Sarah Shugars
Outstanding Graduate Student Award for Community Service
A computational social scientist and doctoral student in network science who focuses on civic engagement, Sarah has contributed enormously to the communities around her. Her network-science perspective inspires her to make connections and create new systems. For example, recognizing that incoming network science PhD students didn’t have all the basic skills presumed by this interdisciplinary program, Sarah worked with peers to create a one-week boot camp for entering doctoral students. This training program not only boasted an impressive curriculum but required her to coordinate complicated logistics regarding housing and funding. She is also a co-founder of the Society for Young Network Scientists and a co-organizer of the inaugural gathering of the caucus for Women in Network Science.