Biography

Stephen C. Slota is an Assistant Professor at the School of Information. Stephen’s research in Social Informatics bridges critical infrastructure studies, data and information ethics, and information policy. His research focuses on advancing our shared understanding of how to leverage technology for social good by critically engaging with the role of information technology in policy, in the development of knowledge infrastructures for the sciences, and in the ethics of data and information in people’s personal and professional lives.

Through his focus on infrastructural dynamics, Stephen is able to engage with a broad diversity of research sites. He has explored NSF-funded efforts to develop cyberinfrastructure for the geosciences, nationwide work to collaborate around and support the development of data science, and the data work and practices of social workers and local government related to homelessness in Austin. Stephen's current research explores how technology mediates and infrastructures the relationships between human and non-human life, from environmental management, to conservation work, to agriculture.

Degrees

Ph.D. in Informatics University of California, Irvine

MLIS, 2008: University of Pittsburgh

B.A. English, 2006: Messiah College