Faculty

Robin Burke

Robin Burke is a Professor in the Department of Information Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the founder and director of That Recommender Systems Lab. More info...

PhD Students

Amanda Aird

Amanda Aird is a third-year PhD student at CU Boulder. Originally from Reno, Nevada, Amanda holds an MS in Business Analytics from the University of Iowa and a BA in Economics from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her research focuses on algorithmic fairness in recommender systems, with particular emphasis on reranking recommendations to optimize for both consumer and provider-side fairness at individual and group levels. As the graduate student lead on the SCRUFF project, she manages experimental design and implementation. She enjoys hiking, baking (especially bread and naan), and traveling.

Anas Buhayh

Anas Buhayh is a PhD student in the information science department at CU Boulder. A Fulbright alumnus from Libya, Anas holds a master's degree in Information Management from Central Michigan University and a bachelor's degree in Automation from the College of Computer Technologies in Tripoli. He currently leads research across multiple projects including CORGI, where he works on social media recommendation systems for Mastodon, and SMORES, where he investigates the implementation of multiple purpose-specific recommender systems. His research focuses on developing responsible and governable AI systems, with particular emphasis on alternative architectures for recommender systems. His professional background includes work with the World Health Organization and the International Rescue Committee. Outside of research, Anas enjoys programming, playing guitar, and staying active.

Aishwarya Satwani

Aishwarya Satwani is a second-year PhD student at CU Boulder. Originally from Oman, she received her Bachelor's in Computer Science Engineering from B.M.S. College of Engineering, Bangalore, and worked at Walmart Labs for three years as a full-stack SDE. She currently contributes to two main projects: JEDI News, where she conducts interviews with journalists to understand and formalize their role in recommendation processes, and POPROX, where she focuses on developing experimental methods for information infrastructure. Beyond academics, Aishwarya enjoys kickboxing and oil painting.

Joshua Paup

Joshua Paup is a second-year PhD student at CU Boulder. Originally from Colorado Springs, Joshua completed his BA in computer science and mathematics in the summer of 2021 and his MS in information science here at CU in the spring of 2023. He currently contributes to the CORGI project, developing recommendation systems and algorithmic community governance on the social media platform Mastodon. His other research interests include content moderation, human-quantum computer interactions, and the role of recommendation systems in framing online discourse around warfare. Outside of the lab, Joshua enjoys spending time with his four cats -- Jessie, Jackie, Jamie, and Jessie.

Elizabeth McKinnie

Elizabeth McKinnie is a second-year PhD student at CU Boulder. Originally from Seattle, Washington, she holds degrees in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from the University of Washington. Her current research spans multiple projects, including leading research on comparative explanation processes and contributing to the SMORES project, where she focuses on writing, brainstorming, and code development. Her professional experience includes three years of software engineering at Microsoft. Outside the lab, Elizabeth enjoys playing rugby and crocheting.

Meysam Verasteh

Meysam Varasteh is a second-year PhD student at CU Boulder. Originally from Kurdistan, Iran, he holds degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Petroleum University of Technology and Tehran University in Iran. He specializes in recommender system explainability, focusing on developing and implementing models that provide comparative explanations for recommendations, empowering users to understand why certain items are recommended over others. When not conducting research, Meysam enjoys rock climbing, running, and cooking Persian and Turkish food.

Research Assistants

Andrew Nordstrom

Andrew Nordstrom: Andrew Nordstrom is an undergraduate researcher at CU Boulder, studying Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Data Science. He currently contributes to the CORGI project, working on front and backend development. His research interests lie at the intersection of mechanical engineering and computer science, with a focus on convolutional neural networks and generative AI. Originally from Bend, Oregon, Andrew enjoys climbing, cycling, and trail running.

Clement Canel

Clement Canel is an undergraduate majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Business. Originally from Seattle, Washington he is currently involved in the Simulator for Modular Recommendation EcoSystems (Smores) project. His focus is on addressing cold start problems and exploring profile portability within recommender systems. Outside of research, he enjoys skiing and coding in his free time.

Emanuele Rimini

Emanuele Rimini is a 3rd year undergraduate student, originally from San Diego, studying Computer Science and Sociology at CU Boulder. He currently contributes to the POPROX project, working on the newsletter system and helping researchers experiment with new recommendation systems. His interests lie on the intersection of recommendation algorithm development and their sociological impact. In his free time, Emanuele loves collecting and listening to records. He is fluent in Italian and is currently studying abroad in Italy.

Former PhD Students

Jessie Smith

Jessie graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2024 with a PhD in Information Science, co-advised by Prof. Robin Burke and Prof. Casey Fiesler. Her dissertation was titled "Perspectives on Best Practices When Operationalizing Machine Learning Fairness for Recommender Systems". She is now a researcher at Spotify.

Himan Abdollahpouri

Himan graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2020 with a PhD in Information Science, advised by Prof. R Burke. His dissertation was titled "Popularity Bias in Recommendation: A Multi-stakeholder Perspective." He is now a researcher at Spotify.

Nasim Sonboli

Nasim graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2022 with a PhD in Information Science, advised by Prof. Robin Burke. Her dissertation was titled "Controlling the Fairness / Accuracy Tradeoff in Recommender Systems." She is currently a post-doctoral researcher at Brown University.

Former Research Assistants

• Masters
  • Veena Prasad (MS-CS)
  • Zijun Liu (MS-CS)
  • Shruthi Sridharan (MS-CS)
  • Joshua Sun (MS-CS)
  • Paresha Farastu (MS-CS)
• Undergraduate
  • Henry Dyer (BS-CS)
  • Trevor Ward (BS-INFO)
  • Shreyas Kadekodi (BS-CS)
  • Tyler Thornley

Others

Morgan Sylvester

Morgan Sylvester created the lab logo and other graphic assets for TRSL. Visit their web store.