Shweta U. Narkar
Shweta U. Narkar, Ph.D.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute RARE Center

I work at the intersection of AI and science, building systems that can represent, reason over, and explain complex scientific knowledge. My research combines knowledge graphs, ontologies, and machine learning to make experimental data in prebiotic chemistry interpretable and reusable.

RPInarkas2@rpi.edu personalshweta.3695@gmail.com
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Research
POLO Ontology
Prebiotic Origins of Life Ontology for experimental prebiotic chemistry. Enables FAIR data, semantic reasoning, and reproducibility over 200+ experiments.
OntologyOWL/RDFSPARQL
XAI for Model Selection
Applying explainability techniques to support interactive model comparison in AutoML systems. Helps data scientists evaluate candidates beyond performance metrics.
XAISHAPAutoMLHuman-in-the-loop
XAI for Scientific Discovery
Applying interpretability methods to geochemistry datasets to make model predictions transparent and actionable for domain scientists.
XAIScientific ML
Knowledge Graphs
Designing and deploying OWL/RDF/SPARQL knowledge graphs for scientific data, enabling structured querying, provenance tracking, and interoperability.
Knowledge GraphsData ProvenanceFAIR
Publications
Model LineUpper: Supporting Interactive Model Comparison at Multiple Levels for AutoML IUI 2021 cited by 42
Narkar S.U., Zhang Y., Liao Q.V., Wang D., Weisz J.D.  ·  ACM IUI 2021  ·  ACM  ·  arXiv
Cluster analysis of presolar silicon carbide grains: Evaluation of their classification and astrophysical implications ApJL 2021 cited by 26
Boujibar A., Howell S., Zhang S., Hystad G., Prabhu A., Liu N., Stephan T., Narkar S.U., Eleish A., Morrison S.M., Hazen R.M., Nittler L.R.  ·  The Astrophysical Journal Letters 907(2), L39
POLO: A Prebiotic Origins of Life Ontology for experimental chemistry in prep
Narkar S.U., Riggi V.S., Hendler J.A., Rogers K.L.  ·  Targeting ISWC
A data framework for reproducible prebiotic chemistry experiments in prep
In preparation
Analysis paper in prep
In preparation
Education & Experience
Postdoctoral Research Associate 2025 – present
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute  ·  Advisors: Dr. James A. Hendler & Dr. Karyn L. Rogers
ML Research Intern 2020
IBM Research AI, Yorktown Heights, NY
Developed Model LineUpper, an interactive XAI system for AutoML model comparison. Published at ACM IUI 2021.
Ph.D., Multidisciplinary Science 2025
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
Dissertation: Enriching experimental prebiotic chemistry through semantics and computational technologies.
M.S., Data Science and Analytics Prior
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
B.E., Computer Engineering Prior
Cummins College of Engineering, University of Pune, India
Skills
Core strengths
Explainable AI Knowledge Graphs Scientific ML Ontology Engineering OWL · RDF · SPARQL
Additional
LLMs Python SHAP FAIR Data Data Provenance
Shweta U. Narkar  ·  Troy, NY  ·  narkas2@rpi.edu  ·  shweta.3695@gmail.com