Dr. Lucy Havens is the data scientist and designer behind Lucy Havens, LLC. Currently, she is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Human-Data Interaction at The Roux Institute at Northeastern University.
In her work, Havens creates physical interfaces with tangible materials, digital interfaces with code, and hybrid (physical + digital) interfaces, exploring ways to make what is invisible or ignored, visible. As a data scientist, her work lies at the intersection of responsible AI/ML, human-computer interaction, and cultural heritage. As a designer, she uses speculative, data-driven, and human-centered methods to visually communicate information about topics ranging from environmental concerns to the contents of library collections.
In 2024, Havens earned a Ph.D. from the Institute for Language, Cognition, and Computation in the University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics, where she developed a natural language processing approach to identifying gender biases in archival catalog metadata descriptions. She held affiliations with the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Centre for Technomoral Futures, Centre for Data, Culture & Society, and Digital Cultural Heritage Research Cluster. Her work with the National Library of Scotland was shortlisted for the Digital Humanities Awards in 2020 and she won the Edinburgh College of Art Purchase Award for her master's dissertation, Physically Encoding Collection Metadata, in 2019. In 2015, she received her undergraduate degree from Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied Information Systems, French, and English and played on the Women's Varsity Soccer team. She is member of Phi Beta Kappa, the United States' oldest and most prestigious academic honors society.
Havens has held positions of research software engineer, senior web developer and designer, information designer, and business and technology consultant. She has worked in numerous industries, including libraries, archives, energy, retail, private equity, and finance. Her past clients and collaborators include Equal Opportunity Schools, the Alan Turing Institute, the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the Talbot Rice Gallery, St Cecilia's Hall: Concert Room & Music Museum, National Trust for Scotland, Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, and the University of Edinburgh Library & University Collections.
If you're interested in hiring, collaborating, or learning more about her work, please get in touch using the form below!
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