URECA Researcher of the Month Charlotte Cain Explores AI and Education

Charlotte Cain '27 - the URECA researcher of the month for August - is a computer science (honors) and applied mathematics and statistics double-major specializing in data science and artificial intelligence, whose dream is to pursue a PhD in computer science, focusing on the intersection between computer science and social behavioral science.

After working for only a few months under the mentorship of Zhichen Liu, assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, to investigate how generative AI may influence learning in engineering education settings, Cain applied for and was admitted to URECA-Explorations in STEM, a 10-week summer research program co-administered by URECA and the Career Center that supports students new to research.

"There are a lot of opportunities for undergraduates here, from the VIP teams to the independent research experiences. It's provided me with mentorship and lessons that you can't really learn in a classroom," Cain said.

On July 31, Cain presented a research poster on "Using natural language processing to study student interactions with generative AI chatbots" at the Summer Symposium, an event sponsored by URECA and the Center for Inclusive Education that featured 148 undergraduate research projects.

On campus, Cain is active on the Poli Tech VIP team, which conducts political informatics research. She serves as corresponding secretary for the Tau Beta Pi Honors Society, outreach coordinator for the Paper Airplanes Volunteering Club, and is the recipient of an IAP Study Abroad Scholarship for SUNY Korea.

Read the full interview with URECA Director Karen Kernan.