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Rebecca Nesson
Lead Software Developer
Public Radio Exchange (prx.org)
50 Church Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Email
rebeccanesson at gmail.com
nesson at prx.org
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Education
- Ph.D., Harvard University, Computer Science, June, 2009.
Dissertation: Synchronous and Multicomponent Tree-Adjoining Grammars: Complexity, Algorithms, and Applications (abstract)
- J.D. cum laude, Harvard Law School, 2001
- A.B. magna cum laude, Harvard College, 1998
Peer-Reviewed Academic Publications
- Rebecca Nesson, Giorgio Satta, and Stuart Shieber. Complexity, Parsing, and Factorization of Tree-Local Multi-Component Tree-Adjoining Grammar. Forthcoming in Computational
Linguistics. Also available as Technical Report TR-05-08, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2008. [.pdf]
- Rebecca Nesson, Giorgio Satta, and Stuart Shieber. Optimal k-arization of Synchronous Tree-Adjoining Grammar. In Proceedings of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL-2008), Columbus, OH. June, 2008. [(preprint) .pdf]
- Rebecca Nesson and Stuart Shieber. Synchronous Vector-TAG for Natural Language Syntax and Semantics. In Proceedings of the Ninth International Workshop on Tree Adjoining Grammars and Related Formalisms (TAG+ 9), Tübingen, Germany, 7-8 June 2008. [(preprint) .pdf]
- Rebecca Nesson and Stuart Shieber. Extraction Phenomena in Synchronous
TAG Syntax and Semantics. In Dekai Wu and David
Chiang, editors, Proceedings of the Workshop on Syntax and Structure
in Statistical Translation,
Rochester, New York, 26 April 2007. [.pdf|bib]
- Rebecca Nesson, Stuart M. Shieber, and Alexander Rush. Induction of
probabilistic synchronous tree-insertion grammars for machine translation.
In Proceedings of the 7th Conference of the Association for Machine
Translation in the Americas (AMTA 2006), Boston, Massachusetts,
8-12 August 2006. [.pdf|bib]
- Rebecca Nesson and Stuart M. Shieber. Simpler TAG semantics through
synchronization. In Proceedings of the 11th Conference on Formal
Grammar,
Malaga, Spain, 29-30 July 2006. [.pdf|bib]
- Rebecca Nesson, Alexander Rush, and Stuart M. Shieber. Induction of
probabilistic synchronous tree-insertion grammars. Technical Report
TR-20-05, Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA, 2005. [.pdf|bib]
- Rebecca Nesson and Charles Nesson. In the Virtual Classroom: An Ethnographic Argument for Education in Virtual Worlds. Space and Culture. Sage Publications. 2008. [(preprint) .pdf]
Work Experience
Public Radio Exchange (2009 - present)
I am a software developer for the Public Radio Exchange (prx.org), a non-profit online marketplace for distribution, review, and licensing of public radio programming and development shop for mobile and web applications that help public media go beyond broadcast. I am the lead developer for the Webby award winning This American Life iPhone app, the This American Life iPad app, the PRX Station App platform for iPhone (on which we have applications for WBUR, WGBH, KQED (forthcoming), KPBS (forthcoming), VPR (forthcoming), WQXR (forthcoming), and WNYC (forthcoming), and the KCRW Music iPad app which mines music resources from the Echonest, Last.fm, Soundcloud and the Internet at-large. I also contributed substantially to the development of the This American Life Android application. In addition to web application programming in Ruby on Rails for the main prx.org web site, I also develop Ruby on Rails backend applications that support our mobile applications. My work on the above projects includes interfacing with clients, developing wireframes and working with designers, architecting the applications, and executing the development.
Teaching Experience
- Head Teaching Fellow, CS287r: Natural Language Processing, Harvard University, Spring 2008, Spring 2006.
- Head Teaching Fellow, CSCI S-111: Intensive Introduction to Computer Science Using Java, Harvard Summer School, Summer 2008, Summer 2007.
- Teaching Fellow, CS121: Theory of Computation, Harvard University, Fall 2007, Fall 2002.
- Head Teaching Fellow, CSCI S-1: Introduction to Computer Science Using Java, Harvard Summer School, Summer 2006, Summer 2005, Summer 2004.
- Teaching Fellow, CS187: Natural Language Processing, Harvard University, Fall 2003, Spring 2005.
- Head Teaching Fellow, Computer Science 51: Introduction to Computer Science II, Harvard University, Spring 2002
- Teaching Fellow, Computer Science 50: Introduction to Computer Science I, Harvard University, Fall
2001
- Instructor, Virtual Worlds, Harvard Extension School, Fall 2007.
- Instructor, CyberOne: Law in the
Court of Public Opinion, Harvard Extension School, Fall 2006.
- Internet & Society: the Technologies and Politics of Control, Harvard Extension School, Spring 2003, Spring 2002.
Other Projects and Software
- Sheep Beats: a Flash animated sequencer for teaching kids (and fun)
- Marketlist: a web-based ordering system that reduces the overhead for getting locally grown produce in to food markets.
Organic Community Farming
I am the president of the Board of Directors of Waltham Fields Community Farm, a non-profit farm offering fresh, local produce grown using organic sustainable methods. We offer extensive, high-quality educational and volunteer opportunities and provide large quantities of fresh produce to a variety of food access and hunger relief outlets.
Personal
I live in Cambridge with my husband Wayne and my daughters Nico and Charlie. Wayne and I are both born and raised in Cambridge and hope to stay here near our extended family.
