2023-07-01: Disinformation Detection and Analytics REU Program - Year 2

By -

Disinformation that spreads on the web and social media can often cause real harm, from confusing to mobilizing communities leading to many societal problems. With the widespread use of social media and online channels, disinformation spreads fast, and battling it requires a holistic and in-depth understanding of how it circulates on the web. Due to the limited knowledge and techniques for detecting disinformation, many communities have increasingly become victims of disinformation.

In an effort to improve the awareness of disinformation and to identify novel techniques to battle online disinformation, the Department of computer science at Old Dominion University offers a Research Experience for Undergraduates program with the collaboration of the National Science Foundation. During the program, undergraduate students interested in disinformation and analytics get the opportunity to research and develop novel tools and techniques for countering online disinformation. The REU site features a 10-week summer program where students work with ODU faculty and students from WS-DL, NirdsLab, AccessLab, LampSys, and VMASC.

This year, we started the program for the second group of seven REU students.

Yixuan Cheng: Yixuan Cheng, a rising senior student at George Mason University, is interested in research on collaboration, misinformation, machine learning, and AI. She aims to become a role model for young women in STEM and close the gender gap in technology. During the summer, she will be working with Dr. Michael L. Nelson.



Michael Evans: Michael is a junior transferring to Old Dominion University to continue studies in Physics after completing his associate degree in computer science from the Tidewater Community College. He plans to acquire research experience in the summer program in preparation for his graduate studies. He has interests in web programming, electronics-focused physics, and applied mathematics and will work with Dr. Jian Wu during the summer.


Christopher Martin: Christopher is a junior computer science student from Iowa State University with experience in web development, Twitter bots, image recognition, web crawling, and game development. Dr. Erika Frydenlund will work with Christopher throughout the summer.



Isabelle Njunda Puwo: Isabelle is a computer science undergraduate from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore with a research interest in integrating 5G with Artificial Intelligence and cyber security. She aspires to pursue a career in AI while actively contributing to developing intelligent systems that improve everyday lives. She will work with Dr. Anne Perrotti from Department of Communication Disorders & Special Education, during the summer.


Johnovon Richards: Johnovon is a rising sophomore computer science student at Old Dominion University. During the summer program, he plans to improve his technical skill and develop experience working on STEM projects with the ambition of contributing to organizations dedicated to improving everyday lives. Dr. Faryaneh Poursardar will work with Johnovon during the summer.



Parker Story: Parker Story is a computer science sophomore at the University of Louisiana Monroe. He plans to gain experience and knowledge during the summer program to decide whether to pursue graduate school or industry in the future. During the summer, he will work with Dr. Vikas G. Ashok.




Rachel Zheng: Rachel is a rising junior in Computer science at the College of William and Mary. She plans to use the summer program to gain technological and research experience before deciding on graduate studies. She has research interests, including impacts and combating disinformation, and will work with Dr. Michele C. Weigle.



 

The program started with the orientation session on June 5th at the Department of Computer Science. During the session, students met faculty mentors and visited the laboratories and facilities offered in the Department. Also, the session briefed about the program structure, including the upcoming research, entertainment, and networking events.

The program's first week also had an invited talk by Dr. Sawood Alam, a Ph.D. alum from the Department of Computer Science at the Old Dominion University, currently working as the research lead of the Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive. Dr. Alam discussed how web archives are helpful in the fight against disinformation. He also discussed some of the active steps by the Internet Archive, such as Save Page Service that allows crowdsourcing curation, partnerships with fact-checking organizations, and annotations on known disinformation using context banners.

Welcome to ODU Lunch organized by Graduate School of Old Dominion University for 2023 REU students took place at the beginning of the second week of the REU program. 
The program's second week had an invited talk titled "A Language Framework for Characterizing Information Operation" by Dr. Alex Nwala, a Ph.D. alum from the Department of Computer Science at the Old Dominion University.

REU students also got to visit VMASC and Hampton Roads Biomedical Consortium during the third week of the program.

Special thanks to the NSF, College of Science/Dean, CS Department/Chair, and ODU Graduate College for the help and support.

-- Bhanuka Mahanama (@mahanama94), Yasith Jayawardana (@yasithdev)

Comments

Post a Comment