Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Tom van Nuenen, Ph.D.

Data/Research Scientist, Senior Consultant, and Senior Instructor
D-Lab
Social Sciences
Digital Humanities

I work as a Lecturer, Data Scientist, and Senior Consultant at UC Berkeley's D-Lab. I lead the curriculum design for D-Lab’s data science workshop portfolio, as well as the Digital Humanities Summer Program at Berkeley.

Former research projects include a Research Associate position in the ‘Discovering and Attesting Digital Discrimination’ project at King’s College London (2019-2022) and a researcher-in-residence role for the UK’s National Research Centre on Privacy, Harm Reduction, and Adversarial Influence Online (2022). My research uses Natural Language Processing methods to
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Python Text Analysis: Parts 1-3

March 17, 2025, 2:00pm
This three-part workshop will prepare participants to move forward with research that uses text analysis, with a special focus on social science applications. We explore fundamental approaches to applying computational methods to text in Python. We cover some of the major packages used in natural language processing, including scikit-learn, NLTK, spaCy, and Gensim.

Language Models in Mental Health Conversations – How Empathetic Are They Really?

December 3, 2024
by Sohail Khan. Language models are becoming integral to daily life as trusted sources of advice. While their utility has expanded from simple tasks like text summarization to more complex interactions, the empathetic quality of their responses is crucial. This article explores methods to assess the emotional appropriateness of these models, using metrics such as BLEU, ROUGE, and Sentence Transformers. By analyzing models like LLaMA in mental health dialogues, we learn that while they suffer through traditional word-based metrics, LLaMA's performance in capturing empathy through semantic similarity is promising. In addition, we must advocate for continuous monitoring to ensure these models support their users' mental well-being effectively.

Stephanie Andrews

Availability: By appointment only

Consulting Areas: Python, SQL, HTML / CSS, Javascript, APIs, Databases & SQL, Data Manipulation and Cleaning, Data Science, Data Sources, Data Visualization, Digital Humanities, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Software Tools, Text Analysis, Web Scraping, Bash or Command Line, Excel, Git or Github, Tableau

Iñigo Parra

Availability: By appointment only

Consulting Areas: Python, R, LaTeX, Data Manipulation and Cleaning, Data Science, Data Visualization, Deep Learning, Digital Humanities, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Social Network Analysis, Regression Analysis, Means Tests, Bash or Command Line, Excel, Gephi, Git or Github, Qualtrics, RStudio, Overleaf

Stephanie Andrews

Consultant
Info & Data Science MIDS

Stephanie Andrews is currently studying data science in the MIDS program, having previously majored in Social Welfare as an undergraduate at Cal. After graduating, she worked as an advocate for survivors of gender-based violence, as a public policy analyst focusing on anti-trafficking initiatives, and as a software engineer for progressive and social impact organizations. She is now conducting research with the Human Rights Center's Investigations Lab, using OSINT and data science methods to investigate human rights violations.

Nikita Samarin

Instructor
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS)

Nikita Samarin is a doctoral student in Computer Science in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) at the University of California, Berkeley advised by Serge Egelman and David Wagner. His research focuses on computer security and privacy from an interdisciplinary perspective, combining approaches from human-computer interaction, behavioral sciences, and legal studies. Samarin is a member of the Berkeley Lab for Usable and Experimental Security (BLUES) and an affiliated graduate researcher at the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC) and the...

Bruno Smaniotto

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.

Amanda Glazer

Instructor
Statistics

Amanda is a PhD candidate in the statistics department at Berkeley. Her research focuses on causal inference with applications in education, political science and sports. Previously she earned her Bachelor’s degree in mathematics and statistics, with a secondary in computer science, from Harvard.

Chirag Manghani

Consultant
School of Information

Chirag is a 2nd year graduate at the I-School. Proficient in Python, Java, R, and SQL, he navigates software application development, machine learning and data science. His keen interest lies in data analysis and statistical methods, driving him to bridge theory and practice seamlessly. Chirag's dedication to excellence, adaptable mindset, and innate curiosity define him as a dynamic problem solver in the ever-evolving tech landscape.