Sophia, a former NYS elementary teacher, is a second-year PhD student in Science and Technology Studies (STS). Her main research interest is in improving social studies curriculum and increasing student engagement by sharing untold stories and of local history using mapping technologies. Sophia developed My Hudson History, a digital history cartography mapping over 900 historical sites across 10 counties in the Hudson Valley (www.myhudsonhistory.org). She mostly recently presented her project this past June at the 10th STS Italia conference at the Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy.
At SUNY New Paltz, Sophia initiated cross-disciplinary collaborations with librarians, the history department, the Honors department, and other faculty and historians. She completed a summer history internship at the John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress and graduated summa cum laude with a 2022 Outstanding Graduate Award and the 2022 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence.
As a master’s student in Teachers College at Columbia University, in 2023, she was a graduate research assistant in media and technology for Dr. Amra Sabic El-Rayess, a survivor of the Bosnian genocide. With her team, Sophia developed two education projects to prevent school violence. The projects, Reimagine Resilience and Project Belonging, were funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to prevent targeted violence. She designed online courses, created a presentation for SXSW EDU 2023, and provided students with feedback on their projects.
When Sophia was exploring PhD programs and found RPI’s Science and Technology Studies department, she imagined people writing formulas in lab coats completely unaffiliated with the humanities. But when she viewed current students’ projects she saw historians, anthropologists, archivists, musicians, and social scientists! She realized that STS is a diverse, interdisciplinary humanities field. “I knew I had found my people,” says Sophia. “I also love the small size of our department... you get to know each other quickly. My colleagues do incredible things, are so caring, and have a variety of personalities and niche interests. Our community is close and supportive, and I enjoy connecting with everyone.” She is well liked in the department and by her advisor, Adam Biggs, who states, “I’ve really enjoyed working with Sophia. She’s embraced the challenges, opportunities, and essential questions that STS Scholarship pushes us to wrestle with. And she’s done it with an earnest authenticity that I admire.”
In her first PhD year, Sophia won a $300,000 grant from the RPI-IBM Future of Computing Research Collaboration to develop a hybrid program that teaches 7th-9th grade girls quantum computing on RPI’s campus with the IBM Quantum System One computer. In fall of 2025, Sophia will be packaging the “Girls in Quantum” curriculum and writing recommendations for the pilot program.
After graduation, she would like to work for the New York State Department of Education to help reform history curriculum by emphasizing the benefits of teaching local history and integrating mapping technologies. She would also like to be involved with the New York State Museum or archives, combining her knowledge and love of history, archives, and K-12 education to create impactful public education projects.
Sophia can be found at many of the local weekend festivals and events in downtown Troy where she lives. Enjoying activities to the fullest, she recently spent 72 seconds on a mechanical rodeo shark, breaking the local record.
