Where Data Meets Purpose: Scholar Reflections from the SDS Program
As another academic year unfolds at Stanford, we’re celebrating three outstanding members of the Stanford Data Science Scholars community, Anna Nguyen, Sydney Ericson, and Emma Krasovick-Southworth, whose journeys reflect the heart of what SDS is all about: intellectual curiosity, interdisciplinary collaboration, and a strong sense of community. From award-winning sustainability research to innovative health studies and the personal moments that make research meaningful, these scholars exemplify how data science can drive discovery, impact, and connection—on campus and far beyond.
Anna Nguyen
Fondest Memory
One of Anna’s favorite memories from her time as a Stanford Data Science Scholar was visiting the Stanford Hopkins Marine Station. The experience offered a refreshing break from the campus business and a chance to enjoy beautiful ocean views alongside members of the SDS community. During the visit, she engaged in conversations about data-driven research in marine science and explored how data science can be used to better understand marine ecosystems. For Anna, this trip exemplified the interdisciplinary nature of SDS by fostering meaningful dialogue on data science methods that span diverse fields of research.
SDS Impact on Growth
As Anna approached the final stages of her PhD, she found herself deeply immersed in dissertation work—proud of the depth she was developing in her field, but also feeling increasingly isolated. Despite the vibrant research happening across Stanford, she felt somewhat disconnected from other academic communities.
The SDS Scholar Program helped shift that. It broadened her perspective on data-driven research and encouraged her to consider how her work fits within the broader data science landscape. Through weekly meetings and collaborations, she learned from fellow scholars about cutting-edge innovations in various disciplines and how others approached common data challenges. These interactions consistently introduced her to new ideas and tools she could apply to her research, and she always looked forward to them.
Favorite Project
Within SDS, Anna particularly enjoyed co-leading “Data & Donuts” sessions, a weekly series where scholars explored a range of data science topics. These discussions provided her with a fun and intellectually engaging way to delve into subjects like fraud in academic publishing and energy consumption in data centers—areas she had long been curious about but hadn’t previously explored in depth.
More broadly, Anna’s doctoral research at Stanford focuses on designing effective interventions to reduce the burden of infectious diseases in low-resource settings. Using causal inference tools, she investigates how specific pathways influence treatment outcomes and seeks to uncover the factors driving variability in effectiveness. Her dissertation examines the impact of anti-malarial drugs on child growth outcomes, and she has also studied how environmental factors contribute to waterborne pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. Her ultimate goal is to produce data-driven evidence to inform global health policy and enable more targeted interventions to improve child health in under-resourced contexts.
Sydney Ericson
Fondest Memory
One of the most memorable moments for Sydney came during a spring session earlier this year, while presenting her final research note to the SDS community. The topic—her cutting-edge work with the Rubin Observatory—sparked lively engagement from fellow scholars, who filled the room with thoughtful questions and curiosity. So many questions that she ran out of time before reaching the end of her slides—"in the best way possible," she recalled. Afterwards, SDS faculty mentor John Chambers approached her to say how much she had grown since the research note she gave the previous year. That moment, Sydney shared, meant a great deal to her.
SDS Impact on Growth
Reflecting on her time in the program, Sydney emphasized how Stanford Data Science helped her develop the ability to communicate across disciplines. From informal chats with other scholars to conference presentations in front of industry representatives, she learned how to explain the broader significance of her work to a wide range of audiences. "Contextualizing my research for people outside my field has made me fall more in love with it," she said. "It’s helped me see the bigger picture more often."
Favorite Project
Sydney’s favorite project to date has been the first phase of her thesis, which focused on modeling Hubble Space Telescope observations of strongly lensed quasars—specifically, time-delay lenses—using neural posterior estimation (NPE). This work not only deepened her technical expertise, particularly around domain and distribution shift in machine learning, but also marked an important step toward enabling precise measurements of the Universe’s expansion. Her demonstration of NPE modeling on time-delay lenses lays essential groundwork as the Rubin Observatory prepares to uncover hundreds more of these rare cosmic signals.
Emma Krasovich Southworth
Fondest Memory
For Emma Southworth, some of the most meaningful moments of her graduate experience have come from unexpected intersections, where the personal meets the professional, and where curiosity meets community.
Each week, Emma found inspiration and connection during SDS’s “Data & Donuts” gatherings. These informal sessions brought together researchers, guest speakers, and students to explore timely topics in data science, research, AI, and social impact. Some sessions stood out, especially a talk from the Center for Teaching and Learning on incorporating AI in classrooms, as well as a group exercise reimagining a more optimistic future across climate, politics, and technology.
But one session, in particular, was especially close to Emma’s heart: the day her husband, Alan Southworth, joined as a guest speaker. Alan, who works in corporate development and economic analysis at PG&E, discussed one of SDS’s recurring themes: how the rapid growth of AI and data centers creates mounting demands on energy infrastructure. For Emma, watching her two worlds come together and seeing the SDS community engage so thoughtfully with Alan’s talk was unforgettable. “It was so special for me,” she said. “Hearing people say they learned something from him, it was pretty cool.”
SDS Impact on Growth
Emma’s growth in SDS has been just as personal as it has been professional. “I’ve become more curious and more humbled,” she shared. Being surrounded by researchers from diverse disciplines pushed her to expand how she approaches her work and to recognize the many ways a question can be explored. Importantly, SDS also became a space where asking questions felt safe and encouraged, a rare and powerful environment in academia. “Imposter syndrome is real,” she admitted. “But I’ve never felt that way in SDS.”
That culture of care extended well beyond the formal program. At a recent talk, Emma ran into an SDS alum and mentioned she was hitting a wall with a part of her project that required Python, something she wasn’t yet fluent in. Without hesitation, the alum offered to help, even sitting down with Emma to install the software and guide her through the next steps. That gesture stuck with her. “It reminded me that SDS has given me not only professional support, but also personal support, which has been key to my growth as a researcher and a human.”
Favorite Project
Emma’s current research reflects that growth. She is leading a global-scale study on the impact of tropical cyclones on dengue transmission, a project that marks her first foray into global health analytics. Collaborating with a close friend, she’s navigating the complex challenges of international data wrangling and epidemiological modeling with excitement and purpose. With 100–400 million dengue cases annually, this project has the potential to inform public health responses and climate resilience strategies worldwide.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead, Emma is preparing for a new adventure: motherhood. As she enters her fourth year of doctoral study, she’s also getting ready to welcome a baby girl this fall. “I’m so excited to develop this new part of my identity,” she said. “And to show my daughter that you can balance personal and professional life.” With the support of mentors and role models across Stanford, she’s entering this next chapter with gratitude, strength, and deep connection to the community that has helped her thrive.
