Data Science

R Fundamentals: Parts 1-4

October 6, 2021, 11:00am
This workshop is a four-part introductory series that will teach you R from scratch with clear introductions, concise examples, and support documents. You will learn how to download and install the open-sourced R Studio software, understand data and basic manipulations, import and subset data, explore and visualize data, and understand the basics of automation in the form of loops and functions. After completion of this workshop you will have a foundational understanding to create, organize, and utilize workflows for your personal research.

Forecasting Social Outcomes with Deep Neural Networks

October 7, 2025
Paige Park
by Paige Park. Our capacity to accurately predict social outcomes is increasing. Deep neural networks and artificial intelligence are crucial technologies pushing this progress along. As these tools reshape how social prediction is done, social scientists should feel comfortable engaging with them and meaningfully contributing to the conversation. But many social scientists are still unfamiliar with and sometimes even skeptical of deep learning. This tutorial is designed to help close that knowledge gap. We’ll walk step-by-step through training a simple neural network for a social prediction task: forecasting population-level mortality rates.

Why I Don’t Call Myself a Data Scientist: A Researcher's Journey

October 1, 2025
Jose Aguilar
by Jose Aguilar. I reflect on my uneasy relationship with being called a data scientist. Despite training in computer science and utilizing computational tools in education policy, I struggle with how data science often strips away human narratives and reinforces existing inequities. My identity as a first-generation, queer, Latinx scholar deepens these tensions, prompting me to explore frameworks such as QuantCrit and critical data science. Ultimately, I utilize research that bridges computation and critique, advocating for more human-centered, politically aware approaches to data that integrate lived experiences alongside data findings.

Andrea Lukas

UTech
Computer Science
Data Science

Hi everyone! I'm Andrea Lukas, a 3rd-year student majoring in Computer Science and Data Science at UC Berkeley. I'm passionate about UI/UX design and AI-centered human-computer interaction, and I'm actively involved in Computational Cognition research using Large Language Models (LLMs). As the Manager at D-Lab, I'm excited to contribute to the team by optimizing operations and fostering collaboration.

Outside of my academic and professional work, I’m an active member of Berkeley's Dance Community, where I participate in various teams. I also enjoy discovering new matcha spots and...

Sohail Khan

Senior Data Science Fellow 2025-2026, Data Science Fellow 2024-2025
School of Information

Hey everyone, I’m Sohail - a 1st years Master’s student studying Data Science at the I-School. I am interested in the intersection between Computer Science, Data Science, and Cognitive Psychology and using these tools to understand, discover, and drive the development of assistive technologies.

I have experience building with brain computer Interfaces, developing distributed data processing applications, and am currently working on a large scale archival project aimed at preserving the history and memory of resistance movements through an embedding based...

Taesoo Song

Senior Data Science Fellow 2025-2026, Data Science Fellow 2024-2025
City and Regional Planning

Taesoo is a Ph.D. candidate in the City and Regional Planning department at the University of California, Berkeley. He studies the nexus of housing policy, neighborhood change, and residential outcomes for low-income and minority households.

His dissertation aims to reassess the prevailing narrative that Asian Americans face minimal barriers in the housing market using quantitative and qualitative methods. Taesoo has worked with the Terner Center for Housing Innovation and the Urban Displacement Project at UC Berkeley, as well as the Seoul Institute in South Korea.

Jane (Mango) Angar

Senior Data Science Fellow 2025-2026, Data Science Fellow 2024-2025
Political Science

Hi! I am a PhD candidate in the Political Science Department at UC Berkeley. My dissertation traces the emergence of disability rights groups in Africa, focusing on Zambia and Malawi, and examines factors influencing their effectiveness. I use mixed methods, including archival work, field interviews, participant observation, and surveys for data collection.

My data analysis techniques include text analysis, social network analysis, means tests, and regressions. In my free time, I enjoy moderately difficult hikes, walks along the beach with my dog, Princess, and...

Amber Galvano

Senior Data Science Fellow 2025-2026, Data Science Fellow 2024-2025
Linguistics

I am a fourth-year PhD student in Linguistics, with a focus in sociophonetics and phonology. In my research, I'm interested in how understudied speech communities (Andalusians, southern Spain; Lobi and Tonko Limba, West Africa) and often-relegated aspects of social identity (sexuality, gender normativity) can inform new approaches to theory and methodology and how we conceptualize the interfaces between linguistic subfields.

I'm also involved in language documentation/revitalization work for Lobi and the development of automated phonetic methods, particularly for...

Bruno Smaniotto

Senior Data Science Fellow 2025-2026, Data Science Fellow 2024-2025
Economics

I'm originally from Brazil, but I have been living in Berkeley for the last 5 years working towards my PhD in Economics. My main areas of interest are Behavioral and Macroeconomics, mostly their intersection, but I'm excited about learning and working on empirical applications on different fields.

Skyler Yumeng Chen

Data Science & AI Fellow 2025-2026, Data Science for Social Justice Fellow 2024
Haas School of Business

Skyler is a Ph.D. student in Behavioral Marketing at the Haas School of Business. Her research centers on consumer behavior and judgment and decision-making, with a keen interest in both experimental methods and data science techniques. She holds a B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Data Science from New York University Shanghai.