Natacha Crooks

Natacha Crooks is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on Database Management Systems (DBMS) and Operating Systems & Networking (OSNT). She is affiliated with the Berkeley Center for Responsible, Decentralized Intelligence (RDI) and the Sky Computing Lab (Sky). Crooks holds a Ph.D. in Distributed Systems from the University of Texas and a BA in Computer Science and Law from the University of Cambridge. She teaches courses such as CS 186: Introduction to Database Systems. Her work includes contributions to distributed systems and robustness through algebraic properties.

Natacha Crooks is a researcher at UC Berkeley specializing in Distributed Systems. Her work focuses on advancing scalable, private, and secure data processing systems. She has published extensively on topics such as causal consistency, BFT (Byzantine Fault Tolerance), and oblivious storage. Her research includes the development of systems like Musketeer, Popcorn, and Snoopy, which aim to improve performance, privacy, and reliability in distributed environments. Crooks also explores the intersection of distributed systems with emerging technologies like AI and cloud computing, emphasizing the need for robust, modular, and agent-first data systems.