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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. […]

Welcome to my new and improved blog! I tried to keep a blog during my first year of my PhD, but I was overwhelmed with the immense amount of reading and writing for classes that I never got around to writing my own blog. Hopefully as I become more organized and disciplined as a grad […]