Dr. Casey Canfield, associate professor of engineering management and systems engineering, has been selected as a fellow for the Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS) Fellowship, a national two-year program to help researchers strengthen the impact of their work.

Canfield was chosen as one of five fellows. The fellowship includes professional development, national collaboration opportunities and a stipend. The University of Missouri developed the program to  broaden the impact of National Science Foundation grants.

“I’ve always had that goal in mind, of how I can have real-world impact and actually make the world a better place,” Canfield says. “I like to do research that directly speaks to problems that people have that they want solved.”

Canfield’s research focuses on how people interact with technology and how systems can be designed to better meet people’s needs. Her work spans areas such as artificial intelligence decision support in organ transplantation, renewable energy adoption and rural broadband infrastructure. A lot of her research draws from decision science and behavioral science to understand how people make choices related to technology.

A key part of her work is participatory research, where she collaborates with communities throughout the research process to make sure that solutions are effective. She says the ARIS Fellowship will help assist her with better strategies for collaboration.

“The idea is that you don’t have to wait until the end of a project to think about impact,” she says. “You can start at the beginning by working with the people who will ultimately use the results.”

The ARIS Fellowship brings researchers from across the United States to develop ways to translate research into societal benefits. They participate in national meetings and training focused on the broad impact of research, how to communicate results and building partnerships. 

Canfield says the experience will also help her support other faculty members and students at S&T in strengthening the value of their work.  

“I see this as an opportunity to be a leader and an example for others who want their research to have a meaningful impact,” she says.

Canfield’s career has always been guided by a desire to connect research with the public good. She serves on the advisory board for the Missouri Science and Technology Policy Fellowship Program, which connects scientists and engineers with state legislators to give insights on public policy decisions. She is also the past chair of the Midwest Regional Hub for the Public Interest Technology University Network. Before joining the faculty, she worked in the federal government through a science and technology policy fellowship in the U.S. Department of Energy.

“I’m excited about ways that I can help people have more societal impact for their research, but also have research that benefits the public good,” she says. “It will be helpful to have infrastructure, incentives and models in place to see what that looks like.”