đź’ˇ Research Projectsđź’ˇ
(please contact me if you need to access an article: jenliu @ infosci.cornell.edu)
SwampNet: Alternative and Autonomous Communication Systems
SwampNet is a collaborative project started in 2023 to bring alternative and autonomous communications systems to Bvlbancha (New Orleans) and across the Gulf South. Our goal is to build and re-imagine communication infrastructures in times of emergency, change, and uncertainty. We aim to consider relations between data, place, and memory beyond extractive narratives and conditions. Partner organizations include Bvlbancha Liberation Radio, Community Tech NY, the Land Memory Band and Seed Exchange, and the Gulf South Open School.
More information can be found at swampnet.info, SwampNet Spring 2024 Zine, and SwampNet Summer 2024 Zine
Climate Change and Networked Infrastructures
My dissertation examines the practices of maintaining and repairing networked infrastructures in a time of overlapping social and ecological issues for coastal communities. While the Internet is a critical part of modern life, the work of keeping the Internet on in a world increasingly disrupted by climate change is not well understood. My project is situated in southeast Louisiana, where the ongoing legacy of oil extraction and petrochemical production has led to uneven development and deep socioeconomic disparities, while increased intensity of hurricanes causes damage to aging communication infrastructures. Visions of bridging the “digital divide” by state broadband initiatives are often limited in how they account for the material and political dimensions of last mile Internet infrastructures, the portion of the network that delivers services to end users, such as residents and businesses. My research draws on over 22 months of ethnographic and design research to show how the work of keeping networked infrastructures connected and re-connected in dynamic coastal landscapes requires that we navigate and attune to the pace of changing ecologies, temporalities, and communities.
(Forthcoming) Steve Jackson, Jen Liu, Ranjit Singh, Samir Passi. “Maintaining Data Infrastructures.” SAGE Handbook on Data & Society.
Jen Liu. 2023. Utility Poles of Southeast Louisiana Photo Zine
Digital agriculture
In recent years, the use of digital and computational technologies has expanded into the field of agriculture. In my research, I examine questions of who will have acess and will benefit from the development and deployment of these tools by drawing from histories of agricultural technology development. I focus particularly on the impact that these technologies will have on marginalized farming and rural communities in the United States.
Environmental Sensing and Knowledge Production
How can the design of computational tools and devices shape our interactions with the environment? I explored this question in my masters' thesis where I built a series of wearable tools for mushroom foraging that encourage intimate interactions with mushroom habitats while collecting data on fungi biodiversity. I also have lead workshops on making microbial fuel cells at Civic Art Lab (NYC) to rethink how we might reframe ways to design and power electronics that foster relationships with local ecologies.