About Dr. Byrd>

SERVICE

Dr. Byrd’s service activities embody exemplary citizenship at the department, college, and university levels and to local and professional communities. She is cognizant of her role as role model as an African American female in a STEM field and utilizes these distinctions while giving unselfishly of her time to share her background and experiences to engage, encourage and inspire all students to consider STEM professions as a viable career path. She has served on several STEM related panels: “Hidden Figures” panel sponsored by Purdue University, and was an invited STEM panelist for the Black History Month Program at Imagination Station in Lafayette, Indiana, February 24, 2017.

In addition to the roles listed above, Dr. Byrd has served in the following ways:

Committee Assignmens

Committee Assignments

Department Level Committeee Assignments

August 2016–present | CGT Graduate Student Committee

2016–present | CGT Learning Community Faculty Liaison

College Level Committeee Assignments

January 11, 2016–present | Recruitment and Retention Committee

CGT Research Assessment Group (organized by the Associate Dean for Research, Polytechnic Institute)

2015–2016 | Polytechnic Mentorship Program Committee

University Level Committeee Assignments

April 2016–present | Parliamentarian for the Purdue Black Caucus of Faculty and Staff

October 1, 2016–present | Undergraduate Research Committee (nominated by the Dean, Gary Bertoline)

Leadership in Professional Societies and Organizations

Data Visualization Society Advisory Board Member

Midwest Big Data Hub MBDH Community Advisory Panel

International Program Committee for EuroVis 2022

Vice Chair of Visualization Showcase for SC17 (Invited)

August 11–13, 2016 | Invited Program Committee Member of RESPECT 2016: 2nd International Conference on Research on Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology.

Invited Reviewer for the Workforce Development and Diversity Track of XSEDE16 (formerly the EOT track). This track focuses on engaging and sustaining a diverse scientific, academic, and industrial workforce in all fields of study.

Service to Government or Professional Organizations

July 2017–present | Big Data Hub Steering Committee Member (Elected).

2016–2017 | Committee Member for Report to NSF on Workforce Development in Higher Education.

2014–2016 | Reviewer, Grant Proposal, National Science Foundation. Arlington, Virginia.

September 14, 2016 | Manuscript reviewer, Computing in Science and Engineering, CiSESI.

2016 | Served on NSF PI Meetings.

April 15, 2015–July 31, 2015 | Deputy Chair of Education & Outreach Program, Extreme Science and Engineering Digital Environment (XSEDE) International.

The XSEDE Conference is designed to engage and directly benefit diverse communities including students, educators, researchers and practitioners across all fields of study and scholarly research, with particular emphasis placed on engaging under-represented minorities, women, and people with disabilities. The conference provides numerous opportunities for developers, applications teams, students, innovators, CIOs, IT staff, and policy makers from academia, government, industry and other organizations to engage in discussions that will asssist them in significantly advancing their effective utilization of digital resources. From experts in the field, to people who are novices to the applications of digital resources, the XSEDE conference provides a range of formal and informal opportunities for people to interact and address their diverse needs and interests.

2014 | Reviewer, Grant Proposal, US Department of Energy.

Diversity and Climate Activities

Dr. Byrd’s diversity and climate activities help to facilitate engagement and interaction with Purdue University’s Black Faculty and staff, and with underrepresented groups in STEM.

2016–present | Parliamentarian for the Purdue University Black Caucus of Faculty and Staff

2016–present | Faculty of Color at Purdue University Group Member

2016–present | Faculty Liaison for Women in High Performance Computing (HPC) Group at Purdue University

February 24, 2017 | Invited STEM Panelist – Imagination Station, Lafayette, IN.

January 14, 2017 | Invited STEM Panelist – Hidden Figures Panel, Purdue Black Cultural Center.

Mentoring or Advising of Students (Individuals and Groups)

Mentoring of Individual Students

U= Undergrad Student G= Grad Student

Unsolicited comments of students from 2015 VisREU cohort:

“First, I want to say congratulations again on your new position at Purdue! I hope the transition was smooth. I know they gained an irreplaceable asset to their staff. Secondly, I wanted to say thank you again for the amazing opportunity you offered me this summer by being an REU student. Not only was it enriching in every way, but because of that experience it gave me the push I was looking for and desperately needed to motivate myself for graduate school. I’ve always wanted to seek higher education, but it never seemed like a realistic goal. The REU experience gave me hope that I can one day get into graduate school. So, thank you so much Dr. Byrd! You and your program is very dear to me and has left a lasting impression. Best wishes,” -Claudia Salazar, Winthrop University

“The skills I learned about visualization and research at the VisREU have definitely been a big part in my success this year. So thank you so much for the opportunity, it was life changing :)” -Kathleen Kyle, Florida State University

November 15–20, 2015 | Faculty Mentor, SC15 Mentor-Protégé Program as part of the Students @ SC Program.

Mentoring of Student Organizations

October 8, 2016–present | Women in HPC Faculty Liaison, Purdue University.

November 14–16, 2016 | Mentoring students at SC 2016.

2013 & 2014 | Mentoring at Extreme Science Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) Conference, 2013, 2014

March 2–4, 2017 | Mentoring students at Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference, Washington, DC, March 2-4, 2017

Graduate Student Mentor, International High Performance Computing Summer School:

Year

2017

2016- present

2015- present

2015-present

2015- 2016

2015- present

2015- 2016

2014- 2016

2014-2015

Student

Mridhula Vennataramani U

Sarah Richards U

Dave Durell Hill G

Millicent Campbell G

Shayne O’Brien (VisREU) U

Paris Smith (VisREU) G

Claudia Salazar (VisREU) U

Joseph James (VisREU) U

Kathleen Kyle (VisREU) U

Amari Lewis (VisREU) U

Cameron Collins U

Michael Bosch (VisREU) U

Institution

Purdue University

University of Alabama Birmingham

Clemson University

SUNY Geneseo

Jackson State University

Winthrop University

Clemson University

Florida State University

Winston-Salem State University

Coastal Carolina University

University of South Dakota

Year

2015

Student

Caitlin Ross

Michael Conry

Nathan Bernhardt

Vasilis Ioannou

Institution

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

Florida State University (FSU)

Oklahoma University

Imperial College London

Other Major Service Activities

Dr. Byrd leverages her innate qualities a woman, and as a person of color in STEM, to engage with parent and potential Boilermakers (on and off campus) through her work and participation in hands-on workshops with K-12 students interested in attending Purdue University and the Polytechnic Institute.

On Campus Service Activities:

April 11, 2017 | 2017 Undergraduate Research Poster and Symposium Judge, Purdue University.

November 12, 2016 | Communicating Leadership and Advancing Innovation for Minorities in Technology (CLAIMiT) Camp, “Introduction to Data Visualization,” for 9th – 12th graders and their parents, Polytechnic Institute.

October 22, 2016 | Windows of Opportunity for Women in Technology (WOWiT), “Introduction to Data Visualization,” for 9th – 12th graders and their families.

July 19, 2016 | Technology Advanced Girl Scouts (TAGS) Camp, “Introduction to Data Visualization,” Polytechnic Institute.

March 6, 2016 | Discovering Opportunities in Technology (DOiT) Camp, “Introduction to Data Visualization,” for 11th graders, Polytechnic Institute.

Off campus service activities include:

November 8, 2015 | Represented Purdue University at the Debutante Cotillion hosted by Alpha Mu Omega Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Indiana Roof Ballroom, Indianapolis, IN.

February 16, 2016 | Invited Panelist: ASPIRE To Lead, Price Waterhouse Cooper, Sponsor; Grissom Hall.

March 23-25, 2016 | REU PI Meeting, National Science Foundation.

April 28 – 30, 2016 | Nominated by Program Officer at National Science Foundation to attend PAN REU PI Workshop, Arlington, VA.

Leadership in Professional