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Amy N. Yates (Fed)

Data Scientist

Amy N. Yates, PhD, is a data scientist with a passion for science communication and outreach. Her research areas have included artificial intelligence (AI), biometrics, and forensics. She has greatly contributed to our understanding of the accuracy of forensic facial examiners and have given insight into how to improve face recognition systems overall.

She is greatly enthusiastic about communicating science to broader audiences, regardless of technical background, performing outreach in both her professional role as well as her personal life. She endeavors to not allow differences in backgrounds to exclude anyone from understanding and participating in science.

Awards

U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal Award 2020
The highest honorary award given by the Department of Commerce, awarded for groundbreaking measurements and standards for algorithms that have transformed face recognition technologies

NIST Bronze Medal Award 2021
The highest honorary award given by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, awarded for groundbreaking improvements in measurement science that advanced forensic detection and analysis of altered videos, audio, and imagery

Federal Identity (FedID) Service and Leadership Award 2022
Awarded for substantive guidance and leadership to the federal identity community as part of the NIST Image Group

Publications

NIST Explainable AI Workshop Summary

Author(s)
P. Jonathon Phillips, Carina Hahn, Peter Fontana, Amy Yates, Matthew Smith
This report represents a summary of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Explainable Artificial Intelligence (AI) Workshop, which NIST held...

Data and Software Publications

Facial feature prioritization by forensic specialists

Author(s)
Carina A. Hahn, P. Jonathon Phillips, John D. Grantham, Amy N. Yates
This dataset contains behavioral data from 27 facial identification specialists over 24 experimental trials. In each trial, participants were presented with two face images of different identities and
Created May 31, 2018, Updated July 29, 2026
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