Computer Science Assistant Professor Juniper Lovato is an active researcher in the Vermont Complex Systems Institute member whose current work centers around data ethics, fairness, accountability, transparency, the science of stories, and open-source ecosystems. In this episode of UVM's award-winning Across the Fence program Lovato speaks with host Amy Findley about the ethics behind A.I. and what large language models are learning.

Drawing from diverse disciplines, including computational social science, computer science, complex systems, and networks, she applies various tools and methods to explore these critical areas. She is a Co-PI of the EPSCoR Track-1 award, The Science of Online Corpora, Knowledge, and Stories (SOCKS), focused on the science of stories and the PI of VERSO, an Open Source Program Office at the University of Vermont funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Juniper earned her Ph.D. in Complex Systems & Data Science from the University of Vermont and is deeply involved in promoting computer science and the study of complex systems beyond the confines of the campus. She is the inaugural Vermont regional partner with Code.org and was key in co-founding the Vermont Computer Science Alliance and a new UVM Computer Science licensure degree for Vermont K-12 teachers, which will be starting in the Fall of 2024. Additionally, she actively contributes to the boards of the Network Science Society and the Northeast Chapter of the Complex Systems Society. She is also the founder of the makerspace Make Santa Fe. With a focus on education, Juniper has created over 80 STEM education programs globally.