Proceedings of the 2025 International Conference of The Computational Social Science Society of the Americas

Dr. Zining Yang is Senior Manager of Enterprise Information and Advanced Analytics at Southern California Edison. She also works as Adjunct Professor at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and La Sierra University. She sits on the Board of the Computational Social Science Society of the Americas (CSSSA) and serves as Scientific Advisory Board Member for Human Factors and Simulations. She received her Ph.D. in Computational and Applied Mathematics and Political Economy from Claremont Graduate University. Her research interests include modeling and simulation, complex adaptive systems, agent-based models, network analysis, data analytics, and machine learning. She has published numerous times in the fields of computer science, economics, public policy, and political science. She has won multiple awards from various organizations, including the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, International Social Computing, Behavioral Modeling and Prediction, and the International Institute of Informatics and Systemics. Most recently, she led her team to win first place in the Gartner Eye On Innovation Award for Power and Utilities.

Dr. Elizabeth von Briesen is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Elon University and is a member of the board of the Computational Social Science Society of the Americas. She received her Ph.D. in Computing and Informatics from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2020. Her research interests are focused on the study of complex adaptive systems using agent-based models, with a concentration on understanding social systems facing issues like identity-based conflict and food insecurity. Her simulations are informed by social science theory, as well as related data. Finally, in her current position, she strives to positively contribute toward the experience of her undergraduate students through her scholarship, mentoring, and teaching.