News

I am excited to share that my fourth article was published! I submitted this article in 2024, and the project began in 2020. This photo privacy project began in the summer of 2022 through a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). This was my fourth published journal article and the fourth article in which I was the first author. I am thankful to all the coauthors of this publication. I wouldn't have been able to complete it without their contributions to the project and paper. I plan to continue working on this project and publish more papers about social network services privacy. A SEED grant was drafted and awarded from this project. The research described in the paper has continued into several more iterations of the project under the SEED grant for human-centered social networking site privacy. To learn more about this topic, please read the full article online. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on the Photo Privacy research. 

Article Publication:

Garcia, K., R., Quesnel, A., Li, N., & Chen, J. (2025). Investigating user photo privacy settings on Instagram. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 1-19. doi:10.1080/10447318.2025.2552866

I am excited to share that my third article was published! I submitted this article in 2024, and the project began in 2020. This human-automation interaction project and my flood project were both topics I have worked on since the very beginning of my graduate school career. This was my third published journal article and the third article in which I was the first author. I am thankful to all the coauthors of this publication. I wouldn't have been able to complete it without their contributions to the project and paper. I plan to continue working on this project and publish more papers about human-automation interaction. Numerous studies have come from this project. The research described in the paper has continued into several more iterations of the project and my dissertation topic. To learn more about this topic, please read the full article online, linked below. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on the Human-Automation Interaction research. 

Article Publication:

Garcia, K. R., Chen, J., Xiao, Y., Mishler, S., Wang, C., & Hu, B. (2025). Human perception of AI capabilities at classifying perturbed roadway signs. IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems, 55(4), 499-507. doi:10.1109/THMS.2025.3573173

I was invited to present my AI research as a poster during the Human-Autonomy Teaming Summit at the end of the spring semester. This summit brings together thought leaders, researchers, practitioners, and students to discuss the critical role of human-autonomy teaming in the evolving landscape of work. This inaugural one-day symposium featured invited talks, panel discussions, and networking sessions designed to highlight cutting-edge research and facilitate dialogue. The AI research I presented was what I worked on during the summer with the NSF REU: Translating Research in the Psychological Sciences to the Real World program. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on the Human-Automation Interaction research.

Invited Guest Poster Presentation:

Garcia, K. R., Duncan, J., & Chen, J. (2025, May 5). Investigating user-centered explainable AI in partially automated vehicles [Poster session]. Human-Autonomy Teaming Summit, Houston, TX, USA.

I was invited to present how to design a poster for the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology International Students' Group at McGill University over Zoom. I was asked to speak about poster designs because I was awarded Division 21's Robert W. Proctor Best Student Poster Award at the APA 2024 Conference. During this presentation, I showed students different posters I have created during my graduate student career. I discussed the format, layout, and appeal of posters during my lecture. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on the posters I have presented.

Invited Guest Lecture Presentation:

Garcia, K. R. (2025, March 21). How to design a poster [Guest lecture presentation]. The Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology International Students' Group at McGill University, Zoom. 

I began my role as a reviewer of the Cybersecurity technical group (TG) for the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Advance Systems and Practices through Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE) annual meeting. For this position, I reviewed the assigned panel and lecture submissions to the HFES: ASPIRE 2025 meeting and provided prompt feedback and ratings of the submission. This included decisions of acceptance of the submissions to the conference. I held this position until May 28, 2025.

I began my role as a reviewer of the Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making (CEDM) technical group (TG) for the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Advance Systems and Practices through Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE) annual meeting. For this position, I reviewed the assigned industry/practitioner case study, lecture, and poster submissions to the HFES: ASPIRE 2025 meeting and provided prompt feedback and ratings of the submission. This included decisions of acceptance of the submissions to the conference. I held this position until May 28, 2025.

I was invited to present my AI research as a poster during the Ken Kennedy Institute Graduate Fellowship Reception + Research Showcase at the beginning of the spring semester. This showcase and reception opportunity came from my fellowship and allowed the recipients to show off what they had accomplished in the past year since receiving the fellowship. The reception allowed me to connect with members from Shell, which was the company that awarded me the fellowship. The AI research I presented was what I worked on during the summer with the NSF REU: Translating Research in the Psychological Sciences to the Real World program, along with the interview study leading up to it. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on the Human-Automation Interaction research.

Invited Guest Poster Presentation:

Garcia, K. R., Duncan, J., & Chen, J. (2025, February 11). User-centered explainable Artificial Intelligence in partially automated vehicles [Poster session]. Ken Kennedy Institute Graduate Fellowship Reception + Research Showcase, Houston, TX, USA.

I presented my AI and flood research at the Transportation Research Board 104th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The AI project was presented as a poster and covered the two pilot studies of my dissertation work. The flood project was presented in a lecture format and covered my master's thesis work. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on these projects.

During this conference, I also received a certificate for the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program I was awarded in October.

Peer-Reviewed Conference Extended Abstract:

Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2025). The effects of flood warning information on driver decisions: A driving simulator study. In Proceedings of the Transportation Research Board 104th Annual Meeting. https://annualmeeting.mytrb.org/FileUpload/FullPaper?ID=61185&SessionID=23213

Conference Lecture Presentation:

Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2025, January 8). The effects of flood warning information on driver decisions: A driving simulator study [Conference lecture presentation]. Transportation Research Board 104th Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., USA.

Conference Poster Presentation:

Garcia, K. R., Duncan, J., & Chen, J. (2025, January 7). Leveraging user-centered explainable Artificial Intelligence towards transparent transportation [Poster session]. Transportation Research Board 104th Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., USA.

I was awarded two cakes at the Take the Cake ceremony hosted by Rice University Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. This event recognizes graduate students who have won competitive external fellowships. I received two cakes from this event for my two fellowships. I received the "Butterfly Cake" for the GFSD I received in the summer of 2024. Then, I received the "Drip Cake" for the DDETFP I received in October 2024. Both fellowships were eligible for a cake because they each awarded $5,000 or more to support graduate research at Rice. I selected my cakes from Sweets by Belen, a local dessert shop. I shared these cakes with my advisor, friends, and family. More about this semester's ceremony can be found here, as well as a picture of all of the fellowship recipients.

I presented my phishing research at the NIST ITL Science Day 2024 in Gaithersburg, MD. The phishing research was presented as a poster and focused on the work conducted during my internship at NIST. It tests different cues from the NIST Phish Scale to determine which, if any, are more suggestive of a phishing email than others. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on these projects. 

Additionally, our poster was awarded the NIST ITL Science Day 2024 Poster and Demo Category: First Impression award. This award is for the poster that catches your eye... whether it is the color, the title, the format, or the layout, it made you want to stop and learn more. For this award, I received the framed award certificate as well as a Back to the Future lanyard since the theme of this year's ITL Science Day was "Back and Forward to the Future: Making Impacts Together."

Conference Poster Presentation: 

Garcia, K. R., Neil, L., Jacobs, J., Sharp, J., Cunningham, C., & Dawkins, S. (2024, November 14). Catch of the day: Phishing for cues through human perceptions [Poster session]. NIST ITL Science Day 2024, Gaithersburg, MD, USA.

I was awarded the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program (DDETFP) Award. I was selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration to receive this award. The fellowship begins in the spring of 2025. The fellowship provides $1,500 towards attending the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting 2025, $3,500 towards my stipend, and a poster accepted and presented at the TRB Annual Meeting 2025. The DDETFP is awarded to students pursuing degrees in transportation-related disciplines. The program's mission is to advance the transportation workforce by attracting the brightest minds in the field through education, research, and workforce development. Eisenhower fellowships are awarded to undergraduate and graduate students at universities and colleges nationwide. Awardees are pursuing transportation-related education and research opportunities to make a difference in the future of transportation. I received the Fellowship Program Award certificate during the TRB Annual Meeting 2025.

I was awarded the STaRT@Rice Scholarship to participate in the STaRT@Rice program. This scholarship covered the cost of registration ($125). The program ran from Friday, October 11th to Monday, October 14th. STaRT@Rice is an innovative program that provides a panoramic view of the research process and offers professionalization opportunities. Participants learn how to ask better questions about the research process and develop critical professional skills. Workshops cover a broad range of content, moving from introductory to intermediate to advanced. Included in the scholarship was the participation fee covered for the program. This was my second year applying and receiving this scholarship. 

I presented my flood, and phishing research at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 68th International Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ. The flood project was presented in a lecture format and covered the study I conducted at Rice. I was also the second author for another part of the flood project, which was presented in a lecture format. The phishing project was presented as a poster and covered the study I conducted at Rice. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on these projects. 

Additionally, I was awarded the HFES Student Member with Honors Award, which I received the certificate for during the Student Reception on Tuesday, September 10, 2024. This award acknowledges students who have made an outstanding contribution to the discipline or to HFES during their tenure as a student. For this conference, I was a student volunteer and helped perform tasks to ensure the conference ran smoothly. 

Peer-Reviewed Conference Extended Abstracts:

Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2024). Detail matters: Drivers' responses to flood warnings in simulated driving. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 68th International Annual Meeting. doi:10.1177/10711813241261381

Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2024). Investigating training and priming to combat phishing on Instagram Shop. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 68th International Annual Meeting. doi:10.1177/10711813241261384

Mao, S., Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2024). Assessing drivers' trust, compliance, and reliance in an automated flood warning system: Effects of error type and system reliability. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 68th International Annual Meeting. doi:10.1177/10711813241276493

Conference Lecture Presentation:

Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2024, September 13). Detail matters: Drivers' responses to flood warnings in simulated driving [Conference lecture presentation]. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 68th International Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, USA.

Mao, S., Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2024, September 10). Assessing drivers' trust, compliance, and reliance in an automated flood warning system: Effects of error type and system reliability. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 68th International Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, USA. 

Conference Poster Presentation: 

Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2024, September 12). Investigating training and priming to combat phishing on Instagram Shop [Poster session]. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 68th International Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, USA.  

I was invited to present my AI research as a poster during the Ken Kennedy Institute Graduate Fellowship Reception + Research Showcase before the fall semester started. This showcase and reception opportunity came from my fellowship and allowed the recipients to show off what they had accomplished in the past year since receiving the fellowship. The reception allowed me to connect with members from Shell, which was the company that awarded me the fellowship. The AI research I presented was what I worked on during the summer with the NSF REU: Translating Research in the Psychological Sciences to the Real World program. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on the Human-Automation Interaction research.

Invited Guest Poster Presentation:

Garcia, K. R., Duncan, J., & Chen, J. (2024, August 13). Explainable AI in partially automated vehicles: What do drivers think? [Poster session]. Ken Kennedy Institute Graduate Fellowship Reception + Research Showcase, Houston, TX, USA.

I presented my flood and phishing research at the APA 2024 Conference. The flood research I presented was from a project that came after my master's thesis. The phishing research presented was the project's second iteration and involved priming as a manipulation. Then, I was the second author of a poster derived from my flood research, which was presented virtually. 

Before the poster session, I was awarded Division 21's Robert W. Proctor Best Student Poster Award. This award was recently renamed to honor Dr. Robert W. Proctor. Dr. Robert W. Proctor played a significant role in the leadership of Division 21 and has made many outstanding contributions to applied experimental psychology. He served as President-Elect, President, and Past President of the Division from August 2016 to 2019. Dr. Proctor mentored many students and encouraged graduate students and early career researchers to join the Division and take on leadership roles, including Jing, who will be the next President. The Best Student Poster Award was established in 2018 during Dr. Proctor's term as President of Division 21. In 2024, the Division named this award in his honor. This award recognizes the best student poster submitted to the Division as part of the annual meeting program. In addition to the framed certificate, I received an award of $200. 

I am excited that I was the first to win this award under Dr. Proctor's name. I am glad I could attend this conference to present my work. I am incredibly pleased that my continued flood research was awarded another poster award. I presented an earlier iteration of my flood research, my master's thesis work, in 2022 at APA and was awarded the Honorable Mention Student Poster award. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on the projects I presented.

Conference Poster Presentations:

Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2024, August 9). Investigating the effects of flood warnings in an interactive driving simulation [Poster session]. The 2024 APA Annual Convention, Seattle, WA, USA.

Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2024, August 9). Testing phishing training on Instagram Shop [Poster session]. The 2024 APA Annual Convention, Seattle, WA, USA.

Mao, S., Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2024, August 9). Effects of errors in an automated flood warning system on driver’s trust calibration and decisions [Poster session]. The 2024 APA Annual Convention, Virtual.

I was invited to be part of a guest lecture and poster presentation for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU): Translating Research in the Psychological Sciences to the Real World Student Final Presentation. The student I mentored throughout the summer, Jamie Duncan, presented our research on explainable AI. She gave a 10-minute lecture presentation about the rationale behind the study, the method and design used, the analysis of the results, and the discussion of the results with the other REU students and faculty advisors in the audience. She also presented a poster that summarized the study during that time. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on the Human-Automation Interaction project.

Invited Guest Lecture Presentation:

Duncan, J., Garcia, K. R., Chen, J. (2024, July 26). Explainable AI models for automated driving systems: How to best inform drivers [Guest lecture presentation]. NSF REU: Translating Research in the Psychological Sciences to the Real World Student Final Presentation, Houston, TX, USA.

Invited Guest Poster Presentation: 

Duncan, J., Garcia, K. R., Chen, J. (2024, July 26). Explainable AI models for automated driving systems [Poster session]. NSF REU: Translating Research in the Psychological Sciences to the Real World Student Final Presentation, Houston, TX, USA.

I began my role as a reviewer of the Late Breaking Results for the https://www.hfes.org/Events/ASPIRE-International-Annual-Meeting/ASPIRE-International-Annual-Meeting-HomeHuman Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Advance Systems and Practices through Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE) annual meeting. For this position, I reviewed the assigned late breaking results format submission to the HFES: ASPIRE 2024 meeting and provided prompt feedback and ratings of the submission. This included decision recommendations for accepting the late breaking format to the conference. I held this position until July 15, 2024. 

I began my role as a Rice Psychological Sciences REU Graduate Student Mentor. For this position, I helped mentor an undergraduate student's research on measuring the effectiveness of explanations in automated vehicles. The undergraduate student's faculty mentor was Dr. Jing Chen. I helped the student conduct a literature review, create study materials, including a survey, draft a paper for the REU program, and make and practice a poster for the final presentation at the end of the REU program. I held this position until July 27, 2024. Please view my CV and Portfolio for more information on the Human-Automation Interaction research. 

I was awarded the Department of Psychological Sciences Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Research by the Department of Psychological Sciences. This award was thanks to the numerous research projects I have worked on during my time at Rice University. These projects include my AI/XAI research, flood research, phishing cybersecurity research, and photo privacy and privacy paradox research. I received $300 and an Excellence in Research certificate for this award. This was the first year that the department created and distributed graduate student awards. I am glad that I was the first one to receive this award, and I hope to continue my work to receive another award next year. I received this award during the End-of-the-Year department happy hour at Hungry's. 

I presented my photo privacy research at the Women in CyberSecurity 2024 Conference. I was awarded a student scholarship to attend this conference and was one of the 29 poster submissions selected to present. This was the 10th anniversary of the conference, which started in 2014 in Nashville. At this conference, they announced that next year, WiCyS will be one day longer! Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on the Photo Privacy research.

Conference Poster Presentation:

Garcia, K. R., Quesnel, A., Li, N., & Chen, J. (2024, April 12). Investigating user photo privacy settings on Instagram: Two user interview studies [Poster session]. Women in CyberSecurity 2024 Conference, Nashville, TN, USA.

I presented my AI research at the Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS) Future Leaders Summit 2024 in Ann Arbor. As part of being invited to the MIDAS Future Leaders Summit, I was to present a poster of my research regarding AI. The theme of this year was "Responsible Data Science and AI." For this, I focused on the need for explainable AI for AI to be used responsibly and ethically. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on the Human-Automation Interaction research.

Conference Poster Presentation: 

Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2024, April 8). How do people understand AI capabilities in autonomous vehicles? [Poster session]. Michigan Institute for Data Science Future Leaders Summit 2024, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.

I began my role as a reviewer of the Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making (CEDM) technical group (TG) for the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Advance Systems and Practices through Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE) annual meeting. For this position, I reviewed the assigned alternative format submission to the HFES: ASPIRE 2024 meeting and provided prompt feedback and ratings of the submission. This included decisions of acceptance of the format to the conference. I held this position until April 11, 2024.

I am excited to announce that I have submitted all the necessary paperwork to become a doctoral candidate. I have completed a list of requirements created by my advisor to be completed to achieve candidacy. This included three journal article submissions, three international conference presentations, and two grant or fellowship application submissions. Additionally, achieving candidacy means that I have completed all the necessary classes according to the student handbook and have completed my master's thesis. This marked a major milestone towards my Ph.D. The paperwork was received by March 12, 2024. Now I am officially All But Dissertation (ABD). 

I was invited to be a guest lecturer for the Mathematics, Computational, and Data Science Lunch and Learn at Shell Technology Center Houston. I was asked to present my AI research thus far, which included three studies developed during my first time at Old Dominion University. I also presented my planned studies for my dissertation, including XAI. I was connected to Shell through my fellowship at the Ken Kennedy Institute. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on the Human-Automation Interaction research.

Invited Guest Lecture Presentation:

Garcia, K. R., Mishler, S., Chen, J., & Hu, B. (2024, February 28). Understanding drivers’ perceptions of AI in autonomous vehicles [Guest lecture presentation]. Mathematics, Computational, and Data Science Lunch and Learn, Shell Technology Center Houston, Houston, TX, USA.

I was awarded an accepted nomination for the Michigan Institute for Data Science Future Leaders Summit 2024. I was nominated for this summit through the Ken Kennedy Institute and my fellowship. I was awarded funding for attendance, travel, food, and lodging (~$1,100). The annual Future Leaders Summit offers outstanding graduate students, postdocs, and early-career faculty from around the US the opportunity to engage in research discussions with peers and with research leaders and receive career mentoring as they grow to become leaders in data science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) research. The theme of the summit was Responsible Data Science and AI. 

I began the role of Rice University Psychological Sciences Prospective Weekend 2024 Coordinator. For this role, I coordinated with the prospective doctoral students for their trip to campus and other current graduate students and faculty they were to meet with during their visit. Prospectives Weekend invites prospective students to visit campus and faculty before deciding on graduate school. 

The students first arrived on Thursday, February 15th. I coordinated with the six prospective students who confirmed attendance to help plan their flight schedules and stays. All students could stay at the Medical Center Hilton Hotel, within walking distance of campus. I helped assign the rooms and roommates since there were two students per room. Then, on Thursday night, we had dinner at Sixty Vines in Rice Village. The dinner was open to the prospective students as well as a few select second-year students who were responsible for one of the prospective students. 

For Friday, February 16th, I helped host breakfast in the Howell Conference room so that all the current second-year and prospective students could meet and ask/answer any questions. For this, I ordered Torchy's Tacos for everyone and bought beverages at HEB the night before. 

After breakfast, the students went their separate ways based on their schedules for the day. Each student had an individualized schedule to meet with their prospective advisor and other faculty in their research interest group (RIG). I created two students' schedules since they were touring our lab, and Jing was their prospective advisor. In addition, I was also responsible for organizing the Human Factors/HCI RIG events, including the lab tours of all the labs we have. For this, I coordinated with other second-year students to get their availability to tour all the labs. 

For lunch, we all met at Cohen House for the prospective students to meet with all the second-year students and their potential faculty advisors again. After lunch, each student went to follow their assigned schedule again. Then, they had a campus tour led by Dean Matsuda, seen in the first picture. 

After the tour, they followed their schedule for a little longer before we had the Prospective Dinner in Kraft Hall 130 held by the School of Social Sciences. Professors could give short talks about their research and labs for this dinner. Dr. Jing Chen presented our work in the HAC Lab, as seen in the second picture. Once the dinner was completed, the students all went back to the hotel. Then, the students left on Saturday, February 17th, to return home. I held this role until February 17, 2024. 

I was invited to be a guest lecturer for Dr. Jing Chen's class at Rice University. I presented the third lecture for repeated measures ANOVA for her PSYC 502 Advanced Psychological Statistics I class. This presentation lasted the entire class period of 1 hour and 15 minutes. In the presentation, I went over how to compute repeated measures ANOVA, as well as how to interpret the results. I discussed the assumptions that needed to be checked to run the analysis, such as outliers, normality, and sphericity. I also discussed mixed designs in this lecture, with between-subject and within-subject variables. I taught students how to interpret the interactions between these two types of variables and analyze interactions between two within-subject variables. Lastly, since this was the last lecture in the course, I reminded students to work on their final exams.

Invited Guest Lecture Presentation:

Garcia, K. R. (2023, November 28). Repeated measures ANOVA 3 [Guest lecture presentation]. Dr. Jing Chen’s PSYC 502 Statistics class from Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.

I was invited to be a guest lecturer for Dr. Jing Chen's class at Rice University. I presented the midterm debrief for her PSYC 502 Advanced Psychological Statistics I class. This presentation lasted the entire class period of 1 hour and 15 minutes. In the presentation, I reviewed the midterm questions, answers, and the appropriate statistics and process to reach the correct answer. I showed a breakdown of all the scores and grades for each question to show the students briefly how they did compared to others. 

Since I was also one of the teaching assistants in the class, I graded the midterms. This means I had a deep understanding of the test and how everyone did, as well as the concepts they struggled with. I reviewed the topic and went through a sample question for which numerous students got incorrect answers. 

Invited Guest Lecture Presentation:

Garcia, K. R. (2023, November 14). Midterm debrief [Guest lecture presentation]. Dr. Jing Chen’s PSYC 502 Statistics class from Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.

I was awarded the Ken Kennedy Institute 2023/24 Shell Graduate Fellowship. The Ken Kennedy Institute at Rice University collaborates with industry leaders and Rice affiliates to offer one-year graduate fellowships available to graduate students pursuing research related to high-performance computing, computational science and engineering, data science, and machine learning at Rice. Funded by Shell, the fellowship awarded provides $6,500 added to my stipend and $1,000 added to my advisor's discretionary funds for the research proposed. This fellowship is given to students focusing on high-performance computing, software technology, modeling and simulation, data analytics and machine learning, industrial Internet of things, and user experience and data visualization. 

I proposed a project that directly overlaps with my dissertation on explainable artificial intelligence (XAI). I was the first person in the Department of Psychological Sciences to receive a Ken Kennedy Graduate Fellowship. Most fellowships were awarded to those in computer science, data science, engineering, and statistics. The fellowship was awarded for the whole year and helped me connect with those at Shell and the Ken Kennedy Institute. Through the fellowship, I was also able to present my research on XAI.

I presented my flood, photo privacy, and phishing research at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 67th International Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The flood project was presented in a lecture format and covered one of the studies I conducted at Rice. The photo privacy project was presented as a poster based on an REU project in the summer of 2022. The phishing project was presented as a poster based on a class project I started at Old Dominion University in my second year. I was also a student volunteer for this conference and engaged in essential tasks to help the conference run efficiently. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on these projects.

Peer-Reviewed Conference Paper and Extended Abstracts:

Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2023). Driver decisions based on flood warning information. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 67th International Annual Meeting (Vol. 67, No. 1, pp. 739-740). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications. doi:10.1177/21695067231192568

Garcia, K. R., Quesnel, A., Li, N., & Chen, J. (2023). Investigating user photo privacy settings on Instagram. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 67th International Annual Meeting (Vol. 67, No. 1, pp. 2291-2292). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications. doi:10.1177/21695067231192286

Garcia, K. R., Ammons, J., Xiangrui, X., & Chen, J. (2023). Phishing in social media: Investigating training techniques on Instagram Shop. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 67th International Annual Meeting (Vol. 67, No. 1, pp. 1850-1855). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications. doi:10.1177/21695067231192588

Conference Lecture Presentation:

Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2023, October 26). Driver decisions based on flood warning information [Conference lecture presentation]. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 67th International Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., USA.

Conference Poster Presentations:

Garcia, K. R., Quesnel, A., Li, N., & Chen, J. (2023, October 25). Investigating user photo privacy settings on Instagram [Poster session]. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 67th International Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., USA.

Garcia, K. R., Ammons, J., Xiangrui, X., & Chen, J. (2023, October 25). Phishing in social media: Investigating training techniques on Instagram Shop [Poster session]. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 67th International Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., USA.

I was awarded the STaRT@Rice Scholarship to participate in the STaRT@Rice program. This scholarship covered the cost of registration ($125). The program ran from Friday, October 6th to Monday, October 9th. STaRT@Rice is an innovative program that provides a panoramic view of the research process and offers professionalization opportunities. Participants learn how to ask better questions about the research process and develop critical professional skills. Workshops cover a broad range of content, moving from introductory to intermediate to advanced. Included in the scholarship was the participation fee covered for the program. 

I presented my AI research at the American Psychological Association (APA) 2023 Conference. This study included a think-aloud component, where we had participants speak their thoughts aloud as they went through the experiment. This study was conducted during my first year at Rice. 

I was also awarded the APA 2023 PS-in-3 Finalist. The Psych Science in 3 (PS-in-3) competition is designed for graduate students or recently graduated psychologists to present their research in 3 minutes. The language must be appropriate for an educated but non-specialist audience. For this, I had to submit a video of myself presenting my PS-in-3. Then, the selection committee chose eight finalists to compete in person at APA 2023. The presentations were evaluated on significance, impact, and clarity of research. The presentations all focused on theory-based-empirical research.

For the PS-in-3, I presented my flood research conducted for my master's thesis. I had previously given this topic at a similar competition. Along with the 3-minute maximum presentation, I was allowed to have a static slide. I included an image of my past house before and after Hurricane Harvey for my slide. The image on the left shows the flooded house, and then the image on the right shows what it looked like after the flood went away. The pictures were taken by our next-door neighbor at the time. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on these projects.

Conference Poster Presentation:

Garcia, K. R., & Chen, J. (2023, August 3). Understanding human perception of AI capabilities in identifying manipulated road sign images [Poster session]. The 2023 APA Annual Convention, Washington, D.C., USA.

I was elected the President of the Rice University Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Student Chapter. This was the first year I could hold this position since they had already elected the executive board before I began my first year at Rice. For this position, I organized events for members to help them gain human factors knowledge, skills, and connections. This included networking events, inviting guest speakers, planning field trips, and outreach events to the local community. 

Additionally, I applied for the Gold award for the second year in a row for our student chapter, which we were awarded at the 2024 HFES conference. We were awarded this recognition during the student reception during the conference. As president, I could continue the chapter's reputation by receiving this award again. I held this position until July 4, 2024. 

I presented my AI and ergonomics projects at the Houston Human Factors and Ergonomics Society's 17th Annual One-Day Symposium. This one-day symposium in Houston brings together human factors and ergonomics professionals and students across Texas. This is a forum for sharing information, case studies, and new ideas within our community. This community comprises human factors and ergonomics engineers, designers, developers, designated company specialists, and students in and around Texas. Various presentation formats have been identified to facilitate information sharing and socializing within the group and hosted by the Houston Chapter of HFES.

My ergonomics project investigated different postures drivers take when seated in their vehicle compared to a seated position in a driving simulator. This project aimed to determine how realistic the seating positions used in the driving simulator were to real drivers' seated positions and seat settings in their vehicles. I was a student volunteer for this symposium and helped event organizers execute essential tasks. Please view my CV and Portfolio for more information on these projects.

Conference Poster Presentations:

Garcia, K. R., Chen, J., Wang, C., & Hu, B. (2023, April 21). Why do humans overestimate AI capabilities? A think aloud study of malicious road sign images [Poster session]. Houston Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 17th Annual One-Day Symposium, Houston, TX, USA.

Garcia, K. R., & Wu, X. (2023, April 21). Driving posture comfort in naturalistic and simulated driving [Poster session]. Houston Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 17th Annual One-Day Symposium, Houston, TX, USA.

I began my role as a reviewer for the Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making (CEDM) technical group (TG) for the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) annual meeting. For this position, I reviewed the assigned papers submitted to the HFES 2023 meeting and provided prompt feedback and ratings of the documents. This included decisions of acceptance of the paper to the conference. I held this position until April 24, 2023. 

I was invited to present my flood project as a poster during the Rice University Social Sciences Homecoming Poster Reception Session. I represented the Department of Psychological Sciences, and other graduate students represented the departments of anthropology, political science, and sociology. For my poster, I presented my master's thesis research completed the previous summer at Old Dominion University. I networked with Rice alumni during this event, which was nice since I was also a Rice alumnus. Additionally, Houston, similar to Norfolk, is known for flooding, which makes my research timely and easily relatable to Houstonians. It also rained that day, and some guests had to drive through shallow floods to reach campus. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on the Flood Risk Communication research. 

Invited Guest Poster Presentation:

Garcia, K., Mishler, S., & Chen, J. (2022, October 28). Effects of flood warning information on driver decisions: A driving simulator study [Poster session]. Rice University Social Sciences Homecoming Poster Reception Session, Houston, TX, USA.

I presented my AI research project as a lecture at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 66th International Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. This AI study focused on how humans understand the capabilities and limitations of AI computer vision in automated vehicles for identifying different roadway signs. Additionally, I was the second author of a poster about adaptive task allocation in automated vehicles, a project that began over the summer of 2021 as part of an ODU Transportation REU project. Both the AI lecture and adaptive task allocation poster were published as a peer-reviewed extended abstract and 5-page conference proceeding papers. I was a student volunteer for this conference and executed important functions for the conference to proceed efficiently. Please view my CV and Portfolio for more information on these projects. 

Peer-Reviewed Conference Paper and Extended Abstract:

Garcia, K., Xiao, Y., Mishler, S., Wang, C., Hu, B., & Chen, J. (2022). Identifying perturbed roadway signs: Perception of AI capabilities. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting (Vol. 66, No. 1, pp. 125-125). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications. doi:10.1177/1071181322661225

Taylor, S., Garcia, K., Chen, J., & Hu, B. (2022). Adaptive task allocation preferences in different workload scenarios when driving Level 2 and Level 3 automated vehicles. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting (Vol. 66, No. 1, pp. 918-922). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications. doi:10.1177/1071181322661426

Conference Lecture Presentation:

Garcia, K., Xiao, Y., Mishler, S., Wang, C., Hu, B., & Chen, J. (2022, October 11). Identifying perturbed roadway signs: Perception of AI capabilities [Conference lecture presentation]. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 66th International Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Conference Poster Presentation:

Taylor, S., Garcia, K., Chen, J., & Hu, B. (2022, October 12). Adaptive task allocation preferences in different workload scenarios in driving automation systems [Poster session]. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 66th International Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, USA.

I was awarded the Social Sciences Research Institute Graduate Student Conference Travel Grant. This award provided me with up to $1,000 towards conference expenses and was used towards the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 66th International Annual Meeting. At this conference, I shared my research on how humans perceive the abilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in autonomous vehicles in the context of correctly identifying various roadway signs. As the first author of the accepted extended abstract, published in the conference proceedings, I gave a lecture presentation on the study and findings. While at the HFES conference, I also learned more about other novel and groundbreaking research in human factors, which will later aid me in my graduate studies at Rice. The HFES conference is the major conference in the field, where influential minds come together to share their work and network with scholars, professionals, and students. I networked with such individuals and represented Rice University, helping further to increase our visibility in the human factors domain. broken link update

I am excited to share that my first article was published! I submitted this article in 2021, and the project began in 2020. This AI project and my flood project were both topics I have worked on since the very beginning of my graduate school career. This was my first published journal article and the first article in which I was the first author. I am thankful to all the coauthors of this publication. I wouldn't have been able to complete it without their contributions to the project and paper. I plan to continue working on this project and publish more papers about Artificial Intelligence. Numerous follow-up studies have come from this project (including my dissertation topic). The research described in the paper has continued into several more iterations of the project and my dissertation topic of explainable AI (XAI). To learn more about this topic, please read the full article online, linked below. Please see my CV and Portfolio for more information on the Human-Automation Interaction research. 

Article Publication:

Garcia, K. R., Mishler, S., Xiao, Y., Wang, C., Hu, B., Still, J. D., & Chen, J. (2022). Drivers’ understanding of Artificial Intelligence in autonomous driving systems: A study of a malicious stop sign. Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, 16(4), 237-251. doi:10.1177/15553434221117001

I began my role as Human-Automation Collaboration Laboratory Manager at Rice University. For this role, I communicate with the lab's undergraduate research assistants and graduate students to organize a project schedule throughout the semester. This way, we always have at least one study in the lab at a time to help the graduate students with their research and provide research experience to the undergraduates in the lab. Additionally, I am the most senior graduate student in the lab at Rice University, which is also why I hold this position. I currently still hold this position. update

I moved with the lab to Rice University in Houston, Texas! I entered the Human Factors and Human-Computer Interaction Ph.D. program in the Department of Psychological Sciences.

I was able to transfer my master's thesis and waive several courses. It was advantageous that I attended Rice University as an undergraduate and took several classes that were cross-listed for both graduate and undergraduate students. It was also exciting to take graduate courses with professors I had previously taken undergraduate courses to experience the differences.

I made the move in early August. Since I had known earlier in the year about the move, I slowly started to bring back clothes and things in a large suitcase every time I went home to visit family. I was able to find a lovely apartment that is close to campus, just a short 5-minute drive. 

I am happy that I was able to move closer to my family. My mom still lives in Houston, and we go out for lunch once a month and get our nails done. It also helps whenever one of us is out of town, and we can cat-sit and plant-sit for each other. I also began volunteering with the Houston Humane Society as a foster for cats and kittens. I fostered kittens and cats in Virginia and was involved with the Norfolk SPCA. Since moving back to Houston, I wanted to get involved with another shelter to work with cats. 

My M.S. in Psychology and graduate certificate in Modeling and Simulation Engineering were completed and awarded today (although my transcript says August 26, 2022). It has been a wonderful experience for me to have my research project that I fostered and developed from start to finish. I will continue to work on this project further in the coming years. 

I am grateful to my family for their continuous support of furthering my education and my advisor, Dr. Jing Chen, for helping me throughout my graduate career thus far. 

I am excited to continue my academic journey to receive my Ph.D. in the next few years and complete more exciting research projects in the fields of AI, transportation, and cybersecurity. 

It has been a great 2 years at Old Dominion University. I have made a lot of connections with fun, unique individuals during my time. I am excited to see what the next few years will bring as I continue my education.