She completed Ph.D. studies at The University of Texas in 2005. Her research interests include understanding the role of programming and data in journalism and the integration of technology in education. Her students have gone on to digital media careers at The New York Times, Austin American-Statesman, Blackbaud, Spredfast, Homeaway, SXSW, T3 and more. Royal hosts a music blog at onthatnote.com and a tech blog at tech.cindyroyal.net. She writes for Texas Music Magazine and co-founded the Austin chapters of Hacks/Hackers and Online News Association. Royal is currently in residence at Stanford University in the Knight Journalism Fellowship program, where she is working on a platform to teach journalists how to code. More information on her background and activities can be found at cindyroyal.com.