2012 Miriah Meyer, PhD

The Nineteenth Annual 
William R. and Erlyn J. Gould Distinguished Lecture on Technology and the Quality of Life

Visualizing Data: Why an (Interactive) Picture is Worth 1000 Numbers

One of the most striking and unique aspects about this moment in human history is the amount of data we are generating. This data holds the promise of unlocking the mysteries of the universe, untangling complex natural and man-made systems, and allowing us to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. But generating data is only the first step -- developing methods to make sense of vast collections of information is now widely considered the major challenge. A key component of addressing this challenge is visualization, which supports sense-making by representing data as pictures and supporting exploration through human-computer interactions. Dr. Meyer will discuss how we design interactive visualizations and how scientists use these tools to glean insight from complex data.

Miriah is a USTAR assistant professor in the School of Computing at the University of Utah and a faculty member in the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute. Her research focuses on the design of visualization systems for helping scientists make sense of heterogeneous data. She obtained her bachelors degree in astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State University, and earned a PhD in computer science from the University of Utah. Prior to joining the faculty at Utah Miriah was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University and a visiting scientist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Miriah was awarded a Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship in 2012, as well as named to MIT Technology Review's TR35 and Fast Company's list of the 100 most creative people. She is the recipient of a NSF/CRA Computing Innovation Fellow award, and an AAAS Mass Media Fellowship that landed her a stint as a science writer for the Chicago Tribune.