AI Info Sessions

Michele Cosi is a Plant Scientist by training and a Research Data Scientist by trade. His work as a plant scientist revolves around the bioinformatics and genomics aspects of the field with contributions such as the assemblies of the Oryza longistaminata (red rice) and Oryza glaberrima (Africa rice) genomes. Incorporating data science aspects in his research, Michele aided the development of scalable workflow systems capable of processing the large volumes of high-throughput phenotyping data originating from the world's largest scanalyzer by leveraging CyVerse and the UA High-Performance Computing systems. Michele is a strong believer in Open Science, educating researchers in data science best practices, FAIR and CARE principles, containerization, and cloud native technologies. His experience has seen him lead scientific workshops such as Foundational Open Science Skills (FOSS), Container and Cloud Native Camp, and international workshops such as CompBio Asia 2022 and 2023 (Thailand and Singapore), and the 6th Uppsala Transposon Symposium (Sweden).

Amanda Harrell is a Program Manager with the Office of the Chief AI Officer. Shel is a Program Manager who specializes in turning concepts into scalable initiatives that deliver measurable impact. Her work focuses on shaping AI strategy through cross-disciplinary conversation and collaboration, and extending AI knowledge throughout campus and to the broader community. Amanda focuses on AI Best Practices and Responsible AI in the workplace with AI as a tool to enhance our work and spark greater collaboration..

John McCary is an Adjunct Professor within the College of Information Science and on the Operations team within the Office of the Chief AI Officer. He teaches the Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) course within the College of Information Science and holds an MA in International Security Policy from Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program at the School of Foreign Service. 

John is a decorated combat veteran and a former commissioned Foreign Service Officer in the State Department. He was profiled in the Oscar-nominated documentary, Operation Homecoming. He worked at the artificial intelligence (AI) office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where he designed and led development of the classified TIGR software and hardware suite. John is a Certified Ethical Hacker and has developed multiple intelligence and analysis software for national security entities. He is a dedicated father of two who in his free time, enjoys exploring with his kids, muay thai, and country two-stepping, all activities that keep him light on his feet.

Dr. Enrique Noriega-Atala is a research scientist at AI2S, specializing in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and its applications across interdisciplinary domains. His work bridges AI research and practice through collaborations with the College of Medicine, College of Public Health, Department of Linguistics, College of Information, and Department of Computer Science, among others.

He served as Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) on the ASKEM program, where he led an NLP team in developing a neurolinguistic information extraction system designed to identify and ground mathematical components of epidemiological models within scientific literature—enabling modelers to aggregate, extend, and compose new models more effectively. Enrique holds a Ph.D. in Information from the College of Information and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Computer Science.

Dr. Tyson Swetnam is a Research Associate Professor of Geoinformatics and the Director of Open Science. Tyson holds joint faculty appointments at the University of Arizona in the College of Agriculture Life and Environmental Science and the College of Information Science. 

Tyson co-leads the CyVerse cyberinfrastructure project which supports multiple NSF Synthesis Centers in the Life Sciences, as well as AI Institutes in Precision Agriculture, and the NIH Superfund DUST Center at the University of Arizona.