One Kennesaw State researcher is using data science to help address social issues, such as discrimination and hunger, by applying her researching skills to various community and academic projects.
Before her recent graduation from KSU, Mizzani Walker-Holmes worked on classified projects for Google, ADP and IBM. Throughout her work, Walker-Holmes has used data science to tackle various social issues, and she believes that the field’s duty is to directly address these issues.
“When it comes to solving and addressing social issues, I think it is crucial for scientists to listen to what is needed and ask what they can do to help possibly solve it instead of innovating just for the sake of it,” Walker-Holmes said.
One project Walker-Holmes worked on was “Food for Thought,” a project in collaboration with the Atlanta Community Food Bank.
“In this project, my colleagues and I took an interdisciplinary approach [by] incorporating decision science, public health, policy, math and stats, economics and political science to further help non-profit organizations and community partners to address and solve debilitating social issues such as hunger, discrimination in housing and urban development and gaps in environmental sustainability,” Walker-Holmes said.
She also presented at multiple conferences, including the Bloomberg Data for Good Exchange in New York, the ASEE Engineering Southeastern Conference in Florida, the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students in Indiana and several others.
“During my time as an undergraduate researcher, I was able to attend and present my work at thirteen conferences fully funded, my most recent being ABRCMS,” Walker-Holmes said. “At ABRCMS I presented my research that dealt with Biomedical Data Visualization and focused on using Machine Learning and AI to analyze large scale biomedical datasets and harness key knowledge in order to better understand disease mechanisms and automate the detection of genomic irregularities.”
In using her background to create meaning for others, Walker-Holmes was able to gain invaluable experiences at KSU.
“I believe college teaches you how to think but research gives you the opportunity to take what you have learned and apply it to creating something meaningful,” Walker-Holmes said. “I firmly believe that the greatest research experiences are those that make you think beyond your present understanding and push you to drive impactful change within your field and the world.”
Walker-Holmes was introduced to KSU when she attended a summer advanced college prep program on campus at 15 years old. She described the program, which focused on mentorship and research methods, as “immersive, dynamic and selective.”
In 2015, Walker-Holmes was able to begin her college career at Southern Polytechnic State University.
“When the merger occurred, I decided to continue my studies at KSU and took on leadership roles that allowed me to actively work towards helping bridge the gap between the two campuses,” Walker-Holmes said.
At KSU, Walker-Holmes served as an SGA senator.
“Being a member of this student-led, student-driven organization reinforced the importance of teamwork, the value of constructive communication and what it means to be a community leader and serve others,” Walker-Holmes said.
Walker-Holmes has no plans of slowing down after her graduation last semester, stating that she is already working on multiple publications and projects, but make no mistake — Walker-Holmes always makes time for fun.
“I have always valued balancing my academic, personal and professional pursuits,” Walker-Holmes said. “I think people really can have it all and shouldn’t have to choose being something over another. I am passionate about the outdoors, I’m an avid traveler, I enjoy riding my motorcycles … to and from school, I’m an active community leader and I even recently completed flight school to receive my sport pilots license. There are no limitations, just the ones that we place on ourselves.”
