Zoë Ruha Bell

Contact at: zbell (at) berkeley (dot) edu

I am a member of the following groups at UC Berkeley:

I am funded by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP).

I am a fifth-year PhD student at UC Berkeley studying Theoretical Computer Science (TCS). I am interested in the development of accountability mechanisms for data sharing systems, including machine learning. Currently, I believe that utilizing the intellectual toolkit from cryptography is a promising way to tackle these problems given its ability to reason about parties with disparate resources, power, and goals and expand the solution space in surprising ways.

I also have a deep engagement with Science, Technology, & Society studies (STS). Feminist & anti-colonial STS gives me tools to think rigorously about the societal work done by mathematical abstractions, critically about the values embodied in my technical work, and imaginatively about what a more just science could look like without falling into technosolutionism.

I am currently fortunate to be advised by Shafi Goldwasser and Avishay Tal. During undergrad, I was honored to receive mentorship in TCS from Paul Beame and Nicolas Pippenger, and in STS from Marianne de Laet. Before starting my PhD, I majored in mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, with a minor in STS.

Outside of research, I enjoy urban hiking & biking, going to art fairs & farmers' markets, playing cooperative board games & indie tabletop roleplaying games, reading mysteries, speculative fiction, & horror, and doing crafts such as wood carving, alcohol-marker coloring books, & meditative ink doodling. I have a long-standing love for my hometown of Seattle.

Page updated

Report abuse