About Us

Aziz is a PhD student at Northeastern University collaborating with the National Internet Observatory as a Data Scientist. As a Data Scientist, he is developing privacy-preserving data pipelines using Spark to facilitate the release of datasets for external researchers and internal analysis. Additionally, he is analyzing browsing logs as part of his own research. Previously, Aziz also proposed and developed several new features for the NIO Browser Extension.

Kristin Lunz Trujillo is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Boston College. Her research adopts a political psychology framework to explore mass political behavior, particularly as it relates to the urban-rural divide and health-related attitudes. Her work has been funded by the NSF and she has published in academic journals such as Nature Human Behaviour, Scientific Data, JAMA Network Open, Social Science & Medicine, Political Behavior, Public Opinion Quarterly, and Political Geography, among others. Her work has also won several awards and has appeared in various media outlets, including The New York Times, Newsweek, Forbes, FiveThirtyEight, John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight, Time, US News and World Report, and more. Before coming to Boston College, Kristin was an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina. Before that, she was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy, and at the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University. She completed her PhD in Political Science with a minor in political psychology at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities in 2021.

Michael Hoefling is a Senior Project Manager who manages the National Internet Observatory (NIO) project. He has over 15 years experience managing complex projects ranging from Engineering and Research to Construction/ Facilities and Life Sciences. With his multidisciplinary experience in various industries this makes him an ideal member of the NIO Team, successfully leading the project.

Dr. Pranav Goel (he/they) is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Lazer Lab at Northeastern University’s Network Science Institute. He obtained his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park. His research interests span computational social science & natural language processing, including text-as-data applications in computational political science, analyzing framing in news and social media, and improving topic model evaluation and their ability to assist practitioners. Currently, he is exploring news consumption patterns across a variety of online platforms, seeking to improve our understanding of the digital local news landscape, and studying the interaction between self-reported survey data and behaviors drawn from observed trace data. His research has been published at top conferences and research venues, including winning the "Outstanding Study Design" award at ICWSM 2023.

Jason Radford is a research scientist with the National Internet Observatory and Director of the Social Design Lab. He is a sociologist specializing in putting scientific research into practice through innovation. He co-founded Volunteer Science, an online behavioral lab for scientific researchers.

Abby Wisnewski is an iOS Applications Developer at Northeastern University supporting the National Internet Observatory. She started with the NIO as a Co-Op student and has since returned in a staff level Developer role, showing her commitment to the project. Her focus is on enhancing data collection through low-level networking and iOS system frameworks while also managing feature development and TestFlight deployments.

Sheela Hansda is a Data Science Engineer Co-op at NIO and a Master’s student in Data Analytics Engineering at Northeastern University. Before her graduate studies, she worked as a Data Warehouse Developer and Architect in consulting firms, gaining experience in data modeling, ETL processes, and database optimization. She has a keen interest in exploring advanced analytics, machine learning, and big data technologies to solve real-world problems. Outside of work, she enjoys trekking, cooking, traveling, and painting.

Libby Phillips is a project coordinator for both the National Internet Observatory and the Internet Democracy Initiative. She is a graduate of the Trinity College Dublin and Columbia University Dual BA Program. Libby enjoys reading, writing, and exploring the city of Boston.

Glenn L. White is the lead Android Developer of the NIO project. Prior to his arrival to Northeastern University he has worked with many industry leading Firms such as JPMorgan Chase and Walmart. He has been working in the field of computer science since 2011 and has helped publish a number of applications you see in the Google Play Store.  He has a proven track record in app development and optimization. Proficient in Kotlin and Java, adept in UI/UX design, and experienced in collaborating on large-scale projects. Skilled in app stability enhancement, code optimization, and seamless integration of new features.

Dr. Scott Allen Cambo has dedicated his career to helping teams research, design, build, and monitor AI systems that are safe to use, responsibly developed, and trustworthy. After graduating with a PhD in Technology and Social Behavior from Northwestern University, Dr. Cambo has led the technical and product development for expert-centered interactive machine learning systems (Avalanche Insights, now Fathom.AI) as well as the development of algorithm auditing processes and AI governance tools (Parity.AI, now Vera.AI). Scott also brings a breadth of leadership experience to the team having had multiple management and leadership roles as the Head of Human-Centered Data Science for Vera.AI, General Manager for the Responsible AI Collaborative, and Chief of Trustworthy AI for Redmane Technologies.

Hemish Veeraboina is a Data Engineer at Northeastern University, specializing in scalable data pipelines, ETL orchestration, and big data processing. With expertise in Python, SQL, and distributed systems (Spark Kafka, Hadoop, Dask), he builds efficient and robust data solutions. Currently, he is exploring machine learning, causal inference, and AI-driven data engineering solutions to enhance automation and analytics at scale.

Sibyl is a data scientist/data engineer at The National Internet Observatory, specializing in statistical analysis and machine learning. With a background in statistics and data science, she has worked on cloud computing platforms to build scalable data pipelines and leverage MLflow for machine learning model management, enabling data-driven decision-making. Outside of work, Sibyl is a mom of two dogs and loves outdoor activities such as hiking and tennis.

AJ Ilentamhen was raised in Boston, MA, and the Boston area, as well as Brockton, MA. After attending high school in Dorchester, MA, he went on to study Computer Science with a focus in Software Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. Beginning his IT career in Software Engineering and transitioning to Data Science/Data Engineering, he is also a published kid's author, sports lover, lover of film and screenwriting, enjoys board games and historical documentaries, and is overall interested in and passionate about learning.

Kai-Cheng Yang is a postdoctoral researcher in the Lazer Lab at Northeastern University's Network Science Institute. He obtained his Ph.D. in Informatics from Indiana University Bloomington. He is interested in computational social science. His research aims to uncover how technologies like generative AI are used for deceptive and disruptive purposes, study how humans react to these abuses, and develop countermeasures. Specifically, he focuses on bad actors like malicious social bots and misinformation on social media. He built popular tools, such as Botometer, that have served tens of thousands of users. He also acted as the social bot expert in the Twitter vs. Elon Musk trial. His work appeared in various academic journals. CNN, BBC, The New York Times, and many other popular news outlets also covered his research.