I'm a programmer and a writer, a researcher and a community manager, and a lot of other things besides. I care deeply about openness: open science, open government, open source software.

I'm also fascinated by complexity. How do we make use of the massive scientific and medical literature, and how do we manage systemic bias within it? How do we architect software projects - technically and organizationally - so that large communities of people can contribute? How do we make our governments more responsive and representative?

I currently work for edX on their open source team. I'm a developer advocate, which means I focus on helping internal and external developers work together to improve and extend the platform.

In the recent past I ran a technology consulting business, Galaxy Rise Consulting. I worked primarily with individuals and small organizations to address their technical needs, whether that meant building websites and plugins, analyzing datasets, or documenting messy code. The business is on indefinite hiatus while I'm at edX.

Before that, I conducted social psychology research, managed an open source outreach non-profit, ran debates and mock trials and puzzle hunts and sheep brain dissections for kids, compiled meta-analyses of medical research for patients, and even wrangled monkeys.

I'm always interested in potential collaborations, so if you have an idea or an opportunity, please get in touch.

Last year, I asked some of my colleagues to collaborate on an open recommendation letter for a fellowship application. I've excerpted my favorite part:

"Shauna gets things done, from running events to building useful technology and sharing knowledge, and always empowers others in the process. She is a shining example of the potential of empathy + technology + open communities to change the world."