Alumni and Careers

What have you been up to since graduating from Bowdoin?

The summer I graduated from Bowdoin, I moved to Durham, North Carolina, to begin my master’s program in applied ethics and policy at Duke University. There, I specialized in digital equity and responsible AI. I also worked on a diverse range of projects, including researching regulatory perspectives on data quality for LLMs, surveying US media literacy legislation, and delivering a report on Colombian data policy. After graduating in December, 2023, I worked at the Upward Bound program at University of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, designing programs to support high school students on their way to becoming first-generation college students.

Last spring, I took part in Data & Society’s “Connective (T)Issues” workshop, which convened a group of scholars and practitioners to examine how digital infrastructures transform built, natural, and social environments. In August, 2025, I became a NobleReach Scholar and joined my 27 fellow scholars for two weeks in Washington, DC, focused on mission-driven innovation and collaboration between the public and private sectors. A month later, I moved to Seattle to join the mayor’s PACT (Permitting Accountability and Customer Trust) initiative as the permitting acceleration strategy and technology fellow. I am leading usability testing for a pilot AI tool designed to streamline permit applications and developing community feedback plans to guide equitable and responsible permitting initiatives.

Why digital and computational studies?

When I discovered DCS, I was already an English major. I loved close-reading literary texts and confronting the many questions that process invited me to ask. I was also fascinated by the evolution of digital technology, having grown up hearing stories from my father and grandfather, who began their programming careers in the 1980s and 1950s, respectively. DCS showed me I could connect these interests and use analytical tools to interrogate or "close-read" the material, computational, and social dimensions of technologies.

While studying DCS, I interned with AARP Maine and supported the team’s advocacy around broadband access. That experience, combined with my own life in rural Maine, sparked my interest in digital equity. My DCS capstone, a statewide survey of local leaders on capacity-building for digital equity, laid the groundwork for future research in graduate school, including a published study based on interviews with rural Mainers about broadband’s impact on their communities and imagined futures.

DCS trained me to take a human-centered, multidimensional view of technology. In digital equity research, this meant looking beyond access to also consider meaningful adoption, technology use shaped directly by the needs, priorities, and values of the people it affects. This human-centered approach continues to guide my thinking and the work I do.

Are there any classes, professors, or experiences that had a lasting impact on you?

Professor Crystal Hall has been a wonderful mentor to me and someone who has really pushed my thinking and my methods. Through Professor Hall’s support, I published my first paper and learned to trust my ideas. Professor Fernando Nascimento also greatly encouraged me and challenged my thinking. His talks on the digital common good, practical wisdom, the capability approach, and other perspectives were foundational for me and have provided constant inspiration over the years. Professor Nascimento also served as the faculty advisor for the digital equity-focused ASB trip I co-led my senior year, which was one of the highlights of my time at Bowdoin.

What advice would you give to current students or recent graduates interested in your field?

My advice to current DCS students or recent grads would be to stay optimistic. Innovation in tech moves so fast that it can be hard to keep up, and it can also be disheartening to watch innovation outpace efforts to guide it toward the common good. Optimism is critical in this environment and, ultimately, a tool for creating meaningful interventions. I would also say: stay open. I would encourage students to embrace the range of opportunities DCS opens up.

What have you been up to since graduating from Bowdoin?

Currently, I work for PayPal in cybersecurity policy and strategy, with a majority of my focus recently on AI governance. I am also pursuing a law degree at Fordham Law in the evenings. Previously, I worked at Venable as a technology consultant, focusing on issues including privacy, content moderation, and AI regulation. While at Venable, I completed a part-time master’s in cybersecurity policy at Brown University, where I worked closely with Professor Suresh Venkatasubramanian on developing methods to track AI legislation at the state and federal levels. Beyond work, I have been involved in the tech policy community as a member of the Internet Law and Policy Foundry and as a writer for Lawfare.

Why digital and computational studies? What drew you to the major/minor and how has it shaped your path?

As someone with much of my family living abroad, technology has always been important for staying connected with them and my culture. I took a DCS class during my freshman fall somewhat by chance—I entered Bowdoin as a government and economics major and enrolled in Forecasting & Predictions, which was cross-listed with government and DCS. The course caught my interest for two reasons: first, it combined my interest in political science with quantitative methods, and second, it covered forecasting in general (weather, sports, elections, etc.). This felt especially relevant as the 2016 US presidential election was happening at the same time. The election challenged many assumptions about polling and changed how we think about personal data, especially following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. This experience sparked my initial interest in privacy as a civil liberty requiring significant reforms and protections to address technological challenges.