previous to Amazon, Bernease worked on derivatives pricing and predictive modeling at the research arm of Morgan Stanley. Bernease earned her BS in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Michigan.

I’m a researcher, educator, and advocate for ethics and diversity in Computing. As of Sept 2019, I am an Assistant Professor of Computer Software and Systems at the University of Washington (Bothell). I am part of RAISE, the newly funded center of Responsible AI Systems. See my upcoming talks and courses on this topic. I am also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at i-School UW Seattle.

Anshul Tambay is a Technical Program Manager with the UW Scientific Software Engineering Center (SSEC) at the eScience Institute. He aims to develop open-source infrastructure that bolsters research across a variety of disciplines. Anshul believes in the impact of data on public well being and is excited to be a part of DSSG this summer as a Project Management Mentor.

Prior to joining SSEC, Anshul worked as a Data Analyst at Northwestern University’s Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research and Science (CORNERS) studying community violence intervention programs in Chicago. His other experience includes working in field support and research on a development study in Ethiopia, evaluating a phone-based experience sampling method of measuring time use.

Privileged to be a guest at a diversity of field sites, he learned firsthand the importance of honest stakeholder engagement and tailoring data products for their users. Anshul received his B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Grinnell College in Iowa. Outside of work Anshul enjoys pickup sports, reading long-form journalism, and cooking. He is a passionate supporter of the 49ers, Warriors, SF Giants, and Leeds United.

Anissa Tanweer is the Director of the UW Data Science for Social Good program. She has been involved with the program since its inception, initially as an ethnographer doing participant-observation and later as the program’s lead organizer. She is a Senior Social Scientist at the eScience Institute, an Affiliate Faculty member in the Department of Communication, and a sociotechnical expert for the Scientific Software Engineering Center (SSEC). She conducts ethnographic research on the practice and culture of computationally-mediated science, and applies a sociotechnical lens to the design and implementation of training programs in data-intensive academic research.

Ekin is a PhD student at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he is co-advised by Professor Cynthia Chen (CEE) and Professor Shuai Huang (ISE). Currently supported by the College of Engineering Dean’s Fellowship, Ekin’s research has focused on non-parametric, data-driven modeling of human mobility data and novel adaptations of machine learning frameworks for this purpose. He finds mobile data a particularly powerful tool for the future, as it can give an approximation of human movements at various geographical scales.

Originally from Istanbul, Turkey, Ekin identifies as a naturalized Texan, having attended high school there and obtaining his engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin. When he’s not working, Ekin enjoys playing, watching, and talking about team sports with his friends, including football (real), football (American), and basketball, as well as enjoying all the natural beauty the great state of Washington has to offer.

Ekin is beyond excited to partake in DSSG, to which he was introduced through co-lead Professor Afra Mashhadi. He views the program both as a means to introduce the field of mobility analytics to a broader audience and an opportunity to explore the implications of his research in adjacent domains.

Mark is the Program Manager for Community Engagement at the eScience Institute. His career has been spent with higher education and nonprofit organizations, most recently at the University of California, Santa Cruz as the Associate Director of Marketing, Events, and Technology for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Previous roles include communications and marketing for the Australian Government’s Medicare and AusAID programs, volunteer management for community development and conservation efforts in Central America and Australasia, and community engagement for The Otter Project, a citizen science program studying California’s Marine Protected Areas. Mark graduated from Southern Cross University (1999) with a BA in Communications and Media Production. 

June (Junhe) Yang is a Sociologist and Demographer. She uses a variety of data sources including complex surveys, administrative data, and texts from social media to study population processes and social stratification. As a senior member of the 2023 Homelessness project team, June was integral in setting up the survey collecting information from the unhoused population in King County WA, administering the survey, running local hubs, and analyzing the data collected. June received her PhD in Sociology with a concentration in Demography in June 2024.

June is passionate about doing applied social science research that has a tangible impact on social good. The 2024 DSSG Homelessness project continues the effort to not only provide better estimates for counting the unhoused population from a policy perspective, but also empower people with the lived experience to have a say in terms of how they prefer to be counted, and what their life needs are.