First, please enjoy this watercolored Northern Flicker if you are viewing this site from your computer. If not, this majestic bird will be covered up by this text box, unfortunately. The Northern Flicker is one of my favorite birds.

Currently, I am a graduate student at MIT in the SEED Lab, funded through the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

I engage in community-led data-to-policy research.

I am a proponent of resource sharing, open source, and data autonomy.

Creating your personal open-source website is not only a form of artistic expression; it is also a form of resistance. You own your domain, your website, your words, your data. You are using your technology as a tool; no one behind the screen is using you.

This is an abridged version of a website-making workshop that I hosted for my buddies to create their own free, open-source websites to share their work with the world. You can read more in my original LinkedIn post. Here are some of my friends' websites that they made after the workshop or from this tutorial:

• Sienna Reid - kushxeet.com
• Harry Wojtas - harrisonwojtas.github.io

Let me know if you decide to create your own open-source website, I would love to share your work on my site as well.

Here’s a tutorial to learn about GitHub and started building your site:

Website Creation Workshop

Step 1: Create a GitHub Account

• Supplemental Slides: View PDF  |  Download PDF
• Go to GitHub and sign up for an account.
• Verify your email address.

Step 2: Download an HTML and CSS template or use Jekyll

• Visit a site such as HTML5 UP or Jekyll.
• Choose a template you like and click "Download".
• Extract the downloaded .zip file on your computer.

Step 3: Create a New GitHub Repository

• Log in to GitHub and click the + icon (top right), then select New repository.
• Name it yourname.github.io (replace yourname with your GitHub username).
• Set it to Public and click Create repository.

Step 4: Upload the Website Files to GitHub

• In your new repository, click Upload files.
• Drag and drop all extracted files from your HTML5 UP template.
• Click Commit changes to save.

Step 5: Enable GitHub Pages

• Go to Settings > Pages.
• Under Branch, select main and click Save.
• Your site will be available at https://yourname.github.io/ in a few minutes!

Step 6: Customize Your Website

• Edit the index.html file directly in GitHub or using a code editor like VS Code.
• Modify the text, links, and images to personalize your site.
• Commit changes to update your website live.

Tips

• Listen to some of your favorite tunes as you work on creating your dream website! I'm a huge NPR Tiny Desk fan myself.
• Look at some other websites for inspiration.