EDUCATION
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA (August 2012 – May 2015)
- Master of Science (M.S.) Human-Computer Interaction
- Advisors: Robert Kraut and Laura Dabbish
University of Oxford, Oxford, England, UK (October 2009 – September 2010)
- Master of Science (M.Sc.) Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology
- Master’s Thesis Title: Communication Modalities and Human Social Bonding: Happiness, Laughter, and “Media Naturalness”
- Master’s Thesis Supervisor: Sam Roberts
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA (August 2004 – May 2008)
- Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) Cognitive Science (Concentration in Evolved Minds)
- Correlate: Hispanic Studies
- Undergraduate Thesis Title: Human Sex Differences in Skin Conductance as a Function of Domain-Specific Deception
- Undergraduate Thesis Supervisors: Gwen Broude and Randolph Cornelius
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Getafe, Spain (August 2006 – January 2007)
- Vassar-Wesleyan Study Abroad Program in Hispanic Studies
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
UX Researcher, User Experience Research, Facebook, Inc., Menlo Park, CA, USA (June 2015 – Sept 2017)
PhD Student/Researcher, Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA (August 2012 – May 2015)
UX Research Intern, User Experience Research, Facebook, Inc., Menlo Park, CA, USA (June 2014 – August 2014); Manager/mentor: Brennan Browne
Research Assistant, Center on Aging, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA (November 2011 – July 2012); Managers: Chin Chin Lee and Sara Czaja
Visiting Scholar, School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, UK (October 2010 – December 2010); Supervisors: Sam Roberts and Robin Dunbar
Research Assistant, Cognitive Science Program, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA (January 2007 – May 2008); Supervisors: Janet Andrews and Kenneth Livingston
URSI Fellow, Undergraduate Research Summer Institute (URSI), Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA (May 2006 – August 2006 & May 2007 – August 2007); Supervisors: Janet Andrews and Kenneth Livingston
Gerritsen, D.B., Olsen, J.K., Tasse, D., Vlahovic, T.A., Gulotta, R., Odom, W., Wiese, J., & Zimmerman, J. (2016). Mailing Archived Emails As Postcards: Probing the Value of Virtual Collections. Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. San Jose, CA, USA. [PDF] [ACM link]
Czaja, S.J., Sabbag, S., Lee, C.C., Schulz, R., Lang, S., Vlahovic, T., Jaret, A., & Thurston, C. (2015). Concerns about aging and caregiving among middle-aged and older lesbian and gay adults. Aging and Mental Health. [Link]
Vlahovic, T.A., Wang, Y.C., Kraut, R.E., & Levine, J.M. (2014). Support Matching and Satisfaction in an Online Breast Cancer Support Community. In CHI’14: Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Toronto, CA. (Best Paper Honorable Mention Award) [PDF] [ACM link] [Slides]
Vlahovic, T.A., Roberts, S., & Dunbar, R. (2012). Effects of Duration and Laughter on Subjective Happiness within Different Modes of Communication. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 17, 436-450. [PDF]
CONFERENCE POSTERS
Wang, Y.C., Wen, M., Vlahovic, T.A., Kraut, R.E., Levine, J.M., & Rosé, C.P. (June 2014). Social Dynamics in Online Cancer Support Groups. Poster to be presented at the 7th Biennial Cancer Survivorship Research Conference. Atlanta, GA, USA.
Vlahovic, T.A., Roberts, S.G.B, & Dunbar, R.I.M. (July 2013). “Media Naturalness Theory” and Human Social Bonding. Poster presented at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society Conference. Miami Beach, Florida, USA. (This poster presents the same set of findings as the March 2013 EHBEA poster listed below.) [PDF]
Roberts, S., Vlahovic, T., & Dunbar, R. (March 2013). The social brain hypothesis and technology: Does using computer mediated communication relax the constraints on social network size? Poster presented at the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association Conference. Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Andrews, J., Livingston, K., Bliss, D., & Vlahovic, T. (July 2008). Effects of Category Learning on Similarity of Line Stimuli Representing Social Groups. Poster presented at the 30th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Washington, DC, USA. [Link]
HONORS AND AWARDS
Carnegie Mellon Usable Privacy and Security Doctoral Training Program Fellowship, CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA (August 2012 – May 2015)
Best Paper Honorable Mention Award (for being in the top 5% of CHI 2014 submissions), CHI 2014, Toronto, CA (April 2014)
Nicola Knight Dissertation Prize in Quantitative Methods, School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, UK (October 2010)
Visiting Scholar for Michaelmas Term, School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, UK (October 2010 – December 2010)
Segal Education Award, Corporation for National and Community Service, Washington, DC, USA (September 2009)
Maguire Fellowship for Study Abroad, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA (March 2009)
Phi Beta Kappa Society, Vassar College Chapter, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA (May 2008 – Present)
Departmental Honors (Cognitive Science), Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA (May 2008)
General Honors, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA (May 2008)
Psi Chi Honor Society in Psychology, Vassar College Chapter, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA (May 2007 – Present)
IN THE NEWS
“CMU Plans Strong Showing at CHI2014” (March 10, 2014). [Link]
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Reviewer, CSCW (ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing)
- CSCW 2016 & 2015 (Recognized by Program Committee for one or more excellent reviews)
Reviewer, CHI (ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems)
- CHI 2016
Conference student volunteer
- CSCW 2015; CHI 2013
COMMUNITY SERVICE
AmeriCorps VISTA Expansion Specialist, Educate Tomorrow, Corp., Miami, FL, USA (August 2008 – August 2009)
SKILLS
Research methods: 1:1 in-depth interviews; intercepts; contextual inquiry; focus groups; surveys; diary studies; experimental design
Programming languages: R (intermediate), SQL (basic)
Spoken languages: English (fluent); Spanish (proficient in reading, writing, and speaking)
