Uncategorized

Last night I read: The democratic interface: technology, political organization, and diverging patterns of electoral representation by W. Lance Bennett, Alexandra Segerberg,  and Curd B. Knüpfer. The piece was recently published in the journal of Information, Communication, and Society. 

What are some things you could possibly know about a single potato? You could know….. Size Color Shape Texture Taste

The New York Times just posted a chilling article titled “Silicon Valley Can’t Destroy Democracy Without Our Help”. In the very first line, Emily Parker says “Silicon Valley, once a force for good, is now a threat to democracy”. I haven’t read the entire article yet, but it probed my brain to ask if this is […]

I’m having a little trouble with guidance. Because my interest are so interdisciplinary, it’s hard to find where and how I should fit into the current landscape. The thought of finding that spot in the crowd has been nerve wracking, but I met the amazing Bo Ruberg, a new professor in our department. They told […]

Last night I was driving in my car and was signing along to the Hamilton soundtrack. I realized while I was singing that I discovered the Hamilton soundtrack at the end of my junior year of undergraduate, right as I started thinking about graduate school. And as I thought about the timeline in my car, […]

This quarter I will be entering the rabbit hole of literature to prepare for my qualifying exam in the spring (It’s basically a large literature review). There are a few questions that I need to start answering to situate my work: [1] How many people are looking at technology in Congress and in what ways? […]

I finished reading Beth Novek’s book called Smart Citizen, Smarter State. Novek focuses on citizen engagement and calls for more expert-centric software to help government identify and utilize expertise outside of government to help with government decisions. This book was a great representation of the lack of good software within government. Her examples of policies […]

  “The first draft of anything is shit.” ― Ernest Hemingway Writing and very often talking about yourself is hard. It’s even harder when it’s being evaluated by someone through the lens of a personal essay. I am currently in the process of writing a draft for the NSF GRFP, and after reading about 20 previously […]

After my long wonderful crazy summer in Washington D.C., I have finally returned to Irvine for another quarter of school. This summer definitely provided it’s up and downs, but it was a great learning experience. I learned so much about myself and what I want to accomplish in graduate school. I also made quite a […]

I get this question a lot. What does the word informatics mean? How are you studying computer science but also Congress? What does this have to do with sustainability? To answer these questions, I thought I would write a nice blog post to explain what it is I am researching and where it came from. […]