Achievements

different visions of a good or just world. In her research, she has investigated how idealized discussions of data and algorithms can mask more pernicious harms, a phenomenon she calls “data violence.”

Cifor brings an archivist’s perspective to the group, and, like Hoffmann, the perspective of a feminist scholar. Her research centers on how archives and data can be deployed to support social justice movements, and she investigates how archives are influenced by the power dynamics around gender, sexuality, race and other forms of difference.

Finn brings together science and technology studies and the history of information and technology in her research. She has written and researched extensively about crisis informatics, a field interested in the use of information and technology during and after disasters and other emergencies. Her 2018 book, “Documenting Aftermath,” looked at information and communication practices after three historical California earthquakes and how information infrastructures shaped the experiences of people who lived through them.

Finn said she sees the lab filling a niche for students who are interested in topics at the intersection of information science and critical social sciences.

“We want to create an environment where students feel they can take on big, difficult research questions that might take them a little bit of time and feel like they’ll have the support of peers and professors,” Finn said.

AfterLab got its official launch with a project funded by the iSchool Strategic Research Fund. The researchers, with assistance from iSchool Ph.D. student Sarah Nguyễn, are studying the role of data in the ways institutions represent COVID-19 and its effects — especially relative to race and gender. Finn also is the lead researcher on a project that recently received an NSF grant and a grant from the “digital infrastructures” project sponsored by the Sloan Foundation, Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundation, Mozilla Foundation, and Omidyar Networks. Her team is studying the work of producing COVID-19 data infrastructures in the U.S. and India.

Learn more about AfterLab at afterlab.ischool.uw.edu.

Daniel Chen Truc Ho Kaitlin Srader

Amy J. Ko

Daniel Chen, a senior double- majoring in Informatics and Microbiology at the UW, was named a 2021 Goldwater Scholar . Chen is one of 410 undergraduate students selected for the award across the country . The scholarships are granted to undergraduates who show exceptional promise and plan to pursue research careers in math, engineering or the natural sciences . The American Library Association awarded Spectrum Scholarships to two MLIS students, Truc Ho and Kaitlin Srader . The Spectrum program is intended to increase diversity in the profession through recruitment and scholarships . Dean Anind K. Dey and colleagues from his previous institution, Carnegie Mellon University, received a 10year Impact Award from Ubicomp, the leading conference on pervasive and ubiquitous computing . Their paper, “Understanding My Data, Myself: Supporting Self-Reflection with Ubicomp Technologies,” examined the questions people ask about their personal data . Professor Amy J. Ko was recognized in 2021 with an honorable mention in the UW Awards of Excellence, which celebrate outstanding faculty, staff, students and alumni whose achievements exemplify the University’s mission . Ko’s recognition came in the Marsha L . Landolt Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award category . Named for the late Graduate School dean, the award has been given to standout faculty mentors annually since 1999 . Assistant Teaching Professor Sandy Littletree was elected to a four-year term on the Indigenous Matters Section of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, beginning August 2021 . Assistant Professor Tanu Mitra was awarded the Adamic-Glance Distinguished Young Researcher Award at the 2021 International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media . This award is presented annually to a young researcher who has distinguished themself through innovative work in the area of computational social science at an early stage of their independent research career . Professor Hans Jochen Scholl was named a “Fellow of the Digital Government Society,” which honors exceptional and groundbreaking contributions to the study of digital government . The Digital Government Society, of which Scholl was a founding member in 2005 and for which he served as president from 2009-10, is an association of hundreds of scholars worldwide . Associate Professor Chirag Shah was elected chair of the newly formed ASIS&T Special Interest Group (SIG) AI . SIG AI provides a forum for discussion about research, development and use of artificial intelligence in information science and technology . Its interest areas include AI ethics, algorithmic bias, human-AI interaction and other aspects of AI design and implementation .

Sandy Littletree Tanu Mitra

Hans Jochen Scholl