Bridget Algee, PhD 

In Conversation with Dr. Rajeev Kelkar

The U.S.-Mexico borderlands form a landscape of absence—inhabited only by the nameless, fragmented remains of missing migrants once in search of refuge el Norte. Algee argues that identifying these remains demands integrating scientific data—from biology and recovery contexts—with social insights into shifting gateways, historical migration patterns, migration drivers, and the weight of lived and inherited trauma on behaviors. This approach recognizes that to study the dead is to first understand the living. Algee posits it is critical to treat the deceased as whole, complex individuals, weaving together diverse data sources to reveal their lived experiences and motivations. This multidisciplinary strategy must incorporate communitybased engagement and confounding factors like public perception and political rhetoric. While probabilities dominate courtroom forensics, Algee contends that real-world success is a complex fusion of science and society. Holistic work holds the greatest potential to restore identities, uphold dignity, honor the living's wishes, and to support petitions for survivor safety in this humanitarian crisis.

This workshop challenges participants to redefine data, exploring the information embedded in how we narrate human experience, express trauma, and resolve emotions. Each participant will construct their own ofrenda—an altar to remember, honor, and celebrate the dead—and write a short contextual description of their work. This act serves as data on the individual, the dedicant, their interpretation of a larger cultural tradition, and the workshop's time and place. Ofrendas will contribute to the "Memory as Data" exhibition at CESTA in Spring quarter.

TALK | 5:30 p.m.
NETWORKING | 6:30p.m.
WORKSHOP | 7 p.m.

Registration required >> 
No virtual attendance due to the sensitive nature of this topic

About the Speaker

Dr. Bridget Algee is the Senior Associate Director of the CCSRE Research Institute and a computational biologist and anthropologist whose work advances social justice for underserved, immigrant and Indigenous, communities. Integrating data science with community-based research, she models complex patterns of human biology and behavior using genetic, skeletal, linguistic, and social-context data. As a forensic biologist, she supports medico-legal investigations to identify missing persons across the U.S., Latin America, Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

About the Series

(Delta)Data is a new CESTA Seminar series that invites academics and industry leaders to explore through a shared lens the evolving landscape of data and to advance the academic-private partnerships critical to the future of innovation.