Amy McGovern
Talk: Creating Trustworthy AI for High-Impact Weather
When: February 19, 2020 @ 09:30 am – 10:05 am EST
Link to slides
In this talk, I will present our work at the NSF AI Institute for Research on Trustworthy AI in Weather, Climate, and Coastal Oceanography. We are developing and testing trustworthy AI methods that can be used to revolutionize both our prediction and our understanding of a variety of environmental science phenomena, including high-impact events such as tornadoes, hail, and flooding. We will discuss both the foundational AI methods that we will be develop and our synergistic partnership. We work directly with environmental scientists to ensure our work is immediately relevant and we are working with risk communication specialists to ensure the AI we develop is deemed as trustworthy by the humans who will be using the AI.
Susan Dumais
Talk: The Importance of Context in Search
When: February 19, 2020 @ 10:05 am – 10:40 am EST
Link to slides
Traditionally Web search engines return the same results to everyone who asks the same question. However, using a single ranking for everyone in every context at every point in time fundamentally limits how well a search engine can do in providing relevant information. In this talk, I will present a framework to quantify the “potential for personalization” which characterizes the extent to which different people have different intents for the same query. I will describe examples of how different types of contextual features are represented and used to improve search quality for individuals and groups and highlight the importance complementary methods to provider broader insights about search processes and success. Finally, I conclude by highlighting important challenges in developing personalized systems at Web scale including privacy, transparency, serendipity, and evaluation.
Rumman Chowdhury
Talk: TBA
When: February 19, 2020 @ 11:35 am – 12:10 pm EST
(Cancelled)
Amy Beth Prager
Talk: Democratizing Access to STEM Education In the United States
When: February 20, 2020 @ 9:30 am – 10:05 am EST
(No slides used)
The American education system has been relatively unchanged since the initial structure created by President Jackson in the 1800s. This structure that benefits one demographic more than another, harms and prevents many from reaching their full potential through higher education. Through my research, I was able to identify how this directly happens within the United States, and how even moving to a geographic area where quality education is available falls disproportionately across socio-economic groups. In this talk, I will discuss the need for more accessible education, and how my work as an Outreach Director at Hale Health allows me to create youth led projects that democratizes biotech and data which will allow us to move towards sustainable development and better global health policy.
Hima Lakkaraju
Talk: TBA
When: February 20, 2020 @ 10:05 am – 10:40 am EST
(Cancelled)
Laura Balzer
Talk: Missing Data in Infectious Disease Research & Response
When: February 20, 2020 @ 10:05 am – 10:40 am EST
Link to slides
Estimates of disease prevalence and control are needed to evaluate and inform prevention strategies. However, available data are often subject to differential missingness; persons with measured outcomes differ meaningfully from persons with missing outcomes. In this talk, we highlight the use of causal inference and machine learning methods to reduce bias due to missing data in infectious disease research. We illustrate with data from the SEARCH Study, a large (>320,000-person) community randomized trial for HIV prevention in rural Kenya and Uganda (NCT01864603). We conclude with a discussion of implications for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.