Current Position

PhD Candidate at Brown University (NLP research)

Major

Computer Science and French

Graduating Year

2019

A message from Catherine

Take up space. Your voice, your ideas, and your presence matter immensely. Sometimes, space will be easier to come by and may have already been carved out for you, but in others you may have to create it yourself. Remember that you add a unique perspective and your contributions are valuable. Don't make yourself small in order to satisfy others.

Valuable skill she regularly uses

Communication. It's something that everyone does so it's easy to be overlooked, but communication (and presentation) skills have been really important in my current role as a grad student, and my past role as a software engineer. Specifically, being able to communicate technical ideas clearly and to people of different levels of technical expertise is really important. As a researcher and former software engineer, I regularly have to explain technical decisions to audiences and convince them why they should about my work. It's easy when these presentations are to my colleagues or people already familiar with my work (e.g., my team) or people with similar CS backgrounds, but my role doesn't exist in a bubble and I often have to collaborate with people with non-technical backgrounds/people who don't code for a living. I practiced this skill by giving presentations to a wide variety of people - ranging from formal presentations like Tanner or Ruhlman, to informal presentations to my friends. The key about these practice sessions was to ask for feedback - which parts were clear? what parts were confusing? No matter how technical a subject, a great communicator will be able to get their point across to all audiences.

Hobbies and interests

In my free time, I enjoy cooking, spending time outside with friends (running, hiking, skiing, climbing), and exploring local restaurants.