• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Alabama A&M University (2021)
• M.S. in Informatics from the University of California (2023)
• Ph.D. in Informatics from the University of California (2026)

Dr. Hicks conducts research in the areas of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), personal and health informatics, user experience, design, and human-centered artificial intelligence. She investigates how technologies mediate awareness, learning, and social interaction, combining design, data, and social practice to create systems that help people thrive and participate within broader social ecosystems. Her current research examines the use of wearable and mobile technologies supported by artificial intelligence to facilitate awareness of noise sensitivity experiences among people with noise sensitivity and their care networks. Before joining the University of Houston, she completed her Ph.D. in Informatics from the University of California, Irvine. 

• Emani Hicks, Luc Rieffel, Ariya Gowda, Aehong Min, and Gillian R Hayes. 2026. Collaboration and Assistive Technology: Facilitating Joint Awareness for Noise Sensitivity. In Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 283, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3793203
• Emani Hicks, Sohyeon Park, Avery Mavrovounioti, Weijie Du, Jialou Hu, Kade Na, Nathan Serrano, Rafael Carrillo Munoz, Elizabeth Ankrah, Aehong Min, Jazette Johnson, and Gillian R Hayes. 2025. Informing the Design of Mobile and Wearable Technology for Noise Sensitivity. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 9, 5, Article MHCI017 (September 2025), 26 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3743725
• Aehong Min, Kelli Dickerson, Sohyeon Park, Emani Hicks, Ariel Han, Jennifer Rubin, Ella Lombard, Katharine Chen, Riddhi Divanji, Candice Odgers, and Gillian Hayes. 2026. Perceptions of AI-Driven EdTech: Nationwide Survey and Focus Group Insights from Key End Users. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact. 33, 3, Article 30 (June 2026), 40 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3798278
• Emani Hicks, Aehong Min, Kelli Dickerson, Ariel Han, Jennifer Rubin, Ella Lombard, Katherine Chen, Riddhi Divanji, Candice Odgers, Gillian R. Hayes. (2026) GAI for the Classroom: Understanding Teacher and Teen Perspectives on Generative AI Integration Through Focus Group Insights. EDULEARN26 Proceedings, Article 2337.  https://doi.org/10.21125/edulearn.2026.2337