Our Team

Christopher J. Karr

Technology Director

Prior to BRIC, Chris founded a successful research software consultancy (Audacious Software), where he served research clients for over fifteen years creating open-source platforms, frameworks, and methodologies to tackle research challenges in psychology, political science, economics, and health care. He earned his master's degree from Northwestern University's Media, Technology & Society program, where his work focused on context-aware computing powered by passive sensing and machine learning. In addition to his research work, he has also served as the CTO for two technology startups.

Ericka Menchen-Trevino, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Ericka earned her Ph.D. in Media, Technology, and Society from Northwestern University, where she created software to collect digital trace data from the web and used it in a multi-method study of political polarization. This led to faculty positions at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and at American University in Washington, D.C. She co-founded BRIC in Chicago in 2024 to deliver innovative methodological solutions and consultation to researchers across the social and behavioral sciences. She also lectures at the University of Illinois at Chicago.