Research
Updated: May 13th, 2008
Curriculum Vitae
|
Download my CV in PDF Format |
 |
I received a Ph.D. in 2008 from the University of Michigan School of Information. My research interests and activities have been in three areas:
- Social and Organizational Impacts of Information and Communication Technology
- Collaboration, Cooperation, and Collaboration in Virtual Organizations; Effects of Mediation and Distance on Interpersonal Communication; Relational Practice; Distributed Communities of Practice
- Cyberinfrastructure, Collaboratories, and e-Science
- Distributed Research Groups; International Scientific Collaboration; e-Science and Development; Data Sharing; Scientific Communication
- User-Centered Design of Information and Communication Technology
- Computer Supported Cooperative Work; Human-Computer Interaction; Participatory Design
Below I outline some of the research projects I’ve worked on as a doctoral student. To find out everything I’ve been doing, check out my CV.
Dissertation: Interactivity and Electronic Communication: An Experimental Study of Mediated FeedbackThe use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and other electronic communication technologies can affect not only what information is communicated, but also how we make sense of that information. In my dissertation, I ask how mediating interpersonal communication technologies shape how individuals give, interpret, and use critical feedback. In my research I am focusing on the ability of some CMC technologies to create inequalities in individual participation in conversation. For example, some virtual meeting technologies give one participant the ability to communicate through video and audio, while restricting others to sending only text messages. In such a situation, the technology can disrupt backchannel communication, interfere with communication norms, and enforce power differentials among participants. In my dissertation, I explore these issues through a series of experiments in which pairs of participants give each other critical feedback using a variety of communication media. Please download my Research Statement for a more detailed description of this research. I successfully defended my dissertation in October, 2007. Dissertation Committee:
|
Cyberinfrastructure ResearchI am working with Dr. Charlotte Lee studying collaboration in the development of cyberinfrastructure to support metagenomics research. I have also been involved in similar work with other collaboratory and cyberinfrastructure projects:
The Science of Collaboratories was an NSF-funded project that looked across a large number of collaborative scientific projects in order to generate a set of technical and behavioral principles that may lead to better, more successful design of cyberinfrastructure in the future. I have also worked with the Waterford Project (AIDS research) and HASTAC (Arts & Humanities). |
Usability ResearchIn 2000-2001, I worked on a project with Judith S. Olson and AT&T’s User Experience Engineering Division that looked at the relationship between usability (as understood by those in the Human Computer Interaction profession) and customer satisfaction. The work was presented at the 18th International Symposium on Human Factors in Telecommunications. |
The International AIDS Research Collaboratory (IARC) worked with AIDS research groups collaborating among the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Botswana. Our research focused on how scientists use electronic resources and communication technologies in their work, and how the use of electronic tools affects the scientists, their institutions, and the fields to which they belong.