Marsalis received his bachelors from the University of California, Berkeley, and is currently pursuing his PhD at Berkeley in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. His research focuses on the properties of machine learning models and the systems that integrate them as they relate to security; he studies how to effectively apply machine learning to a variety of domain areas. His work has been published in top conferences (ICRA, TRB to name a few). It has been supported by the NSF Graduate Research fellowship, Cal Cybersecurity Grant, the Gates Millenium scholarship, and other awards.

Marsalis has been active as a community volunteer. He volunteered for an LGBTQ Center in Oakland, CA to served as a group facilitator for its Black Men’s affinity group, and has served in leadership for his school’s NSBE-affiliated chapter. Additionally, he, along with 3 other graduate colleagues, collaborated with a local intermediary policy organization to organize a discussion panel on science, exploitative institutions, and community centered futures. Aside from this, he has also served as an art designer for Berkeley’s Science Review magazine, where he created digital illustration and AI-generated illustration for their online blog pieces.