Team
Meet the SOCKS Team Members
- PI
- Admin
- Capacity
- Social
- Health
- Education & Workforce
- GRA
- Postdoc
SOCKS PI
SOCKS Admin
SOCKS Capacity
SOCKS Health
SOCKS Education & Workforce
SOCKS GRA
SOCKS Postdoc
Michael V. Arnold is a prominent researcher at the University of Vermont (UVM), affiliated with the Vermont Complex Systems Center. His work primarily focuses on computational social science, data science, and network analysis. Arnold has contributed significantly to understanding social media dynamics, particularly through his research on Twitter language usage and the collective attention of global events.
Dr. Jonathan Banfill is an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Core Division at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, where he also directs the Global Studies Minor and the Freeman Foundation Asia Grant. Jonathan’s academic background is in Comparative and International Education, where he holds a PhD from UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies. He also holds an MA in Comparative International Politics from American University in Washington, D.C. and a BA in Comparative History from University of Washington, Seattle.
Jonathan’s research and pedagogical practice is engaged in creating interdisciplinary interconnections between new trends in the humanities, social research on global and urban issues, and creative practices from art and design, via place-based and experiential education. He has a long-term interest in thinking about these issues specifically within the context of a transnational Asia-Pacific, but is expanding in more directions since relocating to Vermont. At Champlain, this means creating courses and pedagogical spaces that can combine students’ professional knowledge with a humanistic perspective that can address future changes and global challenges. Jonathan has lived, worked, and taught in places as diverse as Los Angeles, Beijing, Belfast, Pyongyang, Mexico City, Shanghai, Cape Town, and Tokyo.
Jonathan is a graduate of the UCLA Urban Humanities Initiative, an interdisciplinary research and training program funded by the Mellon Foundation that brings together humanities scholars, architects, and urban planners to study 21st century issues in cities in the Asia Pacific. He also served as a research and teaching fellow for the program and at cityLAB, an urban research think tank in the UCLA department of Architecture and Urban Design. More recently Jonathan is a co-founder of the Urban Humanities Network, which is supporting a new generation of Urban Humanities scholars and practitioners around the world.
At Champlain, Jonathan is Primary Investigator for a Champlain College subward grant that is part of a larger Vermont EPSCoR proposal organized by The Vermont Complex Systems Center at the University of Vermont. This project, called The Study of Online, Collective Knowledge, and Stories (SOCKS), examines social narratives using Big Data and computational tools. Champlain College’s project focuses on the way that the soundscape has changed in Vermont and how Vermonters have talked about those changes over the last 150 years. Jonathan is a contributing faculty member for a National Endowment for the Humanities Digital Humanities Advancement (DHAG) grant that will be used to build infrastructure and contribute to faculty’s professional development for Digital Humanities tools. Finally he is a contributing faculty member to an ongoing multi-media research project funded by the Council of Independent Colleges Humanities Research for the Public Good grant that is investigating the history of Urban Renewal in the city of Burlington.
Jonathan’s research and pedagogical practice is engaged in creating interdisciplinary interconnections between new trends in the humanities, social research on global and urban issues, and creative practices from art and design, via place-based and experiential education. He has a long-term interest in thinking about these issues specifically within the context of a transnational Asia-Pacific, but is expanding in more directions since relocating to Vermont. At Champlain, this means creating courses and pedagogical spaces that can combine students’ professional knowledge with a humanistic perspective that can address future changes and global challenges. Jonathan has lived, worked, and taught in places as diverse as Los Angeles, Beijing, Belfast, Pyongyang, Mexico City, Shanghai, Cape Town, and Tokyo.
Jonathan is a graduate of the UCLA Urban Humanities Initiative, an interdisciplinary research and training program funded by the Mellon Foundation that brings together humanities scholars, architects, and urban planners to study 21st century issues in cities in the Asia Pacific. He also served as a research and teaching fellow for the program and at cityLAB, an urban research think tank in the UCLA department of Architecture and Urban Design. More recently Jonathan is a co-founder of the Urban Humanities Network, which is supporting a new generation of Urban Humanities scholars and practitioners around the world.
At Champlain, Jonathan is Primary Investigator for a Champlain College subward grant that is part of a larger Vermont EPSCoR proposal organized by The Vermont Complex Systems Center at the University of Vermont. This project, called The Study of Online, Collective Knowledge, and Stories (SOCKS), examines social narratives using Big Data and computational tools. Champlain College’s project focuses on the way that the soundscape has changed in Vermont and how Vermonters have talked about those changes over the last 150 years. Jonathan is a contributing faculty member for a National Endowment for the Humanities Digital Humanities Advancement (DHAG) grant that will be used to build infrastructure and contribute to faculty’s professional development for Digital Humanities tools. Finally he is a contributing faculty member to an ongoing multi-media research project funded by the Council of Independent Colleges Humanities Research for the Public Good grant that is investigating the history of Urban Renewal in the city of Burlington.
Abby is an epidemiologist by training, and is passionate about reducing the rate of traumatic injuries for all Vermonters. She applies best practices to her own life so she can share her personal experience with the community the UVM Medical Center serves. As coordinator for Safe Kids Vermont, she loves working with community partners to implement injury prevention practices in new and unique ways.
My first book project, based on research conducted in urban and rural Nepal, is an analysis of post-war transitional justice mechanisms and how people who experienced gross violations of human rights as children perceive justice under ongoing conditions of structural violence and inequality. My current research projects in the U.S. examine: (1) barriers to voting for “returning citizens” and the intersection of engaged citizenship and reduced recidivism; (2) the consequences of recent and rapid national policy changes on resettlement processes for refugees, including discriminatory housing practices and gender-based violence; and (3) the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 on refugees.
Nick joined EPSCoR in September 2015 and is responsible for Data Analysis and Assessment. He holds a BA in Philosophy and MS in Statistics from the University of Vermont.
I am a migration scholar and an urban geographer who uses primarily qualitative, interdisciplinary and community-based approaches to conduct my research. My key interests lie in exploring the complex relationships between people and place and especially in the ways that flows of capital, labour, bodies, and ideas may transform various landscapes. I am currently Professor in the Department of Geography and Geosciences and Director of the Global and Regional Studies Program at the University of Vermont. Additionally, I serve as a Science Advisor for National Institute for Food and Agriculture of the USDA and as an elected National Councillor for the American Association of Geographers.
Charlie Brooks joined EPSCoR in August 2016. A graduate of the University of Vermont with a BA in English, he has been a part of the University community since 2000.
Darcy Brouillette (she/her) is the Program Manager for EPSCoR at Vermont State University’s Center for Workforce and Professional Education. Darcy earned her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology at St. Lawrence University and her Masters degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Vermont. While at UVM, she fell in love with all that Vermont offers and never left. A mom of two adult daughters, Darcy enjoys skiing in the winter and spending time at her family’s lakeside cottage in northeastern Vermont in the summer.
Giulio holds a M.Sc. in Theoretical Physics from University of Catania (Italy) and a Ph.D. from the Computer Science and Mathematics Department at the Rovira i Virgili University (Spain). He is interested in the physics behind the macroscopic behavior of a variety of complex (networked) systems, mostly in the biological and socio-technical realms. His research mainly focuses on biological and social contagion processes and the evolution of cooperative behaviors. He has dedicated most of his work to understanding how higher-order (non-dyadic) interactions and group structure affect macroscopic dynamics.
Giulio joined the SOCKS project as a postdoc in June 2024 where he works to develop mathematical models and tools to characterize how social contagions – like beliefs, opinions, ideas, behaviors – spread in (primarily online) social settings.
Giulio joined the SOCKS project as a postdoc in June 2024 where he works to develop mathematical models and tools to characterize how social contagions – like beliefs, opinions, ideas, behaviors – spread in (primarily online) social settings.
Dr. Michael Cannizzaro investigates brain and behavior relationships in typical and brain-injured populations. His research considers the role of the prefrontal cortex during complex communication and tasks that involve executive functions, and involves the study of discourse processing using behavioral and linguistic metrics to study communication in conjunction with neuroimaging to monitor task-related hemodynamics in the brain.
Dr. Nick Cheney is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, and a member of the Vermont Complex Systems Center and Director of the UVM Neurobotics Lab. His research is in machine learning and artificial intelligence, with specialties is artificial neural networks and robotics. In the SEGS lab, he uses tools from machine learning and data science to help analyze human behavior and decision making, while also developing automated decision making systems to more systematically interrogate and understand the optimal decision making processes in a given scenario.
Eric M. Clark, Ph.D is a data scientist and applied mathematician who is interested in applying advances in machine learning and computation towards solving real-world, interdisciplinary problems. He is currently holding a research faculty position within the UVM Department of Plant and Soil Science, and is a collaborator on many ongoing projects within the SEGS Lab. His research interests include (but are not limited to) finance, healthcare technology, agent based modeling, behavioral risk quantification, experimental game development, computational social science, natural language processing, machine learning, and complex systems.
Patrick Clemins is the Director of Research Computing and Data for large research initiatives and holds an Adjunct Assistant Professor position in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Vermont (UVM). In these roles, he directs a team that facilitates the use of advanced computing resources by researchers working on large, interdisciplinary and multi-institutional projects, collaborates with project leaders to administer existing grants and write new grant proposals, and publishes on the computational aspects of the research efforts. In addition, in a previous role at UVM, he led a collaboration to build a statewide research and education network for Vermont's schools, museums, libraries, and other research and educational institutions. Before moving to Vermont, he was the Director of the AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program where he served as an international expert on the U.S. federal research and development investment. Prior to joining AAAS, he was an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation in the Directorate for Biological Sciences. He received his bachelors, masters, and doctorate in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Marquette University, focusing on machine learning, digital signal processing, and bioacoustics.
Bernard F. “Chip” Cole is Professor of Statistics in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Vermont (UVM). He previously held faculty appointments at Brown University (1993–1997) and Dartmouth College (1997–2007). At Dartmouth, he was Director of Biostatistics at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center. At UVM, Cole served as Interim Dean of the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (2009–2013), and as co-director of the Cancer Control and Population Health Sciences research program at the UVM Cancer Center (2014–2019). Cole’s research focuses on statistical methods in biomedicine, with emphasis on applications to clinical oncology and cancer epidemiology. His work includes statistical models for quality-of-life-adjusted survival analysis in clinical trials and meta-analysis, methods for longitudinal data analysis in the presence of informative missing information, and the development of methods to ascertain complex treatment-biomarker interactions in clinical trials. Cole is an active collaborating biostatistician at the UVM Cancer Center and the International Breast Cancer Study Group. His research publications total over 160 peer-reviewed articles in biomedical and statistical literature. From 2013 to 2017, Cole served as a voting member of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In 2019, Cole became Director of the Vermont Space Grant Consortium and Vermont NASA EPSCoR, where he manages a wide range of programs that support STEM education and NASA-aligned research.
Benjamin Cooley is a creative technologist & visualization engineer focusing on data visualization and human-computer interaction. His work explores new ways of seeing and experiencing information through data visualization, interaction design, and creative coding.
With a background in journalism, Ben sees visualization as fundamentally an exercise in data storytelling and has crafted numerous interactive stories to explain and expound upon complex topics. Previously, Ben has worked with scientists to visualize data at the Broad Institute, taught data visualization courses at Northeastern University, and created interactive data sites as a consultant for Cornell's Lab of Ornithology, flood relief platforms, and various online publications.
With a background in journalism, Ben sees visualization as fundamentally an exercise in data storytelling and has crafted numerous interactive stories to explain and expound upon complex topics. Previously, Ben has worked with scientists to visualize data at the Broad Institute, taught data visualization courses at Northeastern University, and created interactive data sites as a consultant for Cornell's Lab of Ornithology, flood relief platforms, and various online publications.
Chris is an applied mathematician interested in modeling a variety of physical, biological, and social phenomenon. He has applied principles of chaos theory to improve weather forecasts and developed a real-time remote sensor of global happiness using messages from Twitter. Danforth co-runs the Computational Story Lab with Peter Dodds.
Currently I’m working with collaborators in environmental science and economics on modeling emotional arcs in narratives about climate change using computational linguistic approaches. We hope to find arcs that connect to personal engagement in ways that can help people find meaning and agency in the face of large-scale crises.
Lisa comes to CEMS from the University of Michigan, where she earned a master’s degree in computer science and served as a graduate student lecturer. Her areas of expertise include C++, Python, Java and Git. She participated in research at Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs and at General Dynamics Electric Boat. She’s also served as an instructor for Girls Who Code.
Peter's research focuses on system-level, big data problems in many areas including language and stories, sociotechnical systems, Earth sciences, biology, and ecology. Peter has created (and constantly evolves) a series of complex systems courses starting with Principles of Complex Systems. He co-runs the Computational Story Lab with Chris Danforth.
Kirk Dombrowski became Vice President for Research at UVM in April 2020. When asked about moving to Vermont Dombrowski noted:
"I believe the opportunities to grow research at UVM are significant. Coupling the university’s expertise in health and medicine with its land-grant mission opens up strong possibilities for strategic research growth in many of UVM’s academic units. Similarly, the longstanding focus of UVM on research in sustainability and the environment is at the top of the nation’s—indeed the world’s—priorities. Promoting broad social science and humanities scholarship in parallel, as I’ve done at the University of Nebraska (UNL), resonates with the progressive spirit of the State of Vermont and attracts the best and brightest students. I very much look forward to joining UVM during this dynamic period of its history."
Dombrowski held several additional leadership positions at UNL. He was the founding director of the university’s Rural Drug Addiction Research Center, an NIH designated Center of Biomedical Research Excellence; interim director of the Nebraska Center for Virology, a ~90,000-square-foot biochemistry research institute; and director of UNL’s Minority Health Disparities Initiative, a university-wide faculty, recruitment, development and community engagement initiative that he was brought to Nebraska to lead in 2013.
A cultural anthropologist by training, Dombrowski is also an active researcher whose work straddles the social and behavioral health sciences, a link he has used to address issues public of concern and social good, such as HIV infection dynamics, drug and alcohol addiction, minority health disparities, and suicide prevention in Native American/First Nation communities. Dombrowski’s research has received funding from NSF, NIH, and numerous foundation sources, and his published work has appeared in social science, computer science and health science journals.
"I believe the opportunities to grow research at UVM are significant. Coupling the university’s expertise in health and medicine with its land-grant mission opens up strong possibilities for strategic research growth in many of UVM’s academic units. Similarly, the longstanding focus of UVM on research in sustainability and the environment is at the top of the nation’s—indeed the world’s—priorities. Promoting broad social science and humanities scholarship in parallel, as I’ve done at the University of Nebraska (UNL), resonates with the progressive spirit of the State of Vermont and attracts the best and brightest students. I very much look forward to joining UVM during this dynamic period of its history."
Dombrowski held several additional leadership positions at UNL. He was the founding director of the university’s Rural Drug Addiction Research Center, an NIH designated Center of Biomedical Research Excellence; interim director of the Nebraska Center for Virology, a ~90,000-square-foot biochemistry research institute; and director of UNL’s Minority Health Disparities Initiative, a university-wide faculty, recruitment, development and community engagement initiative that he was brought to Nebraska to lead in 2013.
A cultural anthropologist by training, Dombrowski is also an active researcher whose work straddles the social and behavioral health sciences, a link he has used to address issues public of concern and social good, such as HIV infection dynamics, drug and alcohol addiction, minority health disparities, and suicide prevention in Native American/First Nation communities. Dombrowski’s research has received funding from NSF, NIH, and numerous foundation sources, and his published work has appeared in social science, computer science and health science journals.
Experienced in Management, Training, and Research. Strong operations professional with a Master's degree focused on Public Administration and Accounting from the University of Vermont.
Steven Exler is a seasoned technologist at the University of Vermont, specifically working with Vermont EPSCoR, CIROH, and the Water Resources Institute. With over 40 years of experience in application design and development, Steven has a rich background in web-based application design, SQL, PHP, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.
He holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Systems Management from the University of Maryland. Steven began his career in the early days of the World Wide Web, running a successful web-based company before moving to Vermont. Since then, he has been dedicated to advancing technological solutions at the University of Vermont.
He holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Systems Management from the University of Maryland. Steven began his career in the early days of the World Wide Web, running a successful web-based company before moving to Vermont. Since then, he has been dedicated to advancing technological solutions at the University of Vermont.
Bennet Fauber is a senior systems engineer at the University of Vermont, working with the VACC and Systems Architecture & Administration.
A curiosity-driven Senior Product Manager focused on building the customer experience. I have 12 years experience working with cross-functional teams to plan, build, and launch SaaS innovations in the marketing, ecommerce and education spaces plus a lifetime of visual design.
Kemi Fuentes-George is associate professor of Political Science at Middlebury College, and a faculty fellow at Middlebury’s Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs. In his capacity as a faculty fellow, he helps oversee the Center’s program on “Security and Global Affairs.” A man of many hats, Doctor Fuentes-George also directs the programs on International and Global Studies, and Global Environmental Change. He’s written extensively about international environmental policy, environmental conservation, biodiversity, the Green Economy, and environmental justice in a variety of journal articles, book chapters, and his own book—Between Preservation and Exploitation (MIT Press)
Lillian is the Assistant Director & Project Administrator for the VT EPSCoR State Office. She helps implement the program's overall initiatives and ensures that multiple program deliverables are met. As a member of the leadership team, Lillian serves as a point of contact for external engagement including the congressional delegation, communications at large and reporting to the NSF. Lillian received her BA from Skidmore College and MA in English Literature from the University of Vermont.
Mirta Galesic is Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, External Faculty at the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna, Austria, and at the Vermont Complex Systems Center, UVM, as well as an Associate Researcher at the Harding Center for Risk Literacy at the University of Potsdam, Germany.
She studies how simple cognitive mechanisms interact with properties of the external environment to produce seemingly complex social phenomena. In one line of research, she investigates how apparent cognitive biases in social judgments emerge as a product of the interplay of well-adapted minds and the statistical structure of social environments. In another, she studies how collective performance depend on the interaction of group decision strategies and network structures. A third line of research investigates opinion dynamics in real-world societies using cognitively-enriched models from statistical physics. And, she studies how people understand and cope with uncertainty and complexity inherent in many everyday decisions.
She studies how simple cognitive mechanisms interact with properties of the external environment to produce seemingly complex social phenomena. In one line of research, she investigates how apparent cognitive biases in social judgments emerge as a product of the interplay of well-adapted minds and the statistical structure of social environments. In another, she studies how collective performance depend on the interaction of group decision strategies and network structures. A third line of research investigates opinion dynamics in real-world societies using cognitively-enriched models from statistical physics. And, she studies how people understand and cope with uncertainty and complexity inherent in many everyday decisions.
Bryn is the dean of libraries at UVM with an additional appointment as a professor of history. Bryn majored in history and in Russian, graduating summa cum laude from St. Olaf College, with breaks for study in Scotland and the Soviet Union, plus stints as a lifeguard and Red Cross swimming instructor. He received an M.S. in library and information science from the University of Illinois, and an M.A. in Russian history and a Ph.D. in modern European History from the University of Minnesota. Bryn’s research focuses on Russian social and intellectual history. He is finishing a book for the University of Notre Dame Press on Old Catholics and the Russian Orthodox Church. Other books include Eastern Orthodox and Anglicans: Diplomacy, Theology, and the Politics of Interwar Ecumenism (Notre Dame University Press, 2010) and Eastern Orthodox Christianity: The Essential Texts (Yale University Press, 2016). He writes occasionally for The Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed. He has taught at St. Olaf College, the Unites States Military Academy at West Point, and Amherst College. He served for many years as a high-school basketball and football official, and he looks for cross-country ski trails wherever they can be found.
Computer science professional with a strong background in NLP, machine learning, and data analytics. Skilled in developing end-to-end NLP pipelines and machine learning models using state-of-the-art techniques such as BERT. Passionate about leveraging data and AI to drive solutions and insights. Proven ability in uncovering patterns in complex datasets, specifically within the context of social media behavior and network security.
Bob Gramling, M.D., D.Sc. is a tenured Professor of Family Medicine and the Holly & Bob Miller Chair in Palliative Medicine. I am a family physician, palliative care physician and epidemiologist with research expertise related to the study of conversations. I lead the Vermont Conversation Lab (www.vermontconversationlab.com) of multi-disciplinary scientists dedicated to understanding and promoting human connection. I have authored more than 100 publications and received extramural research funding from the American Cancer Society, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the National Palliative Care Research Center, and the Greenwall Bioethics Foundation. I enjoy advising, mentoring, coaching and collaborating with research colleagues at all levels of training. I graduated from Colby College (Liberal Arts), Dartmouth Medical School (Doctorate of Medicine) and Boston University School of Public Health (Doctorate of Science in Epidemiology).
Katie's areas of research interest include measurement of discourse level communication and disorder, interpersonal aspects of conversation behavior: entrainment, turn-taking, and conversational repair, and communication strategies to improve participation and outcomes in healthcare treatment. Her current research involves establishing norms and developing tools for clinical evaluation of cognitive-communication impairments. She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP).
Jenn currently works with Dr. Matthew Price to conduct research using wearables and natural language processing to predict wellbeing and mental health among college students. Before graduate school, she worked as the undergraduate research advisor in the Fellowship, Opportunities & Undergraduate Research (FOUR) office at UVM.
Randall Harp's main research areas are in the philosophy of action (particularly collective action and decision theory) and in the philosophy of social sciences. His research focuses on questions of the proper way to characterize individual versus collective goals, and of the proper way for a model of deliberation to use these goals. He is also interested in the explanatory powers of collective entities. His other research interests include the explanatory adequacy of rational choice models of human agency.
Rebekah oversees the rare book and manuscript collections, college archives, digital projects, and the conservation and preservation of Middlebury’s library collections. She first arrived to Middlebury in 2011 as Head of Collections and Digital Initiatives, and moved into her current position in 2014. In the last decade, Special Collections has become a site for hands-on learning and engagement, hosting 1,000 or more students every semester. Rebekah co-founded the Twilight Project in 2019, and served as its Associate Director until 2022. Prior to arriving at Middlebury, Rebekah held multiple positions at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, at Yale University.
David Jangraw studied electrical engineering as an undergraduate at Princeton University. He then spent a year as a research assistant in Columbia University’s Neuroscience department, studying attention and reward using single-cell recordings in rhesus monkeys. He earned his PhD from Columbia’s Biomedical Engineering Department, where his work with Paul Sajda developed novel BCIs and characterized the EEG and ocular responses to “naturalistic” scenarios that mimic real life. David joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a post-doctoral fellow with Peter Bandettini, where he used fMRI data collected during reading to predict future recall. In 2018, he joined Daniel Pine’s Emotion and Development Branch at the NIH, which studies and treats mood and anxiety disorders in adolescents. In his spare time, David has consulted for startups, judged a BCI-focused architecture seminar, developed a bioinstrumentation course, and served as an adjunct professor at American University. He once scanned an opera singer’s brain as part of the NIH’s Sound Health initiative, and his results may be the only neural data ever projected onto the jumbotron at Nationals Park.
Shelly Johnson is a Senior Research Computing Facilitator in Systems Architecture and Administration at UVM. In this role, Shelly supports researchers with software and services to accelerate research productivity, leveraging UVM’s research computing infrastructure, especially including the Vermont Advanced Computing Center’s HPC cluster systems. Additionally, she will be providing hands-on training workshops and developing documentation on various topics related to Research Computing, HPC, and use of the VACC clusters. Shelly also supports UVM’s instance of Open OnDemand, which provides web-based access to UVM’s HPC resources, by working to improve the currently offered desktop and applications, such as Jupyter Notebook, as well as working with other IT colleagues to plan the addition of new applications and features that will enhance academic and research use of HPC resources via web browser.
Shelly previously worked as a Research Applications Specialist at the University of Michigan’s Advanced Research Computing (ARC) center where many of her duties included those of a Research Computing Facilitator. Prior to her work at ARC, she was an Academic Computing Consultant for the science departments at Vassar College. At both Vassar College and the University of Michigan, Shelly served as an XSEDE/ACCESS Campus Champion, helping researchers obtain allocations on external HPC systems and helping to guide their use of those resources. Before turning to a career in IT, supporting researchers using HPC in academic settings, Shelly was a Seismologist in a small research company that applied seismology research, technology, and models in the field of nuclear test monitoring.
Shelly received her BS from Boston College and MS from Stony Brook University.
Shelly previously worked as a Research Applications Specialist at the University of Michigan’s Advanced Research Computing (ARC) center where many of her duties included those of a Research Computing Facilitator. Prior to her work at ARC, she was an Academic Computing Consultant for the science departments at Vassar College. At both Vassar College and the University of Michigan, Shelly served as an XSEDE/ACCESS Campus Champion, helping researchers obtain allocations on external HPC systems and helping to guide their use of those resources. Before turning to a career in IT, supporting researchers using HPC in academic settings, Shelly was a Seismologist in a small research company that applied seismology research, technology, and models in the field of nuclear test monitoring.
Shelly received her BS from Boston College and MS from Stony Brook University.
Chris Koliba is a Professor in the Community Development and Applied Economics Department at the University of Vermont (UVM), the Director of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program, the Co-Director of the Social Ecological Gaming and Simulation (SEGS) Lab (www.uvm.edu/~segs) and a fellow at the Gund Institute on Ecological Economics. He possesses a Ph.D. and an MPA from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. His research interests include environmental governance, governance networks, community resilience, network performance and accountability, with applications to water quality, food systems, energy systems, emergency and disaster response, and sustainable transportation systems.
At the Vermont Complex Systems Center, Juniper works across generations and geographical limits to make resources and knowledge on cutting-edge complexity science more accessible to those with a hunger and curiosity for learning and exploration. Juniper came to Burlington in 2018. She previously served as the Director of Education for the Santa Fe Institute, an independent complexity science research center. She is also a co-founder of MAKE Santa Fe, a not-for-profit community makerspace in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Juniper received her Master’s in the Western Classics from St. John’s College in 2013 where she completed a thesis on the nature of pleasure in work in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.
Dr. Shannon O’Neill is the Executive Director of the Center for Workforce and Professional Education. She works to meet the needs of learners and employers alike with relevant career pathway programming. She has worked in Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and Student Success at Siena College, Brown University and Albion College. She has Ph.D. in Social-Personality Psychology from SUNY Albany. She lives in a restored 1836 red brick district schoolhouse and enjoys gardening and traveling with her family.
Kate Mays is a social scientist who studies the dynamics of emergent technology in our civic, social, and intrapersonal lives. Digital technologies like artificial intelligence are increasingly pervasive and opaque, particularly to the public they stand to affect the most. How can we ensure that such powerful tech is developed and deployed in a way that aligns with the public’s values? This question drives her research agenda. With a specific focus on AI and social robots, Kate explores how public and expert opinion can inform pro-social and community-minded technology and policy development. Her research takes a mixed-methods, transdisciplinary approach to better understand these human-centered and social issues that arise from digital technologies. Prior to joining UVM, Kate was a postdoctoral researcher in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affair’s Autonomous Systems Policy Institute at Syracuse University, where she continues to collaborate on research that employs deliberative methods to explore public attitudes about AI risk and policy. During her graduate studies at Boston University she was a Graduate Student Fellow for computational and data-driven research at BU’s Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering. She also worked with BU’s Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Media (AIEM) research group on applying computational social science methods to develop solutions for relevant social problems like identifying news bias.
Dr. McGinnis earned his BS degree from Lafayette College in 2009 and his MS and PhD degrees from the University of Michigan in 2012 and 2013. He has led cross-disciplinary research teams at health technology start-ups and in academia to advance his translational research agenda which pairs innovations in wearable and mobile technologies with his expertise in biomedical signal processing, machine learning, biomechanics, and computational dynamics for the development and validation of novel digital biomarkers and therapeutics. In support of this research agenda, Dr. McGinnis has published over 85 peer-reviewed articles and has presented at national and international conferences (see CV). Many of his studies have been conducted with collaborators across a wide array of disciplines including neurology, physical therapy, mental health, and orthopedics. His work has been commercialized to form the heart of product offerings from seven companies, and he currently serves as a scientific advisor for several companies operating in the health technology space. His current efforts are focused on developing new digital therapeutics for improving the mobility and functional independence of individuals living with multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, optimizing orthopedic rehabilitation outcomes, and addressing mental health problems in children and young adults.
Dr. Scott Merrill is a Research Assistant Professor in the Plant and Soil Science Department and Managing Director of the SEGS lab. He is a systems ecologist with research spanning a wide range of both natural ecosystems and social-ecological systems. Projects include examining dynamics of change within pest-crop agroecosystems including aspects of climate change, examining ways to nudge human behavior to help protect the health of our livestock herds, and looking at factors motivating behavior that affects water quality in the Lake Champlain watershed. In the SEGS lab, he uses experimental gaming as a novel technique for collecting data to examine decision making in social-ecological systems. An important goal of this work is the creation of applicable and predictive models to inform best management practices.
Robert Minvielle holds a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where his dissertation focused on energy scavenging in three-dimensional integrated circuits using through-silicon vias. Minvielle’s research interests include VLSI, TSV, 3D IC, and computer architecture.
I am a social geographer who analyzes the complex and interconnected relationships between nature and society. Specifically, my research addresses how twenty-first century environmental change cannot be understood independent of the social, political, and economic systems that often drive that change. Additionally, I research the proliferation of disinformation and its broad social, political, and environmental impacts. My aim is to develop strategies for effectively communicating information about public health and environmental change in accessible and inclusive ways.
Dr Morse is a social geographer who researches the production of place and everyday experience in rural contexts. She has conducted research in the following areas: working landscapes, rural migration and immobility, place and identity, Vermont’s social geography, and nature-culture theory. She teaches Place, Landscape and Environment in Vermont, Global Environments and Cultures, Rural Geography, Vermont Field Studies, Rural Nature, and a graduate level Foods Systems theory course. Several of her courses include service learning. She serves on the following boards: American Association of Geographers’ Rural Geography Specialty Group, the Vermont Land Trust, and the Community-University Partnerships-Service Learning.
Ardyn received a BS from Lehigh and an MS in BME from Carnegie Mellon. Working at the US Army Aeromedical Research Lab for 8 years developed her interest in working with large and multi-faceted biomedical datasets. Ardyn is now pursuing a PhD in BME.
Jeremiah is an assistant professor in the UVM computer science department. He is also affiliated with the Vermont Complex Systems Center. He obtained his M.S. (Information Security) and Ph.D. (Computer Science) from University College London in the United Kingdom. Prior to joining UVM, he was a postdoc at Northeastern University, Boston.
I am a computational topologist and my research focus is to develop and apply new topological approaches to study complex systems. Currently, I apply these techniques to social and brain networks. I am a Principal Investigator of an R21 NIH grant on "Integrative Predictive Modeling of Alzheimer's Disease" for which I develop models for the joint analysis of genomics and neuroimaging data. On a daily basis, I work on mathematical modelling for brain networks and their dynamical processes. In 2021, I was selected to become a member of the inaugural cohort of external faculty at the Vermont Complex Systems Center (VCSC).
I obtained my Ph.D in Applied Mathematics at Politecnico di Torino with a dissertation titled: "Simplicial Data Analysis: theory, practice, and algorithms". During my PhD I worked at I.S.I. Foundation in Torino, where I was a part of the research group on "Mathematics and the foundation of complex systems" and studied the categorical conditions that allow the use of combinatorial structures, like graphs and simplicial complexes, in data analysis.
I obtained my Ph.D in Applied Mathematics at Politecnico di Torino with a dissertation titled: "Simplicial Data Analysis: theory, practice, and algorithms". During my PhD I worked at I.S.I. Foundation in Torino, where I was a part of the research group on "Mathematics and the foundation of complex systems" and studied the categorical conditions that allow the use of combinatorial structures, like graphs and simplicial complexes, in data analysis.
Areas of Expertise:
Gender, family, demography, social determinants of health, global sociology, the contemporary Muslim world
Gender, family, demography, social determinants of health, global sociology, the contemporary Muslim world
My research focuses on creating innovative strategies to expand the reach of clinical care for victims of traumatic events and those suffering from anxiety disorders. To achieve this goal, my lab uses a translational framework in which we first identify fundamental mechanisms of treatment response for evidence-based interventions. These findings are then used to develop and evaluate novel interventions delivered through widely available technologies (e.g. mobile devices, remote sensors, websites).
Dr. Reblin is an Associate Professor in the College of Medicine and member of the Vermont Conversation Lab. Trained as a social and health psychologist, her research focuses on understanding the social context of family caregivers of those with serious illness and using this knowledge to develop strengths-based interventions.
Donna's research focuses on the development of new computational tools to improve the understanding of human-induced changes on natural systems and the way we make decisions about natural resources. In 1995, she co-founded a small Vermont business to help speed the diffusion of research and new technologies into environmental practice. Since joining UVM in fall 2002, she has worked on a number of computational approaches to multi-scale environmental problems, including using artificial neural networks to 1) develop maps of discrete spatially-distributed fields (e.g., log-hydraulic conductivity and soil lithology), 2) predict local disease risk indicators from multi-scale weather, land and crop data, 3) image and analyze the parameter structure of subcutaneous connective tissue in humans, 4) predict the shrink/swell of soils and 4) develop a watershed classification system using hierarchical artificial neural networks for diagnosing watershed impairment at multiple scales.
Dr. Trisha Shrum is a behavioral and environmental economist focused on using transdisciplinary theory, collaborations, and methodologies to improve our understanding of the drivers of decision-making, especially for decisions that relate to climate change and natural resources. Her academic background in ecology and evolutionary biology, environmental science, economics, and policy, as well as her professional work in government and non-governmental organizations, provides a broad base of knowledge and experience that is vital for understanding complex environmental problems.
I am a Ph.D. student at the University of Vermont. Currently I am working under supervision of Dr. Jeremiah Onaolapo in the Department of Computer Science.
Renée Simkins is the Educational Outreach Coordinator for EPSCoR at Vermont State University’s Center for Workforce and Professional Education, where she supports individuals in their educational and professional endeavors. Prior to this role, she provided resource navigation and care coordination for Vermont’s aging population. Renée earned her Bachelor's degree in Human Development and Family Science from the University of Vermont.
Areas of Expertise:
HIV/AIDS; health policy in developing countries; U.S. domestic and international health policy and foreign aid policy; sub-Saharan Africa (particularly Tanzania). : I am a long-time AIDS scholar and activist and I am the faculty adviser to Saint Michael’s chapter of the Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC).
HIV/AIDS; health policy in developing countries; U.S. domestic and international health policy and foreign aid policy; sub-Saharan Africa (particularly Tanzania). : I am a long-time AIDS scholar and activist and I am the faculty adviser to Saint Michael’s chapter of the Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC).
Dr. Jonah Steinberg, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of Global Studies, is a sociocultural anthropologist with a focus on public scholarship and engaged ethnography. He is the author of two books—one with UNC Press and one with Yale—and the winner of two thematically distinct multi-year, single-investigator National Science Foundation grants. Broadly speaking, his research is on the “extreme social edge” and how it is iterated spatially, and on the subjective, affective, local experience of global forms of exclusion. He looks at the ways macrosocial formations—from the movement of empires to the flow of global capital—translate into lived subjectivities, embodied precariousness, and the constraining of choice. Dr. Steinberg is deeply committed to rendering research more widely visible both to publics and to the communities he works with.
Dr. Elise Tarbi is a board-certified Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner with clinical experience and advanced certification in Hospice and Palliative care. She joins the Department of Nursing as faculty after completing her postdoctoral training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as a Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care Research Fellow. She is also a member of the Vermont Conversation Lab. She has a deep commitment to improving care, through scholarship, teaching, and practice, for people affected by serious illness.
Kaitlin E. Thomas completed her doctorate in Hispanic studies at the University of Birmingham (U.K.). She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic studies from Washington College and an Master of Arts in Latin American and Spanish language and literature from New York University (Madrid).
Thomas has also completed nondegree studies with the Council of International Education Exchange in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Sevilla, Spain: the Centro Panoamericano de Idiomas in Guanacaste, Costa Rica; the Universidad Antonio de Nebrija in Madrid, Spain, and the Universidad Centroamericana “José Simeón Cañas” in La Libertad, El Salvador.
At Norwich, she teaches the courses Spanish I and II, Intermediate Spanish I and II, Advanced Spanish I and II, Hispanic Literature, the special topics classes U.S. Latinas/os and the Border, Music and Politics in Latin America, Contemporary Cuba, and La Hashtag nation.
Her research delves into U.S. and Latina/o identities that are resulting from trans-border cultural and national fusion, undocumented Latina/o immigration, and contemporary Mexico. She is interested in intersections between social media and cultural iconography as well as exploring music as a site for resistance.
Thomas has also completed nondegree studies with the Council of International Education Exchange in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Sevilla, Spain: the Centro Panoamericano de Idiomas in Guanacaste, Costa Rica; the Universidad Antonio de Nebrija in Madrid, Spain, and the Universidad Centroamericana “José Simeón Cañas” in La Libertad, El Salvador.
At Norwich, she teaches the courses Spanish I and II, Intermediate Spanish I and II, Advanced Spanish I and II, Hispanic Literature, the special topics classes U.S. Latinas/os and the Border, Music and Politics in Latin America, Contemporary Cuba, and La Hashtag nation.
Her research delves into U.S. and Latina/o identities that are resulting from trans-border cultural and national fusion, undocumented Latina/o immigration, and contemporary Mexico. She is interested in intersections between social media and cultural iconography as well as exploring music as a site for resistance.
As a Research Computing Engineer, I help researchers identify their computing needs, provide consultations, and work as a contractor. I have supported projects in machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and generative adversarial networks (GANs). I enjoy working in NLP and, along with a partner, successfully passed the Turing test with our entry in the Dartmouth College DigiLit contest.
Currently, I am part of a research team working on the AIM AHEAD Consortium Development Project to Advance Health Equity AA-CONVENE ((Aim Ahead - impaCt Of guN Violence Exposure oN hEalth). I am responsible for exploratory data analysis and the creation of data sets for analysis, as well as working with the research team to develop both machine learning and deep learning models.
My previous research project was working with the Art + AI Initiative. We implemented a genetic algorithm to create a dataset of "aesthetic" images, using public engagement as a part of this process. We then used that dataset to train a generative adversarial network (GAN).
I’m also a full-stack web developer with experience from corporate to startup to higher education. I’ve taught Python and UX at the college level, as well as web development in an "immersive" setting.
I'm an author of non-fiction and fiction. My book on web development for General Assembly, "The Practitioner's Guide to Web Development," was published by Grand Central Publishing in January 2015. My most recent short story was included in the anthology "Stories That Need to Be Told 2016" published in December 2016. I am currently working on a novel.
Currently, I am part of a research team working on the AIM AHEAD Consortium Development Project to Advance Health Equity AA-CONVENE ((Aim Ahead - impaCt Of guN Violence Exposure oN hEalth). I am responsible for exploratory data analysis and the creation of data sets for analysis, as well as working with the research team to develop both machine learning and deep learning models.
My previous research project was working with the Art + AI Initiative. We implemented a genetic algorithm to create a dataset of "aesthetic" images, using public engagement as a part of this process. We then used that dataset to train a generative adversarial network (GAN).
I’m also a full-stack web developer with experience from corporate to startup to higher education. I’ve taught Python and UX at the college level, as well as web development in an "immersive" setting.
I'm an author of non-fiction and fiction. My book on web development for General Assembly, "The Practitioner's Guide to Web Development," was published by Grand Central Publishing in January 2015. My most recent short story was included in the anthology "Stories That Need to Be Told 2016" published in December 2016. I am currently working on a novel.
Regina Toolin's research focuses on sociocultural models of teaching and learning in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) teacher education. She is particularly interested in promoting and researching STEM classrooms that are grounded in the principles and practices of place-based and project-based teaching and learning. Her teaching interests include curriculum, instruction, assessment, diversity and place-based education.
Learning Experience Designer | College Instructor | Writer, Project Manager, Folklorist
Patrick manages the library’s digital collections, coordinates library support for digital projects, and serves as subject liaison for History of Art & Architecture.
Richard Watts is the Director of the Center for Research on Vermont; a senior lecturer in the Department of Geography and the founder of the Center of Community News (CCN). Richard is on leave until July 1, 2023 to direct CCN and continue to grow Vermont's Community News Service. Richard is also the co-director of the Reporting & Documentary Storytelling Program; and a former coordinator of the internship program in the College of Arts & Sciences. During Richard's leadership of the CAS internship programs, student for-credit internships tripled from about 250 to almost 800. In coordination with CRVT, the College of Arts & Sciences created the Community of Practice intern program which led to the successful spin off of the Community News Service
Alexa Woodward received her Juris Doctor from the City University of New York Law School and her BA from Gordon College in Wenham, MA. She has managed large scale university initiatives and led public-private partnerships for more than a decade. Successful projects include the establishment of university innovation centers at Clemson University, representing $27M in federal, state, and private funds, $24M in philanthropically funded initiatives at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, as well as the sustainable management of over $32M in funded initiatives at the University of Vermont. Currently, she serves at Executive Director of the Vermont Complex Systems Center at the University of Vermont, where she is responsible for managing, supporting and sustaining a range of projects and initiatives in partnership with faculty PIs, including the MassMutual center for excellence in complex systems and data science, NSF EPSCoR track 1, the Science of Online Corpora, Knowledge and Stories (SOCKS), and the Vermont ReSearch OPSO (VERSO), UVM’s open source program office. She reports to the University’s Vice President for Research.
Katheryn Wright holds a Ph.D. from Florida State University, specializing in Media Studies. Her research focuses on the emergence of a global screen culture by examining the everyday uses of screen technologies at media events. She also studies the body and technology using critical frameworks including biopower, affect theory and the virtual. Her newest manuscript explores the integration of mobile screen technologies like the smartphone and tablet PC into the affective experience of a global sporting attraction, rock concert and even her own living room. She also has published articles and book chapters on new media, television, video games and popular music.
Nina Wu has been a part of the UVM community since 2003 and joined Epscor in May, 2018. She is responsible for the financial operations for the department. Nina holds degrees in history from Shanghai University, accounting from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and business from Johnson State College.
I'm a PhD student in the Computational Story Lab at the Vermont Complex Systems Center (UVM). My current interests are stories, characters, religion, conspiracy theories, integer sequences, history, cybernetics, consciousness, and AI, specifically large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT.