Samantha McDonald, PhD.

From the U.S. Congress to Meta

My goal is to design technology for humanity. I love to explore the ethical, political, and cultural implications of designing technical systems. The technology of the future should empower individuals and communities to create a more just and accessible world.

I received a PhD and MS in Informatics from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, working under the advisement of Dr. Melissa Mazmanian. I was additionally supported by Dr. Bill Tomlinson and Dr. Bonnie Nardi.

My dissertation explores theories of representative democracy, deliberative democracy, civic technology, and the U.S. Congress. My ultimate question was: How do Members of Congress and their staff use technology to communicate with constituents and how we design these systems to improve constituent influence over democratic policymaking? Working with the POPVOX foundation, we tested the first asynchronous single topic forums for Member of Congress.

My graduate research was funded by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships Program (NSF GRFP) and the Laboratory for Ubiquitous Computing Interaction (LUCI). I was also affiliated with the Jack W. Peltason Center for the Study of Democracy.

I completed my undergraduate at The College of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). I worked as a student researcher for three years in the Prototyping and Design Lab (PAD) run by Dr.Amy Hurst to conduct research on accessible human-computer interaction.

Personal Pursuits

I am the founder of the VoteLikeIts2020 fundraising campaign for voter equality in America (VoteLikeIts2020.com).

I am a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for the Orange County foster care system.

My partner on our 37ft sailboat and we recently completed a ‘sea’-battical, cruising over 7,000 nautical miles around the Pacific Ocean between California, Mexico, and French Polynesia.

VoteLikeIts2020

CASA OC

S.V. Ambrósia