Researchers

Dr. Arthur Porto is the Assistant Curator of Artificial Intelligence at the Florida Museum of Natural History. His research integrates artificial intelligence and evolutionary biology, focusing on the development of AI-assisted tools for processing biodiversity data. He has held academic positions at Louisiana State University and completed postdoctoral fellowships at Seattle Children’s Hospital and the University of Oslo. Dr. Porto has an extensive publication record and has been recognized with numerous grants and awards for his contributions to the fields of AI and evolutionary biology.

Bree Shi is a fourth year PhD student studying Bioinformatics with Minors in Machine Learning and Higher education. She holds many prestigious awards such as the following: The GEM Ph.D Engineering and Science Fellowship Issued by The National GEM Consortium, STEM Diversity PhD Fellowship Issued by Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity, GAANN Biology Fellowship Issued by U.S. Department of Education. Before becoming a PhD student at Georgia Tech, Bree earned her master’s in Mathematics from University of Minnesota where she earned Diversity of Views and Experiences Fellowship and her Mathematics BS degree at Stetson University.

Roman Dombrovski is a full-stack engineer and technical lead at Beanfield, and currently a part-time masters student in Computer science at Georgia Tech. With a background in Chemistry, Roman brings a unique blend of scientific analytical thinking to tackle complex engineering problems. As a technical lead, he has led his team to developing scalable and efficient software to drive business growth within the competitive telecom market. He often finds time to lecture at Seneca college in Computer science and Bioinformatics. In his free time, Roman enjoys reading science fiction novels, playing volleyball and snowboarding.

Thomas Deatherage is a software engineer based in Georgia. He has worked as a developer at companies ranging from very large to small startups. Additionally, Thomas has been a developer and researcher with HAAG since its inception in the summer of 2024. He expects to complete her master’s degree at Georgia Tech sometime next year.

Benjamin Yu is an Engineering Manager at Twitch and recently completed his OMSCS Master’s Degree in Computer Science, specializing in Machine Learning. He is passionate about machine learning, generative art, cooking, and distance running. With 10 years of experience in the tech industry, Benjamin has worked for Amazon, Twitch, and several startups. He will also be joining the NLP Letters team.

Elan Grossman is a recent graduate of Georgia Tech’s Master of Computer Science following his Bachelors in Physics from the same. He is a native resident of Atlanta and works in AI Consulting and Innovation Engineering. For fun, Elan enjoys cycling on the Beltline and practicing Jui-Jitsu. Elan is a part of the Natural Florida History Museum team.

Jacob Shimer is a Lead Software Engineer at Two-Six Technologies and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at Georgia Tech through the OMSCS program, specializing in Interactive Intelligence. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Maryland Global Campus while serving as an active duty soldier. Jacob is part of the Natural Florida History Museum team and serves as one of the webmasters for the research group. Outside of his professional and academic pursuits, he coaches soccer and lacrosse for his kids and enjoys woodworking, exploring new technologies, and both playing and developing video games.