Andrea Zeffiro (she/her) is an Associate Professor in critical technology studies in the Department of Communication Studies and Media Arts and an affiliate faculty member in the Master of Public Policy in Digital Society program and the Cultural Studies and Critical Theory MA program. Andrea received a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Concordia University and was a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University. Andrea’s current areas of research and teaching include critical data studies, data justice, critical cybersecurity studies, qualitative digital research methods, and critical and speculative design.

Email Andrea at zeffiroa@mcmaster.ca.

Jay Brodeur (he/him) brings to the Centre years of experience working with data in a wide variety of formats and interdisciplinary contexts. A scientist by training with a PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences, he’s comfortable working and advising on all kinds of data-related activities, ranging from data wrangling and integration to analysis and mapping to research data management. Jay’s also keenly interested in the application of digital approaches to support experiential learning opportunities within and outside of the classroom.

Email Jay at brodeujj@mcmaster.ca.

Alexis-Carlota Cochrane (she/they) brings to SCDS a rich foundation in digital humanities, critical data studies, and digital storytelling. She views DH as a “connective link” to foster interdisciplinary networks of collaborative scholarship. Alexis is currently a Ph.D. Candidate (ABD) in the Department of Communication Studies and Media Arts at McMaster University. In her role as coordinator, she supports the centre’s communications, public engagement events, partnerships, and all things digital scholarship. Interested in getting involved with SCDS, but not sure where to start? Alexis can get in touch with the right people for your digital scholarship needs!

Email Alexis at alexiscarlota@mcmaster.ca. She is also on the other end of the SCDS general inbox: scds@mcmaster.ca.

Danica Evering (they/them) brings expansive experience with research support, education, project management, advocacy, and knowledge translation. They braid together broad fluency in social practice art, healthcare, community research, data, and systems development to provide comprehensive RDM services. Danica is available to help students, postdocs, faculty, and staff with RDM through the data lifecycle—Data Management Plans, storage and backup, data security, data sharing. With an MA in Media Studies from Concordia, they are interested in fostering RDM within curious scholars and disciplines. Email Danica at everingd@mcmaster.ca. 

Danica offers consultations on Data Management Plans, Data Storage and Backup, Data Security, and Data Deposit and Sharing. Schedule a consultation with Danica.

John Fink‘s (he/they) talents lie in complex and innovative systems administration and project management. He also has an interest in the maker/hacker element in digital scholarship, and is frequently spotted tinkering with esoteric hardware. If you are interested in having the Sherman Centre support your project, John is an excellent first contact. Email John at jfink@mcmaster.ca. 

John offers consultations on Systems Administration, Maker/Hacker Spaces, and Hardware. Schedule a consultation with John.

Christine Homuth (she/her) draws on her wide range of experiences to provide support for teaching and research to students, researchers, and faculty members working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geospatial data. Some of her more recent work includes georeferencing historical maps and developing web map indexes as finding aids to make the Lloyd Reeds Map Collection’s resources more readily accessible. Email Christine at homuthc@mcmaster.ca. 

Christine offers consultations on Mapping and Geospatial Data. Schedule a consultation with Christine.

Vivek Jadon (he/him) provides research support in the use of numeric research data. As part of his role, Vivek is McMaster University’s official representative for Statistics Canada’s Data Liberation Initiative (DLI) program and Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). Both of these programs provide researchers with vast archive of research data from various disciplines for high quality research and instruction. Vivek is also involved in building awareness and promoting RDM activities/services at McMaster. Email Vivek at jadonvs@mcmaster.ca. 

Vivek offers consultations on Data Analysis and Statistical Analysis. Schedule a consultation with Vivek.

Isaac Pratt (he/him) is a research scientist by training and has a PhD in Anatomy & Cell Biology. He leverages nearly a decade of interdisciplinary research experience to help support students, staff, and faculty. His expertise lies in questions surrounding data storage, security, planning, archival, and sharing. Isaac also provides support and curation services for McMaster Dataverse. His other interests include reproducible research methods, open science, and data science. Email Isaac at pratti@mcmaster.ca. 

Danica offers consultations on Data Management Plans, Data Storage and Backup, Data Security, and Data Deposit and Sharing. Schedule a consultation with Isaac.

Subhanya Sivajothy (she/her) brings a background of research in data justice, science and technology studies, and environmental humanities. She is currently thinking through participatory data design which allow for visualizations that are empowering for the end user. She also has experience in Research Data Management—particularly data cleaning and curation. Do not hesitate to reach out to her if you would like to talk more about data analysis and visualization as they evolve throughout the research process. Email Subhanya at sivajos@mcmaster.ca. 

Subhanya offers consultations on Data Analysis and Visualization. Schedule a consultation with Subhanya.

Saman Goudarzi’s work operates at the intersection of information science and critical geography. She’s particularly interested in the ways in which community-owned and -governed infrastructure can contribute to equitable knowledge systems. Currently, Saman takes care of McMaster’s Lloyd Reeds Map Collection, ensuring community members are able to access, understand, and use the collection for teaching and research.

After reading History at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, Myron Groover completed his library and archival studies at the University of British Columbia. His work currently focuses on collection development and teaching in archives and book history. Myron’s teaching practise seeks to facilitate direct student engagement with special collections materials as interstices of memory, labour, material culture, and shared meaning-making.

Katie Harding works with the Faculty of Engineering to help engineering students learn how to understand, find, read, interpret, and create different types of information sources. She has spent the last decade teaching and providing research support to students and researchers in science and engineering. Her recent projects have focused on the development of some exciting new open educational resources.

Devon Mordell draws on her experience in media art, hobbyist programming and instructional design to teach workshops for the Sherman Centre. Her areas of interest in digital scholarship include data visualization, computational analyses of texts, sonification and critical digital humanities. Her research practice explores the algorithmic culture industry and platform psychogeography.

Tim Ribaric (he/him) holds a Masters of Computer Science and is presently working on his PhD in the Educational Studies program at Brock University. His work encompasses many different areas of digital scholarship including the teaching of programming languages but he focuses on social media and text analysis. He is also a certified Carpentries Instructor and past member of the Carpentries Advisory Committee.

Abeer Siddiqui’s preferred introduction is “Abeer is a librarian and she does things.” Specifically, Abeer works as McMaster’s Science Librarian and as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Science. She advocates for effective science communication through storytelling as a way to build trust and create conversations within communities.

Amirreza Mousavi is a master’s student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at McMaster University. He works as part of the DASH Team, providing data analytics consultations and conducting workshops in various domains of machine learning and programming. Engaged in the intricacies of the artificial intelligence domain, his focus lies in the realms of Computer vision, Statistical analysis and Large language models. He has a strong knowledge of Python and an understanding of other languages such as MATLAB and R. Deliberate and methodical, he approaches programming with a keen eye for detail, striving to develop algorithms that navigate the complexities of the field.

Ayla Rana (she/her) holds the role of Learning Resource Development Assistant. She recently completed her second year of McMaster’s Honours Integrated Science (iSci) Program. Her work at SCDS focuses on enhancing the centre’s learning resources to make them increasingly accessible and interactive. Outside of SCDS, Ayla enjoys playing the piano and spending her time reading.

Humayun Kabir is a final semester MSc student in Health Research Methodology (major in Clinical Epidemiology) at the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster University, Canada. He has been assisting McMaster’s community with data analysis, mostly focused on health research at the DASH, McMaster University Library since Fall 2023. His academic journey included the completion of a Master of Public Health (MPH) from North South University, Bangladesh, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh. He has proficiency in conducting in-depth epidemiological research, statistical modelling, managing large databases, and analyzing data using software such as R, STATA, and SPSS. He has more than 25 articles in prestigious journals in the field of health research, including Scientific Reports, Annals of Medicine, BMC Public Health, PLOS ONE, Heliyon, International Journal of Public Health, and others. His MSc thesis at McMaster will utilize cohort data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study of Aging (CLSA).

Rai Rubab (she/her) is a fourth-year Integrated Science student pursuing a concentration in Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour and a concurrent certificate in the language of medicine and health. Aside from her field of study, she is also passionate about science communication and accessibility of scientific research. Her current research includes completing a thesis under the supervision of Dr. Brodeur on the effectiveness of undergraduate resources in helping students obtain undergraduate research experiences. This summer, Rai will be working with the McMaster Experts team as a Research Information Systems Assistant supporting profile curation, the promotion of non-traditional research outputs, and the development of Experts 2.0.

Rebeca Gaston (she/her) holds the role of Research Data Management Assistant. She is a third year undergraduate student studying Computer Engineering at McMaster. Her involvement includes a variety of different projects, focusing on research support, enhanced accessibility, and improved technical aspects of RDM resources. Rebeca uses her free time to draw, paint, bake, and hike/gym. 

Richie Motorgeanu (he/him) holds the role of Learning Resource Development Assistant. He is an undergraduate student studying Computer Science at McMaster University. Within the SCDS, he serves as a Learning Resource Development Assistant, where his main focus is transforming and enhancing the centre’s workshop materials into interactive and accessible learning resources. Outside of the Sherman Centre, Richie also has a keen interest in game development.

Blake Dillon is a communications specialist with a diverse background in journalism, sci comms, graphic design, and website development. Since earning a diploma in journalism from Sheridan College more than a decade ago, Blake has been balancing a busy professional schedule with the dogged (but part-time) pursuit of an Honours B.A. in Communication Studies. Having served as Editor for a handful of Canadian publications, Blake now finds himself working where he studies, leading communications for McMaster University’s Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research (IIDR). At the IIDR, Blake is responsible for promoting the Institute’s research initiatives and spearheading communications endeavours for the Institute’s peripheral projects, such as the Public Health Agency of Canada-commissioned ‘AMR Network.’ On the home stretch of his undergraduate studies, Blake is earning some of his final few credits as a Research Associate at the Sherman Centre, where he is conducting exploratory research with Dr. Zeffiro on cybersecurity and digital inequalities. 

Evangeline (Vange) Holtz-Schramek holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing from UBC and the University of East Anglia and two Master’s degrees: one in English and Women’s and Gender Studies from U of T, and the other in Social Policy (MPPA) from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson). Vange is a Ph.D. candidate in the Communication, New Media & Cultural Studies program (CNMCS) at McMaster, where their research engages with online mothering through the lenses of the political economy of media, auto/biography studies, critical race theory, social media research ethics, gendered disinformation, communities of mental health and addiction online, and other urgent intersectional feminist contestations. Vange’s vocational expertise in educational and community consulting supports their present contribution to The Sherman Centre: they are currently collaborating with Dr. Zeffiro on a knowledge-mobilization series that endeavours to contend with prescient questions in the social science field of data justice through arts-fueled interdisciplinary and imaginative solutions. 

Nadia Lofaro (they/she) is a fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing the Honours Media Arts program at McMaster. With a special emphasis on exploring queer theory through their practice as an artist, they are excited to bring a theoretical perspective to the research being done at the Sherman Centre. They are working with Dr. Zeffiro in partnership with the Sex Workers’ Action Program (SWAP) to co-create zines that document the contextual cybersecurity risks, threats, and mitigation strategies emerging from the intersectional experiences of sex workers in Hamilton.

Natasha Malik (she/her) is a Ph.D. candidate in Communication, New Media, and Cultural Studies. She received her BSc in Health and Disease, and English, and her Master of Information in User Experience Design and Critical Information Policy Studies from the University of Toronto. Natasha is focused on threading design theory and practice together to bolster socially responsible and participatory technology design practices. Her dissertation explores co-constitution(s) of responsibility, participation and power in sites of artificial intelligence design practice. At the Sherman Centre, Natasha is the co-lead of the study, “AI Experiences and Conceptions of Responsibility for Responsible AI Practice: Diverse Perspectives,” which explores current experiences of AI in Canada and conceptions of responsibility for/in Responsible AI practice. This research is supported through the Mitacs Accelerate program in partnership with the TELUS Data & Trust Office and Dr. Andrea Zeffiro, Academic Director at the Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship.

Sam McEwan is a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Communication Studies and Media Arts and co-coordinator of the CNMCS Ph.D. peer-mentorship program. Her current research explores representations of women’s bisexuality in popular music and the influence of recommendation algorithms on the craft of songwriting. She has previously enjoyed performing with the Cybernetic Orchestra out of McMaster’s Networked Imagination Lab. Her other research interests include data sonification, intersections of nostalgia and video game music, visuality and gesture in live performance, and media-based modes of LGBTQ+ allyship online. Sam is collaborating on a project with Dr. Zeffiro that uses experimental approaches like sonification to understand the affective dimensions of data breaches.

Amanda Montague received her PhD from the University of Ottawa and acted as the Sherman Centre’s Postdoctoral Fellow from 2019-2022. Her dissertation, Mobile Memories: Canadian Cultural Memory in the Digital Age, considers the impact of mobile technologies and locative media narratives on everyday experiences of memory and place. She is an award-winning teacher and has developed several technology-based experiential learning projects, specifically ones that foster collaboration and partnerships within and outside the university.

Gil Niessen (they/them) is a Ph.D. candidate in Communication, New Media, and Cultural Studies whose research focuses on decolonizing cloud gaming technologies and infrastructures. Gil assists in grant writing and editing and has experience designing research-specific methods for projects such as focus groups, textual analysis, and discourse analysis. Gil believes in making research accessible to different audiences through non-academic avenues, such as infographics, blog posts, and data visualization. Gil is interested in alternative/speculative design and exploring optimism in the potential futures of infrastructures that oppress and exploit users. Gil is collaborating on a project with Dr. Zeffiro using sonification and visualization to understand the interrelationship between data breaches and other geopolitical crises.

Clementine Oberst is a Ph.D. candidate in Communication, New Media, and Cultural Studies. With a background in cultural studies and film and television studies, Clementine specializes in screen studies and is particularly interested in the rhetorical, aesthetic, and ideological strategies of reality television. Her Ph.D. thesis project looks at the docusoap genre of reality television through an intersectional feminist lens informed by theories of queerness, race, class, and dis/ability. Clementine is currently collaborating on a project with Dr. Zeffiro using digital humanities approaches to explore the intersections between data breaches and other forms of security crises.

Katie Waring is a PhD student in Communication, New Media, and Cultural Studies. Her research lies at the intersection of disability justice, new media, and community engagement, and her doctoral project includes building a digital community archive alongside patients incarcerated at the former Craig Colony for Epileptics in Western New York. Katie’s work centers accessible design practices and participatory storytelling. She also holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of Pittsburgh. At the Sherman Centre, Katie is collaborating on a project with Dr. Zeffiro which explores the digital storytelling applications of the team’s research on data breaches.