Beatrys
Oi! I am Beatrys (Bya), an award-winning social scientist, educator, strategist and media-maker from Brazil.
I study the sociotechnical power dynamics of transnational digital media and artificial intelligence. I collaborate with activists and creators to produce data and stories that help organizations make informed decisions to resist oppression shaped by technology.
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Currently, I am a Ph.D. Candidate at Cornell University, in the Communication Department, where I'm supported by the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP) and a SUNY Fellowship.
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With over 13 years of experience, I help private and public organizations understand AI, digital culture, and emerging trends through research, education, and strategy.
Additionally, I explore the intersections of scientific inquiry through collaborative media making, documentary filmmaking, and speculative design.
The core of my research interests lies in the belief that it is possible to create technological ecologies otherwise alongside the most oppressed by it: to rethink current oppressive power dynamics underlying global algorithmic digital media ecosystems, through creating and exposing empirical evidence to scientific and broader publics. In particular, I research how sociotechnical arrangements shape minoritized people’s capacities for labor, authentic self-representation, and safe activism.
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My academic background is grounded in an interdisciplinary research approach, drawing on perspectives from Communication, Media Studies, Science and Technology Studies, Human-Computer Interaction and Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies. My scholarship is informed by theories of intersectional feminisms and decolonial/anti-colonial perspectives.
My dissertation investigates how highly visible, minoritized individuals are impacted by digital platforms, and how they are resisting, subverting, and bearing witness to the weaponization of platforms once imagined as tools for connection and community-building, but now increasingly used to silence and push out those working toward feminist futures and social justice.
Recent News!
January 2026​
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I am honored to have been selected as a member of the Cornell Chapter of the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society.
November 2025​
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My co-authored paper with André Peruzzo exploring misogyny against artificial intelligence assistants, is now out on IJoC!
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I am honored to have been awarded Cornell's Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures Graduate Student Research Grant!
October 2025​
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I had an incredible time at Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) 2025 in Niterói!
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Alice Marwick, Alex Ketchum, Adrienne Massanari, Rebekah Tromble and I presented a panel on Conducting Risky Research and Collective Risk Mitigation Strategies.
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Aspen Omapang, Nikko Stevens, Thiane Neves Barros, Polinho Mota and I also organized a panel on Resisting Epistemic Colonialisms and conducting research that is activist.
Talk to me!
I love meeting new folks to discuss potential collaborations or consulting projects — particularly those with a social justice focus and a shared interest in imagining more just futures <3
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​I welcome invitations for keynotes and am particularly dedicated to providing mentorship to students and researchers from underrepresented identities.
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Don't hesitate to reach out!