I have been a lot of things in a lot of places. When I was 19 years old a senior manager at the GIS company Esri told me, “You are going places.” She was right, both figuratively and literally. But across all the places my work has taken me, what remains constant is my passion for designing and managing responsible digital systems that promote social equity. Bridging the government, non-profit, community association, and healthcare sectors, I turn a critical eye to data governance, AI policy, smart cities, and other digital infrastructures, in order to put them more squarely into public service.
I am an Affiliate Professor at University of Washington Bothell, an Adjunct Professor at University of Calgary, a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, and a ‘23-24 AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow. Over the last few years I have become more involved in AI policy. My AAAS fellowship was at the National Science Foundation’s National AI Research Institutes, and I am a Global Ambassador for the Global Council for Responsible AI. I am also on the United Nations University Global AI Network, sat on the US National Institute of Standards and Technology Working Group on Generative AI, and was an affiliate of the Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law and Society.
My work has always been community-driven. I have worked with city governments, community associations, non-profits, and international governance agencies around technology issues. I have helped design neighborhood redevelopment plans, led Calgary’s open data transformation project, and co-chaired the Data Hubs Task Force of the Alberta Non-profit Data Strategy.
Before returning to Seattle in 2024, I worked for 8 years at University of Calgary, and prior to that a year as a visiting professor at the wonderful Temple University, teaching courses in web mapping and GIScience. My Ph.D. is from University of Washington, where I worked with Sarah Elwood. I did my master’s degree research in Geography at San Diego State University (2009), where I worked with André Skupin to visualize people’s perceptions of San Diego neighborhoods. Going even further back, in 2006 I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Eastern Kentucky University with an honors B.A. in Geography.
But most importantly, I am more than my academic interests. In the past I was a music reviewer for the website The Sights and Sounds (RIP!), specializing in ambient, experimental, and minimal electronic music. I run a lot - in May 2025 I won first place in the Pigtails 100 mile ultramarathon, and have run several other marathons and ultramarathons. I have read a good number of the Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels, and I’m still working my way through it. I love backpacking, tea, technology, and photography. I would like to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro before the permanent snow melts. If I could go back in history to meet someone, I wouldn’t go far - probably mid-1920s and meet ee cummings.
gmail:
burnsr77[at]gmail[dot]com
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