A University of Arkansas at Little Rock doctoral student has been selected for a prestigious workshop designed to prepare graduate students for careers in the computer science industry.

Katrin Galeano, a third-year doctoral student in the integrated computer and information science Ph.D. program, will attend the CRA-WP Grad Cohort for Women conference that will be held virtually April 23-24.

“I’m really looking forward to the conference,” Galeano said. “I receive a lot of mentoring and support from COSMOS and Dr. (Nitin) Agarwal, but I think it will be great to communicate and have an exchange with women researchers. I cannot be the only person balancing between being a doctoral student, being a mom, and, in our case, being a military wife all during the time of COVID.”

At the Grad Cohort for Women Conference, participants interact with about 20 senior female computing-related researchers and professionals, who will share pertinent information on graduate school survival skills, as well as more personal information and insights about their experiences. The workshop aims to increase the ranks of senior women in computing-related studies and research by building and mentoring nationwide communities of women through their graduate studies.

The two-day event is hosted by the Computing Research Association (CRA), an organization dedicated to bringing industry, government, and academia together to support research and advanced education in computing. 

“I am ecstatic because this conference gives me a lot of motivation,” Galeano said. “My goal this semester is to complete the Ph.D. candidacy exam and to prepare for my dissertation proposal.”

Galeano is a researcher with the Collaboratorium for Social Media and Behavioral Studies (COSMOS) at UA Little Rock, a research group led by Dr. Nitin Agarwal, Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor of Information Science.

“CRA-WP is a highly competitive program that provides a platform to female graduate students to share their research with internationally renowned scientists,” Agarwal said. “We are extremely proud of Katrin Galeano for being selected in CRA-WP that encourages participation from women and other underrepresented groups in STEM disciplines – a cause that COSMOS champions and celebrates.” 

Galeano plans to graduate in 2022. For her dissertation, she will research the effectiveness of deplatforming, also known as no-platforming, which is a form of political activism or prior restraint by an individual, group, or organization with the goal of shutting down controversial speakers or speech, or denying them access to a venue in which to express their opinion.

“YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms have been removing various information actors,” Galeano said. “The question is what do those information actors do and where do they go? Do they evolve, and what happens to their followers? That’s something I would like to explore. With the former president of the United States being removed from many social media platforms, it’s brought the issue to greater attention.”