Expertise

Climate Finance; Climate Modeling; Data Modeling; Design Thinking; Information Seeking; Media Ecosystems; Mis/Disinformation

Education

SM in Comparative Media Studies, MIT; BA in Journalism, University of Georgia; BA in Romance Languages, University of Georgia

Biography

Aashka Dave is a PhD candidate in Information and Library Science at UNC Chapel Hill and an affiliate at UNC’s Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life. She is also enrolled in UNC’s Certificate in Innovation for the Public Good, and a Design Thinking and Innovation Fellow at Innovate Carolina.

Aashka’s dissertation research focuses on: (1) how people find and understand their financial risks due to climate change and climate finance data modeling, and (2) and the ways ESGs (Environmental, Social, and Governance) are used and communicated about in the climate finance space.

Aashka’s background is in journalism and media studies. Prior to UNC, she worked as a researcher and community manager at MIT’s Center for Civic Media, and as a researcher at the Harvard Kennedy School. Aashka has led projects studying the spread of mis/disinformation and online conversations about global development. She has also led workshops training journalists on best practices for covering mis/disinformation. She previously worked on digital projects at The Associated Press.

During her time at MIT, Aashka co-founded a project, Libremente, that developed and studied the use of digital mental health tools for disaster survivors. This project received funding from MIT’s IDEAS Competition and was mentored by MIT’s Enterprise Forum and Venture Mentoring Service.