Vrinda Malhotra
I’m a PhD student in Computational Sciences & Informatics at George Mason University, advised by Robert Axtell. I build computational models that combine agent-based modeling (ABM) with machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to study trust, information flows, and governance in socio-technical systems.
Research interests: ABM, Computational Social Science, Trust & Governance, Misinformation, NLP, ML, Climate & Policy.
Recent News
- 2026 - Accepted to attend Santa Fe Institute’s Graduate Workshop in May 2026!
- 2026 — Modeling Misinformation as a Commons Problem to be published at ANNSIM2026. arXiv link coming soon.
- 2026 — Silicone A/B Testing for Emergency Alerts to be presented at ACM CHI’s PoliSim Workshop.
- 2025 — AgentZero++: Modeling Fear-Based Behavior in Social Systems awarded Best Paper at CSS2025. arXiv
Current Projects
- Misinformation as a Commons Problem — modeling trust and attention as shared resources, examining extraction dynamics in information ecosystems, and evaluating governance interventions for epistemic resilience.
- Conspiracy and Propaganda Evolution — modeling narrative shift from conspiracy to propaganda and vice-a-versa via temporal semantic drift and frame analysis.
- Climate-Related Policy Analysis — NLP for ocean-acidification policy intent classification and governance-gap mapping.
- Climate Migration ABM — simulating household adaptation strategies under climate stress and socioeconomic differentials.