Hannah Cohoon

I study scientific practice to understand how digital infrastructures are enacted and how they affect the knowledge we produce.

After earning my bachelors in Cognitive Science at the University of Virginia, I began work at the Center for Open Science (COS). There, while working on the Reproducibility Project: Psychology, I became curious about how technology and academic culture affect scientists' work. From there, I moved on to the PhD program at UT Austin's School of Information under the mentorship of James Howison. I received my PhD in 2022. Given this interdisciplinary background, my research is influenced by a variety of fields interested in socio-technical issues (i.e. STS, HCI, organization studies, CSCW). Methodologically, I am trained and have experience in experimental design and survey research. My recent work, however, has primarily employed qualitative methods like interviews, contextual inquiry, and content analysis.

I remain interested in open science as an example of ongoing change in science and plan to continue studying trends in academic research (e.g. the use of ChatGPT). In my work I examine how knowledge and research products move and change between minds, labs, hard drives, and journals as well as how those moves might recursively shape (structure) the knowledge and products themselves. This is the work of studying knowledge infrastructures. If scientific research is meant to be a paragon of trustworthiness and unbiased reporting, I ask: What do stakeholders do to pursue that goal? Is there agreement about what science is meant to be? How do technology and culture affect research outcomes?

Outside of professional life, I am a craft dilettante, single-speed cyclist, mediocre boulderer, and patio gardener. My husband, Chris, and I live with our dog, Zula, and cat, Fred, in an increasingly plant filled home in Salt Lake City, Utah. Always on the lookout for elevation change, I love to travel to find a good trail to explore or mountain to climb.

I usually go by Hannah (a nickname given to me by my palindrome loving father). But, my legal and publishing name is Johanna Cohoon.

• Will I see you at 4S or CSCW 2023? Reach out if you'll be there! I'll report on my current work and dissertation findings.
• PASC23 was a blast! Lots of food for thought and many excellent opportunities for cross-disciplinary discussion about the future of scientific computing. Thanks to SIGHPC for the early career travel award! It was an honor to be part of the closing panel discussion
• Thanks to the Center for Open Science for inviting me to speak at their 10 year anniversary! Congratulations to COS on their decade of success.
• A case study of mine on theoretical sampling has been accepted at CHI23. This is the first publication from my dissertation work.
• On July 7, 2022 I successfully defended my PhD! A million thank yous to my commmittee, friends, family, and participants. I'm looking forward to the move to Utah.
• I'm looking forward to being a keynote speaker for the DOE sponsored Workshop on the Science of Scientific-Software Development and Use this December