Christopher Danforth, PhD
Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Vermont; Co-directed the Computational Story Lab, University of Vermont; Associate Director of the Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont
Dr. Christopher Danforth is an applied mathematician interested in modeling large-scale sociotechnical systems. His research is focused on combining observational data, mathematical models, and computational simulations to understand and explain complex physical, biological, and social phenomena. Earlier in his career, he spent several years working in the field of Numerical Weather Prediction, developing algorithms for improving predictions of nonlinear phenomenon in the Earth's atmosphere using global weather models. More recently, his work has focused on social phenomena, including the development of real-time remote sensors of global sentiment and health. Dr. Danforth is a co-creator of the Hedonometer, an instrument that quantifies emotions around the globe using human evaluations of the billions of words written daily in social networks. He has also found predictors of depression in Instagram photos, and features suggested PTSD in tweets. Along with his collaborator Peter Dodds, Dr. Danforth co-directed the Computational Story Lab research group. Dr. Danforth is also the Associate Director of the Vermont Complex Systems Center. Dr. Danforth has published several studies on the quantification of human behavior using social media.