UC Berkeley School of Information

Dr. Kate Metcalf has been appointed as an assistant professor at UC Berkeley’s School of Information. She began her role on July 1, 2026. 

Metcalf’s research focuses on the production of health and science knowledge through data, and she often pulls from disciplines such as science & technology studies, critical data studies, and the history and sociology of genetics. Her work has earned her a technology grant from the Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative (BESI) for the upcoming year to study the political economy of technology.

We spoke to Professor Metcalf about data practices, her interests outside of teaching, and more.

At this year’s ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (ACM FAccT), UC Berkeley School of Information Ph.D. student Lauren Chambers and Professor Diag Davenport received a Best Paper Honorable Mention for their paper on the subject, titled “Putting the ‘Practice’ in Critical Technical Practice: A Decision-Making Pedagogy for the Public Interest Technology Clinic.” The research examines how these clinics help students build the skillsets and confidence to make decisions in their projects and beyond.