My Research Expertise Public Services
Environmental Protection
The primary research area is water quality, predicting environmental parameters that affect the water quality of the Susquehanna River Basin. This Research study funded by the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology Presidential Research Grant Award of 2020 in collaboration with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), an official government agency funded in 1970, has innovated a new data-driven tool for SRBC to measure and predict the Specific Conductance of water using their historical data. One of the highlights of this research was developing a Machine Learning model and integrating the model’s daily predictions into a Geographic Information System (GIS) tool for SRBC to use and monitor daily. This GIS and ML Dashboard provides a decision support tool for accurate decision-making within the Environmental Protection Program of SRBC.
Education
My Research scope in Education ranges from developing systems that enhance citizens' knowledge acquisition and equity to applying state-of-the-art AI to identify language patterns among English Language Learners (ELL). One area is to innovate the current circulation system of Public Libraries to enable effective allocation of library resources and operations by using a Machine Learning model to predict library checkouts. Second Research area contributed to the National Science Foundation (NSF) AI Institute for Inclusive Intelligent Technologies for Education (INVITE) grant by enabling Large Language Models (LLMs) benchmarking using AWS Bedrock to label psychological construct traits in ELL Students' chat logs. Introducing AI techniques to innovate the Public Education System and bring forth EdTech innovations has become a long-term goal and interest in my research.
Healthcare
My thesis, "An Open-Source application built with R Programming Language for Clinical Laboratories to Innovate Process of Excellence and Overcome the Uncertain Outlook during Global Healthcare Crisis," presents a data-driven tool (R Shiny Application) that I coded and designed using R Programming. This tool is directed for a small-sized Clinical Laboratory to enhance a data-driven perspective into the strategic objectives of these organizations during the global healthcare crisis (COVID-19 Pandemic). Further research and new versions of the existing prototype will be developed integrating cloud computing capability and storage, as well as its application within small-sized Clinical Laboratories.
Journal Peer-Reviewed Publications
Journal Publications (Peer-Reviewed)
M. H. Rivero, O. Cosgun, B. Cankaya, E. Yunnus. “Water Quality Prediction with Machine Learning and XAI (Explainable Artificial Intelligence) Techniques in the San Joaquin Valley Region” 2024 International Journal of Information and Decision Sciences. Affiliated Institutions: Harrisburg University of Science and Technology & Montclair State University.
Full Research Paper, Best Paper & Journal Chapter
S. Aram, M. H. Rivero, N. K. Pahuja, R. Sadeghian, J. L. R. Paulino, M. Meyer, J. Shallenberger. “Data-driven Environmental Management: A Digital Prototype Dashboard to Analyze and Monitor the Precipitation on Susquehanna River Basin” Springer Nature Research Book Series: Advances in Data Science and Information Engineering (Springer), 2020.
Award-Winning Research Paper
S. Aram, M. H. Rivero, N. K. Pahuja, R. Sadeghian, J. L. R. Paulino, M. Meyer, J. Shallenberger. “Multi-Environmental Parameters Dashboard for Susquehanna River Basin using Machine Learning Techniques.” In Conference Proceedings IEEE Computer Society & Conference Publishing Services (CPS), 2020,
Short Research Paper
N.K. Pahuja, M.H. Rivero, “A data-driven approach to efficient library management: Predicting library checkout using Machine Learning.” In Conference Proceedings International Conference of Artificial Intelligence (ICAI), 2021.
Poster Publication
T. Ober, S. Zhang, D. Zapata-Rivera, N. Shroeder, M.H. Rivero, “Comparing Different LLM Types for Extraction of Persistence Indicators from Student’s Dialogues with a Pedagogical Agent”, Educational Testing Services (ETS), In Abstract to Conference Proceedings 2025 Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT)
O. Cosgun, M.H. Rivero “Integrating AI and Multivariate Analysis for Urban Water Quality Management: A Case Study from San Joaquin Valley” Abstract submitted to the 4th SURE World Conference 2025, Istanbul, Turkey, Abstract Book p.88
Maria H. Rivero, “An Open-Source Application Built with R Programming Language for Clinical Laboratories to Innovate Process Of Excellence And Overcome The Uncertain Outlook During The Global Healthcare Crisis”, in IEEE Computer Society & Conference Publishing Services (CPS), 2020.
Media & Press Releases
Radio Interview (Industry Related)
“La Doctora María Helena Rivero, especialista en Data Science, Machine Learning e Inteligencia Artificial habla para Radio Fórmula Monterrey.” Entrevista de Radio con Locutor y Periodista Gregorio Martínez,Radio Fórmula Monterrey. February 16th, 2022. Watch Recording Monterrey, Mexico.
International Newspaper Article Release (Industry Related)
“Ciencia con perspective de género.” Artículo, Sección Opinión por Lucía Quiroga, pp.13 Read More El Universal Querétaro,February 7th, 2022. Querétaro, Mexico.
“Data Science y Decisiones Incluyentes.” Columna Invitada, Sección Mente Mujer, pp. 27 Read More El Heraldo de México, January 10th, 2022, Mexico City, Mexico.
Government of Pennsylvania Press Release
“Wolf Administration Honors 13 Projects Statewide with 2021 Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence.” Read More Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) of Pennsylvania. October 2021, USA.
Conferences Presentations Recordings
“Accelerating Analytics Adoption Through a Co-Created Vision & Strategy” Watch Recording Data Analytics Summit 2021, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. June 23-24, 2021, USA.
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology Press Release
“HU Receives Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence” Read More Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. October 2021, USA.
“HU Susquehanna River Research Receives Best Paper Award at International Conference” Read More Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. October 2020, USA.
“HU Susquehanna River Research Accepted for Publication” Read More Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. September 2020, USA.
Webinars & Meetups
Meetups (Industry Related)
“Claves para comprender el valor de Machine Learning en las organizaciones.” Guest Speaker & Panel Member invited by MCoder.AI. April 6th, 2022. Watch Recording Mexico City, Mexico.