My name is Ashley and I am a Computer Science PhD student at the University of Florida. I research artificial intelligence (AI) under the advisement of Dr. Juan Gilbert in the Human Experience Research Lab. My research interests include explainability, adversarial AI, and the impact that applications of AI have on end-users.

I previously attended the University of Central Florida and I enjoyed my time there. I pursued my B.S. in Computer Science, and I was blessed to meet many inspiring people who became mentors, and dear friends. Yet, when I started the program, I realized that I was one of few Black women in the entire degree program. This was no fault of the university; however, it did lead me to wrestle with feelings of inadequacy for a long time. I felt out of place for the majority of my undergraduate career. To counter this, I built up my confidence by engaging with my coursework, taking advantage of mentorship, participating in internships, deliberate practice, self-care, and attending tech-related events such as hackathons.

As a new graduate student, I am in a special position to develop and lend my perspective on active conversations in the technology industry. I am looking forward to learning from professionals in industry and academia and contributing to the body of knowledge.

This blog will document my journey through graduate school and the events that come after. I hope that it will inspire others to pursue their goals. I intend to write about a variety of topics pertaining to research, other academic content, book reviews, or anything else that I find inspiring.

For professional inquiries, please visit my About page for my background, resume, and living CV. You may also visit my Research page for an archive of my work. You can visit my GitHub to see my projects. I also post occasional updates to my LinkedIn page.

I hope you enjoy your time here. Thank you for visiting my website.