Data Science & AI Lecture Series
Human-Centered Data Science for Crisis Informatics
Marina Kogan
Human-Centered Data Science for Crisis Informatics
| When | Friday, January 9, 2026, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM (MT) |
|---|---|
| Where | WEB L112 |
Abstract
Social media platforms have been increasingly used by the public in crisis situations, partly because they upend the traditional top-down broadcasting model of risk communication. Instead, social media platforms facilitate a two-way information exchange between the official response channels and the general public, enabling more participatory crisis communication, as well as coordination and self-organization among the public. In this more complex information ecosystem, understanding the flow of information is crucial to supporting those affected and preventing malicious actors from capitalizing on the uncertainty. However, the study of such information flows is challenging, as the high-tempo, high-volume convergent nature of crisis events produces vast amounts of social media data, necessitating the use of the data science methods. On the other hand, to glean meaningful insight from the crisis-related social media activity, it is necessary to use methods that account for the complex social context of the user activity. In this talk, Kogan will show how the Human-Centered Data Science (HCDS) provides methodological approaches that both harness the power of computational methods and account for the highly situated nature of social media activity in disruption. She will focus on sequence-based approaches as examples of HCDS methods in two empirical studies: analysis of attention-garnering information during a natural disaster and investigation of behavioral signatures in coordinated information operations.
Speaker
Marina Kogan
UU KSoC, RAI Faculty Fellow
Marina Kogan is an Assistant Professor at Kahlert School of Computing at University of Utah. She works in the areas of social computing, crisis informatics, and human-centered data science. Her background in Sociology and Computer Science informs her focus on studying online coordination, collective problem-solving, and information flows during disruption events such as disasters arising from natural hazards and political crises. Her most recent work engages with issues of mis/disinformation, conspiracy theories, and state-sponsored information operations.
Tags: human-centered computing society & policy
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