Workshop presenters

Meet the people leading the session.

These are the presenters behind the three workshop modules and the follow-up materials shared here. Use this page when you want to reconnect with a specific topic, demo, or conversation after REACH.

University of Idaho

Barrie Robison

Workshop presenter

brobison@uidaho.edu

Credentials

Professor of Biology, Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Sciences, and Co-PI on the AI4RA NSF project.

Brief bio

Barrie Robison is a Professor of Biology at the University of Idaho and Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Sciences. He leads teams working across software development, databases, data science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, genomics, bioinformatics, web and mobile app development, and high-performance computing. He has been an active researcher at the University of Idaho for more than 20 years and is actively engaged in deploying generative AI in higher education and research administration contexts.

University of Idaho

Nathan Layman

Data Scientist, University of Idaho

nlayman@uidaho.edu

Credentials

Lead developer of an open-source data lakehouse for research administration, a unified data model for research administration, and an AI literacy course for research administrators to be hosted by NCURA. Lead contributor to the AI4RA blog and presenter at multiple national conferences on scaling AI adoption in research administration.

Brief bio

Nathan Layman is a Data Scientist at the University of Idaho and lead developer of an open-source data lakehouse for research administration, a unified data model for research administration, and an AI literacy course for research administrators to be hosted by NCURA. He leads data engineering efforts for the NSF-funded AI4RA project, integrating institutional research data across higher education. He is a lead contributor to the AI4RA blog and has delivered multiple national conference presentations on scaling AI adoption in research administration. He holds a PhD in Biology from Washington State University, where he specialized in evolutionary theory, applying Bayesian modeling and machine learning to complex biological and public health challenges, with expertise in computer vision and natural language processing.

Southern Utah University

Nathan Wiggins

Workshop presenter

nathanwiggins@suu.edu

Credentials

Data Scientist, Southern Utah University.

Brief bio

Nathan Wiggins is the Data Scientist for the Sponsored Programs, Agreements, Research, and Contracts (SPARC) office at Southern Utah University (SUU). He specializes in developing advanced spreadsheet systems, assisting with artificial intelligence adoption, and business-process optimization through operations research. Nathan serves as a member of the REACH Community Advisory Board.