Professional Bio

Dr. Tegan Emerson is Chief Data Scientist in the National Security Directorate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and mathematics. She leads internal investments focused on accelerating scientific progress in AI research and knowledge—advancing how AI models are understood, evaluated, and applied to guide innovation and adoption in high-consequence settings. Dr. Emerson provides technical leadership for mission sponsors, with emphasis on computer vision and hyperspectral data analytics. Her work spans AI model evaluation and assurance, as well as the development of foundational data science capabilities that support the Department of Energy mission.

Her research includes representation learning, novel architectures, alternative learning objectives and paradigms, geometric and topological data analysis, dimensionality reduction, image processing, generative AI, and optimization. She maintains strong academic ties through a joint appointment at the University of Texas at El Paso, research collaborations, and sustained scientific community service, including an editorial role with Proceedings of Machine Learning Research. In 2021, Dr. Emerson co-founded the Topology, Algebra, and Geometry in Data Science research community and its associated conference series, helping convene and grow an international network that shapes research directions and strengthens the broader AI and data science ecosystem.