Laura Hand is an Associate Professor at the University of North Dakota. She holds an interdisciplinary position split between the Political Science & Public Administration department in the Nistler College of Business & Public Administration, and the Population Health department in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She teaches courses in the Master of Public Administration and Master of Public Health programs and serves as the Director of the MPA program. 

Laura’s research focuses on the use of technology in the public interest, examining how public organizations can assess AI-related technologies in order to predict, avoid, and mitigate potential harm prior to implementation using principles of data feminism. She is also interested in how automation affects public employees’ day-to-day tasks, necessary skills, and interactions with the people they serve. Her previous research investigated interpersonal interactions in Arizona’s WIC program, as well as social media interactions on Facebook by local governments and police agencies.