{"id":117,"date":"2020-09-05T21:48:13","date_gmt":"2020-09-05T21:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eliott-fernanda.cs.grinnell.edu\/home\/?page_id=117"},"modified":"2026-11-03T00:35:23","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T00:35:23","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/eliott-fernanda.cs.grinnell.edu\/home\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">\u00a0I am an Associate Professor of Computer Science at <span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.grinnell.edu\/user\/eliottfe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grinnell College,<\/a> founder of the \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/elbica.cs.grinnell.edu\/start-here\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ELBICA lab<\/a>,<\/span><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino;\">\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cognitivestudio.cs.grinnell.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"home noopener\">the Cognitive Robustness Research Studio<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino;\">,<\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino;\">and co-founder of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/aiaura.cs.grinnell.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AI Aura<\/a><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino;\">.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\"><strong>My research investigates intelligent decision-making across scales, from independent reinforcement learners in multi-agent systems to human cognition in hybrid agentic ecosystems.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">\u00a0 \u00a0Drawing on computer science, cognitive science, and philosophy, I study how intelligent agents learn, make decisions, and influence one another within larger systems. My work is strongly influenced by Antonio Damasio&#8217;s account of cognition, particularly the role of emotions and feelings in intelligent decision-making.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2268 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/eliott-fernanda.cs.grinnell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/diagram-1.png\" alt=\"Triangular diagram connecting three initiatives through the central question, \u201cHow does intelligent decision-making emerge across different scales?\u201d At the top, ELBICA Cognitively inspired computational approaches (Independent Learners, RL, MAS, Moral Reasoning). At the lower left, AI Aura Understand GenAI Systems\u2019 Societal Impacts. At the lower right, the Cognitive Robustness Studio focuses on strengthening human cognitive agency and untraining predictability. Dashed lines connect the three initiatives.\" width=\"743\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eliott-fernanda.cs.grinnell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/diagram-1.png 743w, https:\/\/eliott-fernanda.cs.grinnell.edu\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/diagram-1-300x188.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 743px) 100vw, 743px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><strong>For more info:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/elbica.cs.grinnell.edu\/start-here\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ELBICA Research Laboratory:<\/a> Computational research on independent learners, reinforcement learning, multi-agent systems, and cognitively inspired decision-making.\u00a0(email: eliottfe@grinnell.edu).<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cognitivestudio.cs.grinnell.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Cognitive Robustness Studio:<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0strengthening Human Cognitive Agency and robustness through untraining predictability.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/aiaura.cs.grinnell.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AI Aura:<\/a>\u00a0interdisciplinary critical inquiry into the social and cultural consequences of generative AI.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino;\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I completed my Postdoc training at Vanderbilt University. There, I was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/datascience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Data Science Institute (DSI)\u00a0<\/a>postdoctoral fellow affiliated with the Department of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/engineering.vanderbilt.edu\/eecs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Electrical Engineering and Computer Science<\/a>. I was a member of the AIVAS lab (<a href=\"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/aivaslab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Artificial Intelligence and Visual Analogical Systems<\/a>), the Vanderbilt Initiative in Data-intensive Astrophysics (<a href=\"http:\/\/astro.phy.vanderbilt.edu\/~vida\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">VIDA<\/a>), and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/autismandinnovation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Frist Center\u00a0<\/a>for Autism and Innovation.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I earned my Ph.D. and Master\u2019s in Science (Artificial Intelligence) from the Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA, Brazil), AIRGroup (Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Group), and my Bachelor&#8217;s and Licentiate&#8217;s degrees\u00a0in Philosophy (USP,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www5.usp.br\/#english\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">University of S\u00e3o Paulo<\/a>).<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;\"><strong>Research Interests:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;\">Cognitively Inspired Computational Approaches.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;\">Reinforcement Learning.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;\">Multi-Agent Systems.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;\">Moral Decision-making.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;\">Artificial Intelligence.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; font-family: georgia, palatino;\">I am genuinely thankful to my mentors: Drs. Kunda, Stassun, Stroud, and Vanderbilt University&#8217;s <a style=\"font-weight: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-weight ); background-color: #ffffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/datascience\/\">Data Science Institute (DSI)<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px; color: #3366ff;\"><strong>In the news<\/strong>: <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Eliott was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grinnell.edu\/news\/promotions-tenure-grinnell-faculty\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">promoted to associate professor<\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;\">Eliott was awarded the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grinnell.edu\/news\/dixuan-yujing-chen-fernanda-eliott-receive-harris-faculty-fellowships\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>prestigious Harris Faculty fellowship<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px; font-family: georgia, palatino;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.grinnell.edu\/news\/5-questions-fernanda-eliott\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">5 Questions With Fernanda Eliott<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.grinnell.edu\/news\/fernanda-eliott-named-scialog-fellow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fernanda Eliott Named Scialog Fellow<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px; font-family: georgia, palatino;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.grinnell.edu\/news\/exploring-artificial-intelligence-and-machine-learning\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Exploring Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px; font-family: georgia, palatino;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cmd-it.org\/news-recent\/an-interview-with-fernanda-eliott-tapia2021-student-posters-deputy-chair\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">An Interview with Fernanda Eliott, #Tapia2021 Student Posters Deputy Chair<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0I am an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Grinnell College, founder of the \u00a0ELBICA lab,\u00a0the Cognitive Robustness Research Studio,\u00a0and co-founder of the AI Aura. My research investigates intelligent decision-making across scales, from independent reinforcement learners in multi-agent systems to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/eliott-fernanda.cs.grinnell.edu\/home\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-117","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eliott-fernanda.cs.grinnell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eliott-fernanda.cs.grinnell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eliott-fernanda.cs.grinnell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eliott-fernanda.cs.grinnell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eliott-fernanda.cs.grinnell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/eliott-fernanda.cs.grinnell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2251,"href":"https:\/\/eliott-fernanda.cs.grinnell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/117\/revisions\/2251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eliott-fernanda.cs.grinnell.edu\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}