Principal Investigators
Jessica Vitak (PhD, Michigan State University) is an Associate Professor in the iSchool at the University of Maryland. Her research evaluates the privacy and ethical implications of big data, the internet of things, and other “smart” technologies. She seeks to understand how privacy concerns play a role in technology adoption and use, and she develops tools and resources to help children and adults make more informed decisions when using technology and sharing sensitive data. For more information, see her website or email her directly.
Mega Subramaniam (PhD, Florida State University) is a Professor and the Co-Director of the Youth Experience (YX) Lab at the University of Maryland’s iSchool. Her research focuses on enhancing the role of libraries in fostering the mastery of emerging digital literacies that are essential to STEM learning among non-dominant youth. For more information, see her website or email her directly.
Students
S. Nisa Asgarali-Hoffman is a Ph.D. student at the iSchool at the University of Maryland. Her research interests lie at the intersection of art, biotechnology, and race. She also does research on informal learning spaces. She holds an M.S. in Human-Centered Computing from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. For more information, see her website or email her directly.
Priya Kumar (PhD, University of Maryland) received her PhD from UMD’s iSchool in Spring 2021. Starting in Fall 2021, she’ll be an assistant professor at Penn State’s iSchool. Her research focuses on how parents and children negotiate technology and privacy. For more information, see her website or email her directly.
Yuting Liao is a PhD candidate in the iSchool. Her research focuses on privacy in the context of digital health and political engagement. She also studies online communities using Social Network Analysis and computational linguistics. For more information, email her directly.
Shandra Morehouse was a PhD student in the iSchool until 2020. She received her Master’s degree in Library Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2018. Her research interests are in archives and information behavior in fanfiction communities. For more information, you can email her directly.
Advisory Board Members
Irene Padilla, State Librarian, Maryland State Library Agency
Miguel Figueroa, Director, Center for the Future of Libraries at the American Libraries Association
Dr. Denise Agosto, Drexel University. Research Expertise: youth information behaviors including privacy practices, public libraries, multicultural issues in youth library services.
Dr. Sarita Schoenebeck, University of Michigan. Research Expertise: parents and their children’s use of technology in home and school contexts.
Dr. Vikki Katz, Rutgers University. Research Expertise: strategies that immigrant families develop to learn about and understand their local environments and to address their needs.
Dr. Kelly Caine, Clemson University. Research Expertise: health informatics, privacy, human-computer interaction (HCI), and designing for special populations.