Hi there citizen of the Internet! My name is Esra’a, pleasure to meet you!

I am a Computer Science PhD Researcher / Student at Mila and the University of Montreal. Prior to that, I completed a Computer Science Masters at the University of Alberta, AMII and the RLAI Lab, as well as a Computer Science Bachelor’s with a minor in Math at Carleton University.

My interests are in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. I have been enjoying working on algorithms at the intersection of reinforcement learning, world modelling and exploration. In applications, I like problems that have no known human solutions or problems that have a large potential for social good. Examples include problems in drug discovery, climate change, public policy, automated theorem proving in mathematics, agentic dev tools for gaining efficiency, and general robotics for science labs.

Outside of my direct research activities, I love mentoring aspiring Computer Scientists, downhill skiing, tinkering with electronics, and creative writing! I also strongly believe in the principles of open science in all aspects from open collaboration to open data. I currently serve as a Cohere Labs open science community lead to further this cause.