Writing

Hi, I’m Megan Chiovaro. I have a Ph.D. in experimental psychology, and much of my work has focused on a question that keeps following me into new fields: How do we make sense of behavior in a complex, changing world? I’ve studied coordination and used data science and computational methods to find patterns in how people and systems work together.

I’ve also cared about the environment for as long as I can remember. I surf, dive, climb, and pick up trash whenever I find it on the beach. Lately, I’ve been thinking about how the tools I’ve used to study behavior might help us understand and protect the natural world.

That brings me to data and AI. I understand why people are wary of them. These tools can reinforce blind spots, give unwarranted confidence to bad conclusions, and cause real harm. I’m also an optimist: I think that, used thoughtfully and with the people affected by them involved, they can help communities ask better questions and make better decisions.

I’m writing about what we choose to observe, what our data leave out, and how those choices shape what we believe about ecosystems and our ability to care for them. Some pieces will be technical; others will begin with a question from the water, the field, or everyday life. My hope is to make these ideas accessible enough that more of us can take part in the conversation.

Let’s start with what we think we know.