Janessa Pong

Janessa is a rising junior at the University of California, Los Angeles pursuing a BS in Cognitive Science with a Specialization in Computing, and minoring in Bioinformatics. She believes that psychology holds the power to ameliorate many of the world’s biggest problems, with climate change being one that she holds closest to her heart. It ultimately serves as a roadmap to why humans do what they do. Understanding this roadmap — our predispositions, biases, and instincts — are crucial to guiding people to make better choices for themselves, others, and our planet.

Janessa also has a strong interest in machine learning and AI: she believes that there is no ceiling to the power of data, and learning to reap the benefits will be massively impactful in the future. In the past, Janessa has worked as a Student Researcher at the UCLA Political Science Department, working with qualitative and quantitative data to investigate the nature of war.