Speaker - Stuart Geiger

Stuart Geiger is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Diego, in the Department of Communication and the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute. Geiger is a disciplinary nomad: an interpretive social scientist by training, with a background in the humanities, and just enough expertise in computer science and data science to make trouble. Their work is grounded in the idea that science and technology are inherently social activities that are shaped by people and institutions. Geiger uses qualitative, quantitative, and computational methods to study the development of science and technology. They particularly study decentralized and/or volunteer-based projects, such as free and open source software, peer production platforms like Wikipedia, user-generated / social media platforms, and scientific research. Their past research has examined topics including: community sustainability; newcomer retention and newcomer-veteran interactions; governance and leadership; quality control and content moderation; the roles of support staff; invisible work, 'glue' work, and other work seen as 'non-technical'; motivation and burnout; bias and discrimination; and diversity and inclusion.