Summer 2026

[Student name] is studying [major] at [school].

Laura Schmidt is the Program Administrator, Community-Centered Data Science at the Data Science Institute. Prior to joining the DSI team, she worked as the Research Program Coordinator for the Community Science and Innovation for Environmental Justice initiative at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, providing administrative support and leading cross-functional coordination for citizen-led environmental and public health research. Laura holds years of experience within research administration, youth programming, community engagement and science education. She graduated from St. Mary’s College of Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies.

Susan Paykin is the Senior Associate Director, Community-Centered Data Science, at the DSI, where she oversees social impact and strategic partnership initiatives across the organization’s research, education, and engagement. She is also the Program Lead of the Open Spatial Lab where she leads geospatial data science projects and partner engagement. Susan was previously the Research Manager at the Center for Spatial Data Science at UChicago and has served in leadership roles for environmental and social impact organizations. She holds a Master in Public Policy (M.P.P) from the Harris School of Public Policy at University of Chicago and a B.A. from Brandeis University.