Editing People (section)

== Core Students ==

<div style="clear:both;">

=== Kevin Ackermann (Northwestern University) ===
Hiiii! I'm Kevin. (∩｀-´)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

I'm a third year PhD Student in the Media, Technology and Society program at Northwestern University. I'm interested in studying impacts of commercialization on digital community space, historicizing platform governance conversations, and thinking about the political (and emotional) ramifications of quantification. In the past, my attempts to study these topics have largely revolved around studying dead computer networks of the 80s and 90s. Said another way, I'm interested in how communities form and falter online, and what it's like to be a part of one. 

I've spent years of my pre-PhD life honing archival methodology skills, so I'm a sucker for qualitative storytelling, but I hope to try out myriad methods in my graduate studies. There are so many ways to know things!

</div>

<div style="clear:both;">

=== Thatiany Andrade Nunes (Northwestern University) ===

[[File:Youngwol y park.png|thumb|200px|Thaty in Youngwol Y Park (젊은달와이파크), South Korea.]]

:'''Pronouns:''' she/her

Hi! I’m Thaty (pronounced like Tatchi), a first-year PhD student in the Media, Technology, and Society program at Northwestern University, advised by Professor Aaron Shaw. My interest in studying online communities began while working at game companies in South Korea. In addition to creating social media videos, I was responsible for organizing engaging community events and managing online communities. I was fascinated by how quickly these communities could self-organize, whether by creating guides, wikis, or establishing their own rules and moderation systems!

I have too many interests and hope to narrow it down better on my PhD! I want to investigate how communication and information technologies influence social outcomes, how online communities influence participants, what kind of participants (lurkers or active) join them, and why and how they contribute. I am also interested in the different forms of community engagement such as collaboration, political mobilization, and organization.

Fun facts: I’m from Brazil, lived in South Korea for seven years, and I speak Portuguese, English, Korean, and some Spanish! In my free time, I enjoy playing story-driven video games, watching horror movies/series, and spending time with friends!

</div>

<div style="clear:both;">


=== Loizos Bitsikokos (Purdue University) ===

:'''Pronouns:''' he/him/his

[[File:Loizos_professional_pic.JPG|thumb|200px|Loizos pretending to be a Walrus on a Greek island (The most professional photo of Loizos to date; you should see the rest).]]

Hello to those reading this bio, Loizos here. I am a PhD student at Purdue University's Brian Lamb School of Communication. My academic journey began with degrees in physics and applied mathematics from the National Technical University of Athens (N.T.U.A.), followed by an MA in computational social science from the University of Chicago, focusing on sociology.

My research lies at the intersection of computational social science, online platforms, and organizations. I am particularly interested in the intricate relationship between algorithms and society. I am also interested in tensions between structure and agency within online platforms, examining how platforms influence identity formation and whether users can resist institutionally ingrained biases. My work also investigates the conceptualization of desire within platform infrastructures.  The [https://www.onassis.org/ Onassis Foundation] Scholarship program supports my research.

I remember what it was like before academia when I had what people call "free time". Back then, I was preoccupied with (in random order): having existential dread, enjoying instant coffee (no milk, no sugar), writing poems, making and collecting zines, watching cinema, taking photographs, walking in nature, and occasionally playing the saxophone (poorly). I still do at least one of them (guess which).

</div>

<div style="clear:both;">

=== Kaylea Champion (University of Washington) ===

[[File:Kaylea-Champion-300x300.jpg|thumb|200px|Kaylea in purple and blue.]]

I (she/her) am investigating how organizations collaborate to build information public goods -- groovy things like Linux and Wikipedia. What gets made and maintained -- and what gets neglected?

After growing up in Oregon, I spent two decades in Chicago, primarily at the University of Chicago as an academic technology director and consultant. I have a BA in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and an MS in Computer Science, both from the University of Chicago. I also hold an MA in Critical & Creative Thinking from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

My husband, three kids, and I live in Shoreline, WA, which seems to be Seattle's version of Evanston. I'm particularly fond of visiting museums, tromping in the woods, cooking for crowds, smashing goblins, and scribbling fiction.

</div>

<div style="clear:both;">

=== Hsuen-Chi (Hazel) Chiu (Purdue University) ===
[[File:Hazel games.JPG|thumb|200px|Hazel in May 2022]]

Hello! I am a First year PhD student in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University and I am on Media, Technology and Society track. I am advised by Dr. Jeremy Foote. I study computer-mediated communication, especially using quantitative and computational approaches. I am interested in seeing how people using different affordances on social media to manage their privacy, identity and self-disclosure across platforms. I am also interested in looking at how misinformation spreads on social media.

Before coming to Purdue, I earned my MS degree in Media Science focusing on Marketing Communication Research at Boston University.

Outside research, I like baseball games, foods, traveling and dogs.

<div style="clear:both;">
=== Carl Colglazier (Northwestern University) ===

{{User:Carl/bio}}
</div>

<div style="clear:both;">
=== Yibin Fan (University of Washington) ===
Hi ;) I am a first year MA/PhD student in the Department of Communication at University of Washington. My graduate advisor is Professor Benjamin Mako Hill. My research interest is focued on digital group dynamics, and I am deeply curious about questions like how online communities connect and influence each other, or when and why group polarization forms. I am glad to include both quantitive and qualitative methods in my research, and also looking forward to learning more social scientific methods to see whether they make effects in different areas or topics.
</div>

<div style="clear:both;">
=== Ryan Funkhouser (Purdue University) ===

Hey! My name is Ryan Funkhouser, I'm a third year PhD student in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University, and I study communicative processes that bridge ideological divides. In particular, I'm interested in using computational approaches to studying online communities and the role of storytelling in deliberation.

Before studying at Purdue, I earned an interdisciplinary humanities MA at Trinity Western University in British Columbia where I studied rhetoric and communication. I also began a second masters, this time specifically in communication, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 

I originally hail from the beautiful city of Bellingham in the PNW, a place which nurtured within me a love for mountains and long-distance trail running. While I am living a relatively mountain-less existence in West Lafayette, Indiana while at Purdue, I continue to find joy in running and finding the beauty in the midwest. When not running, you will likely me and my wife watching a good show or going for walks.
</div>

<div style="clear:both;">

=== Matt Gaughan (Northwestern University) ===

:'''Pronouns:''' he/him/his

Howdy! I am a second year PhD student in the Technology and Social Behavior program at Northwestern University. Right now, my research primarily focuses on trying to understand how FLOSS communities organize themselves do work and how these processes impact the software that we all rely on. I love finding data. 

In my free time, I love going for jogs, reading, and watching movies. 
</div>

<div style="clear:both;">

=== Dyuti Jha (Purdue university) ===
[[File:DS(1).png|thumb|200px|Dyuti when she used to have time to go out.]]

Hi there! I am a second year PhD student at the Lamb School at Purdue. Dr Jeremy Foote is my advisor. My interests sit at the intersection of sociology, political science, and communication. My work has largely been qualitative in the past but I currently use a mix of experiments and interviews using computational methods to study organization, aggression, and violence (mostly of political nature) in online communities. I worked in the Indian nonprofit sector for five years before deciding to come back to academia. As I find my way around what other things interest me, you will see them here!

Outside of work, I love playing my ukulele and singing, watching and analyzing trashy films from all over the world, and cooking.
You can find more on [https://sites.google.com/view/dyutijha my website].
</div>

<div style="clear:both;">

=== Charles Kiene (University of Washington) ===

[[File:Ch2.jpg|thumb|200px|Charlie.]]

I am currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. I am advised by Professor Benjamin Mako Hill. As part of my doctoral research, I study organizational behavior of volunteer-based groups that manage communities in computer-mediated, online settings, such as Discord servers, subreddits, and MMORPG guilds. 

Topics include:

* Massive influxes of newcomers
* Technological change and adaption
* Organizational culture and conflicts
* Emergence and evolution of rules
* Turnover and division of labor

I use interviewing and ethnographic research methods for inductive qualitative studies of the groups that manage online communities. I also use computational social science methods (programming and maintaining automated web crawling software in SQL databases; machine learning; statistical modeling) for collecting and analyzing data as part of both descriptive and deductive research studies of online communities.


Details at [[User:Healspersecond]]
</div>

<div style="clear:both;">
=== Haomin Lin (University of Washington) ===

[[File:Hl23.jpg|thumb|200px|Haomin at the Kerry Park in Seattle (Credit to Yibin for this great recruting photo!)]]

I am a second-year MA/PhD student in the Communication Department at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. I will be co-advised by Professor Benjamin Mako Hill and Professor Wang Liao. My research interests revolve around uncovering the micro-to-macro linkage in the communication processes in the context of online communication. I am eager to find patterns in processes where micro-level group communications develop to trigger organizational communication behaviors, and finally result in macro-level changes in mass communication.

Prior to joining CDSC, I obtained my M.S. degree from Georgia Tech and worked as a data scientist on generative language models. I look forward to applying computational methods properly to study questions related to communication processes. I am also interested in learning about qualitative methods to research people's exact thoughts on certain topics.

Aside from working and studying, I enjoy my free time through traveling, hiking, and snowboarding (Seattle is a great place for all of them!)
</div>

<div style="clear:both;">

=== Ellie Ross (University of Washington) ===

[[File:Elliew-butterfly.JPG|thumb|200px|Ellie at Turtle Bay.]]

Ellie is a 3rd year PhD student at UW and a dedicated researcher specializing in the analysis of open source communities. With a focus on understanding collaborative dynamics, Ellie investigates various online platforms to uncover insights into community engagement, content development, and the impact of peer collaboration. Through her research, Ellie aims to shed light on the mechanisms that drive interaction and knowledge sharing in digital spaces. Her work contributes to a deeper understanding of online communities and their role in shaping digital culture.

You can find more information here on [https://sites.google.com/uw.edu/ellie-mercedes-ross/bio my website].

</div>

<div style="clear:both;">

=== Dionna Taylor (University of Washington) ===

[[File:Venice 2024.jpeg|thumb|200px|Very professional 0.5 photo of Dionna somewhere in Venice circa 2024.]]

:'''Pronouns:''' she/her

Hello! I am a first year MA/PhD student in the Communication Department at the University of Washington and I am advised by Professor Benjamin Mako Hill. Having obtained my BA in Psychology and Communication (also from UW!), I have always been fascinated by the intersection of human behavior and technology. I am eager to pursue my research interests with a primary focus on online community collapse and online healthcare spaces. 

Although I grew up in the Greater Seattle Area, I also have spent some time in New England and Southern California. In my free time you can find me reading, line dancing, or traveling :)

</div>

<div style="clear:both;">