Lingzi Hong

Associate Professor in College of Information at UNT

Lab Introduction

The Human-Centered Computing (HCC) Lab, led by Dr. Lingzi Hong, conducts interdisciplinary research on human-centered artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and human–AI interaction. The lab develops and evaluates AI systems for applications including crisis communication and disaster management, misinformation intervention, information organization, and AI-assisted decision support.

Lab members come from diverse academic backgrounds and include Ph.D. students in Computer Science, Information Science, and Data Science, as well as master’s students, undergraduate researchers, and students from the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science (TAMS). This multidisciplinary environment supports collaboration across technical, social, and application-oriented perspectives.

Current Graduate Students

Xiaoying

Xiaoying Song

Xiaoying is currently pursuing a PhD in Data Science at the University of North Texas (UNT), where she also serves as a research assistant. She holds a Master's degree in Information Science from Central China Normal University. Her research focuses on natural language processing and computational social science, with particular interests in online misbehavior, misinformation intervention, and large language model–based communication. She joined the lab in Fall 2023.

Email: XiaoyingSong at my.unt.edu

Sharon

Sharon Perez

Sharon is currently a PhD Student in Data Science at the University of North Texas (UNT) supported by a Fulbright grant. She came from Panama, with two master's degrees—one in Higher Education specialized in Technology and Educational Didactics from UTP, Panama, and another in Computer Science with a focus on Computer Methods applied to Management from Paris Sud XI, France. She is deeply passionate about technology, teaching, and leveraging education and research to address social inequalities. Her commitment is rooted in improving the challenging circumstances of her home country, which grapples with significant disparities. She joined the lab in Fall 2023.

Email: SharonPerez at my.unt.edu

Meseret

Meseret Zeleke

Meseret Zeleke is a PhD student specializing in data science within the information science program at the University of North Texas. Originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, she earned her master’s degree in information systems from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, USA. Afterward, she joined an information technology consulting company in the data and analytics sector to gain industry experience. As a dedicated learner, Meseret aims to bridge the gap in research in social computing, providing valuable insights to inform decision-making, foster innovation, and address societal challenges. She joined the lab in Spring 2024.

Email: MeseretZeleke at my.unt.edu

Mohotarema

Mohotarema Rashid

Mohotarema Rashid is currently pursuing PhD in Data Science at the University of North Texas (UNT). After completing her BBA and MBA degrees in Finance from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, she started her career as a finance executive in the corporate sector. Before joining UNT, she served as an assistant professor of Finance in Bangladesh. Currently, she worked as a TA, RA, and TF at UNT. She is passionate about leveraging her financial knowledge with data science methods to do interdisciplinary research. Her research interests include financial misinformation, social computing, computational linguistics, information behavior, and legal informatics.

Email: MohotaremaRashid at my.unt.edu

Jinyu

Jinyu Liu

Jinyu is a Master student in Computer Science at UNT. He earned a B.S. in Information & Computing Science from Sichuan Agricultural University. His research focuses on developing AI-driven applications and systems, particularly large language model applications for information organization. His broader interests include computational linguistics, question answering, multimodal large language models. He once contributed to a corporate-university project by creating a cross-platform front-end interface for an inventory management system.

Email: JinyuLiu at my.unt.edu

Anirban

Anirban Saha Anik

Anirban is a M.S. Data Science student at UNT with a strong background in Computer Science and Engineering from American International University-Bangladesh. His research interests include medical data analysis, machine learning, and Large Language Model (LLM). Here is his LinkedIn and Google Scholar page.

Email: AnirbanSahaAnik at my.unt.edu

Alumni


Funding

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for our projects!

Inclusive Services to Enhance Immigrants' Resilience to Crisis [Project Website]

Funded by the IMLS National Leadership Grants: LG-256661-OLS-24 (NLGL: $415,366, PI:Lingzi Hong, Co-PI: Ana Roeschley, Yunfei Du)

Gauging Library Needs for Advanced AI-Assisted Cataloging [Project Website]

Funded by the IMLS National Leadership Grants: LG-256666-OLS-24 (NLGL: $132,759, PI:Lingzi Hong, Co-PI: Jason Thomale)

Data Literacy Needs and Scale Development [Project Website]

Funded by the IMLS Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program. Phase 1: Student Data Literacy Needs in Community Colleges: Perceptions of Librarians, Students, and Faculty RE-252374-OLS-22 (Laura Bush: $118,996,PI: Jeonghyun Kim, Co-PI: Lingzi Hong, Sarah Evans). Phase 2: Building Community College Library Capacity for Supporting Students' Data Literacy Needs RE-256673-OLS-24 (Laura Bush: $249,998, PI:Jeonghyun Kim, Co-PI: Lingzi Hong, Brady Lund)

Supported by

Institute of Museum and Library Services