Bio

Catherine and her Dad — Catherine loved 1980’s computers and robots because of her dad, Fred D’Ignazio.

Hey, I have a Wikipedia page!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_D%27Ignazio

Really Short Bio

Catherine D’Ignazio is an Associate Professor of Urban Science and Planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT and Director of the Data + Feminism Lab.

Short Bio (128 words)

Catherine D’Ignazio is a hacker mama, scholar, and artist/designer who focuses on feminist technology, data justice and civic engagement. She has run women’s health hackathons, designed global news recommendation systems, created talking and tweeting water quality sculptures, and led walking data visualizations to envision the future of sea level rise. Her 2020 book from MIT Press, Data Feminism, co-authored with Lauren Klein, charts a course for more ethical and empowering data science practices. Her second book, Counting Feminicide: Data Feminism in Action (MIT Press, 2024) is an extended case study about grassroots data activism to end gender-related violence. D’Ignazio is an Associate Professor of Urban Science and Planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT where she is the Director of the Data + Feminism Lab.

Medium Bio

Catherine D’Ignazio is an Associate Professor of Urban Science and Planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. She is also Director of the Data + Feminism Lab which uses data and computational methods to work towards gender and racial equity. D’Ignazio is a scholar, artist/designer and hacker mama who focuses on feminist technology, data literacy and civic engagement. She has run reproductive justice hackathons, designed global news recommendation systems, created talking and tweeting water quality sculptures, and led walking data visualizations to envision the future of sea level rise. With Rahul Bhargava, she built the platform Databasic.io, a suite of tools and activities to introduce newcomers to data science. Her 2020 book from MIT Press, Data Feminism, co-authored with Lauren Klein, charts a course for more ethical and empowering data science practices. Since 2019, she has co-organized Data Against Feminicide, a participatory action-research-design project, with Isadora Cruxên, Silvana Fumega and Helena Suárez Val, which includes co-designed AI tools for human rights data activists. Her 2024 book, Counting Feminicide: Data Feminism in Action (MIT Press) is an extended case study about grassroots data activism to end gender-related violence. Her research at the intersection of technology, design & social justice has been published in the Big Data & Society, the Journal of Community Informatics, and the proceedings of ACM SIGCHI and ACM FAccT. Her art and design projects have won awards from the Tanne Foundation, Turbulence.org and the Knight Foundation and exhibited at the Venice Biennial and the ICA Boston.

Long Bio

Catherine D’Ignazio, a.k.a. kanarinka, is an Associate Professor of Urban Science and Planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. She is also Director of the Data + Feminism Lab which uses data and computational methods to work towards gender and racial equity, particularly as they relate to space and place. D’Ignazio is a scholar, artist/designer and hacker mama who focuses on feminist technology, data literacy and civic engagement. She has run reproductive justice hackathons, designed global news recommendation systems, created talking and tweeting water quality sculptures, and led walking data visualizations to envision the future of sea level rise. With Rahul Bhargava, she built the platform Databasic.io, a suite of tools and activities to introduce newcomers to data science. Her 2020 book from MIT Press, Data Feminism, co-authored with Lauren Klein, charts a course for more ethical and empowering data science practices. Since 2019, she has co-organized Data Against Feminicide, a participatory action-research-design project, with Isadora Cruxên, Silvana Fumega and Helena Suárez Val, which includes co-designed AI tools for human rights data activists. D’Ignazio’s 2024 book, Counting Feminicide: Data Feminism in Action (MIT Press) is an extended case study about this grassroots data activism to end gender-related violence. Her research at the intersection of technology, design & social justice has been published in Big Data & Society, the Journal of Community Informatics, and the proceedings of ACM SIGCHI and ACM FAccT. Her art and design projects have won awards from the Tanne Foundation, Turbulence.org and the Knight Foundation and exhibited at the Venice Biennial and the ICA Boston.

Catherine likes babies, too. — Catherine likes babies in space, too.

Prior to joining MIT, D’Ignazio was an Assistant Professor of Data Visualization and Civic Media at Emerson College in the Journalism Department, taught for seven years in the Digital + Media graduate program at Rhode Island School of Design and did freelance software development for more than ten years. She holds an MS from the MIT Media Lab, an MFA from Maine College of Art, and a BA in International Relations (Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Tufts University. D’Ignazio speaks English, Spanish and French and has lived in Buenos Aires, Paris, Montevideo and Catalunya. She is a co-founder of the globally unknown spatial justice collective the Institute for Infinitely Small Things and a former organizer with the Public Laboratory for Open Technology & Science. D’Ignazio is a proud board member of Indigenous Women Rising, an organization working to advance Native & Indigenous People’s inherent right to equitable and culturally safe health options.

Bio en castellano

Catherine D’Ignazio es una académica, artista, diseñadora y mamá hacker que centra su práctica en la tecnología feminista, la alfabetización de datos y el compromiso cívico. Ha dirigido hackatones enfocados en la justicia reproductiva; diseñado sistemas de recomendación de notas globales; creado esculturas que hablan y twittean sobre la calidad del agua; y encabezado visualizaciones de datos en forma de caminatas para evidenciar el aumento del nivel del mar. Con Rahul Bhargava, creó la plataforma Databasic.io: un primer acercamiento a la ciencia de datos mediante un conjunto de herramientas y actividades. En 2020, en coautoría con Lauren Klein, publica el libro Data Feminism; en el que traza una ruta hacia una ciencia de datos más ética y empoderadora. En 2024, salió su segundo libro Counting Feminicide: Data Feminism in Action (Contando feminicidios: Feminismo de datos en acción) de MIT Press. Su investigación se ubica en la intersección de la tecnología, el diseño y la justicia social, ha sido publicada en diversos medios como el Big Data & Society, y el Journal of Community Informatics; además ha participado en las conferencias ACM SIGCHI y ACM FAccT. Su práctica artística y de diseño ha recibido premios de la Fundación Tanne, Turbulence.org y la Fundación Knight; y ha sido exhibida en la Bienal de Venecia y la ICA Boston. D’Ignazio es profesora de Ciencia Urbana y Planificación Urbana en el Departamento de Estudios y Planificación Urbana del Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). También es directora del Data + Feminism Lab, que utiliza datos y métodos computacionales para trabajar hacia la equidad racial y de género, particularmente en relación con el espacio y el lugar.