I am a scholar in human-computer interaction and incoming assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Department of Software and Information Systems (August 2022).
I work in usable privacy and security. My focus is on understanding how people's security attitudes and social environments weigh in their decision to adopt - or not adopt - secure behaviors (such as sharing passwords securely or ignoring UX cues to scams and "fake news"). I employ a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods from social science, computer science, and design. My work also is informed by prior experiences as a journalist, IT/UX specialist, and social media manager.
In 2018-19, I created the SA-6 security attitude scale. SA-6 is a six-item, self-report measure of a person's engagement with and attentiveness to cybersecurity measures. You are free to use it with attribution. Also, see my SA-13 inventory and the associated working paper for items measuring resistance and concernedness.
Would you like to be an advisee of mine at UNC Charlotte? Please get in touch! I have mentored more than 20 students, many from outside computer science. My research examines the experiences of people who differ from the "ideal user" a system was designed for. This statement adds details about my philosophy and plans to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion in academia.
Recent news:
- I am receiving my doctorate this year from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. My thesis defense is set for May 9. Many thanks go to my committee members: Jason I. Hong (Co-Chair), Laura Dabbish (Co-Chair), Geoff Kaufman, Sauvik Das (Georgia Tech), and Michelle Mazurek (University of Maryland, College Park).
- I am attending the annual symposium of the National Centers of Academic Excellence Community of Practice in Research (NCAE CoP-R), June 9-10, 2022, in Atlanta, Ga. For the final day, I am co-organizing a special topics workshop on usable security challenges, with Heather Richter Lipford of UNC Charlotte.
- With fellow CHI 2022 attendees, I am co-authoring an article on Human-Computer Interaction for Faith, Religion, and Spirituality. A version of this and my short paper Open Laptop - Already a Mistake: An American Zen Buddhist's Reflections on HCI Research and Design for Faith-Based Communities. will appear this summer in a special issue of ACM Interactions magazine.