I am a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Learning Sciences, Digital Promise. I earned my Ph.D. in Learning Sciences and Psychological Studies at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill School of Education. My dissertation, titled “Uncertainty in Collaborative Inquiry in Science and Social Regulation of Learning,” was nominated by the UNC School of Education for the Dean’s Distinguished Dissertation Award.
I am fascinated by the different ways people deal with uncertainty and make decisions. My interest in uncertainty and human responses to it stems from my personal experiences. I encountered complex, uncertainty-infused situations as a war survivor and refugee, a project manager in the high-tech industry, and a scientist in cancer research. Uncertainty is a powerful interaction of person and context. My research into this area is driven by my desire to discern the best ways for individuals and teams to deal with uncertainty in various settings, from collaborative learning in the classroom to addressing uncertainty in management and medicine.
During my doctoral studies, I was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. I have had the privilege of working with participants from various populations, including K-12, undergraduate and graduate students, and pre- and in-service teachers. I have experience with a wide-ranging array of methods, from mixed methods, design-based research, and experimental laboratory studies to qualitative field investigations. I am particularly interested in simultaneously advancing both theory and practice while helping people become better decision-makers.
I have earned a Master of Engineering Management from Duke University and a Bachelor of Science in Physics, with a minor in Mathematics, with Summa Cum Laude honors, from North Carolina Central University. I also hold a NASA Endeavor STEM Teaching Certificate.
In my private life, I love to laugh with my family, get (overly) excited about birds nesting in my yard, and am a strong candidate to appear on any TV show dedicated to the worst culinary escapades.