Byrd Visualization Lab
About Dr. Byrd>
TEACHING & LEARNING
Dr. Byrd views the understanding of data visualization, its benefits and its importance as necessary requirements at all levels of scholarship. Dr. Byrd is the epitome of utilizing visualization as a catalyst for communication, a conduit for collaboration, a pathway to STEM and as a mechanism for broadening participation and inclusion. Her scholarship of learning, discovery and engagement detailed in embodies the transformative aspects of data visualization.
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Click the links below to learn how Dr. Byrd utilizes Visualization:
Visualization as a Conduit for Collaboration
Dr. Byrd’s efforts to collaborate with faculty with data visualization needs across multiple disciplines is evident in the number of collaborative grant proposals she serves on as PI- or Co-PI. Dr. Byrd has taken the initiative to facilitate collaboration among faculty, students and staff with the recent submission of a NSF CISE Research Infrastructure (CRI) proposal to create a Visualization Research Skunkworks to enable collaboration, learning and discovery across disciplines.
Visualization as a Pathway to STEM Education
Dr. Byrd utilizes visualization as a tool in her outreach efforts to share with students the benefits of visualization and its impact on all levels of scholarship, across all disciplines and research landscapes. Dr. Byrd is the founding principle investigator of the highly competitive, nationally recognized NSF REU Site: Research Experience for Undergraduates in Collaborative Data Visualization Applications (VisREU). The undergraduate research experience is designed to introduce data visualization to undergraduates through research. The undergraduate research experience facilitates visualization capacity building: the ability to not only gain insight from data visualizations but also have the intellectual capacity to transform complex data into a representation that informs but does not overwhelm.
Visualization as a Platform for Broadening Participation and Inclusion
Dr. Byrd is the organizer of the nationally recognized annual BPViz: Broadening Participation in Visualization Workshop. BPViz, designed to build a network of persons with visualization backgrounds from novice to expert with interests in broadening participation and inclusion in visualization. The primary goal of BPViz is to broaden participation of women and members of underrepresented groups and underrepresented disciplines in visualization; however this effort is not limited to underrepresented groups, the workshop welcomes all persons with an interest in visualization. BPViz provides opportunities for networking, professional development, mentoring, interaction with experts in the field, and facilitates community building among participants to serve as a resource for persons new to visualization. BPViz has been funded by the Computing Research Association (CRA) – Women, the Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC) and the NSF.