Check out some of the skills I maintain, the papers I’ve published, and work I’ve been involved in below. You can also scope out my LinkedIn. I’m looking for work that uses data (big or small) to make the world a better place– bonus points if the data is spatial in nature!
Key Skills
Data Wrangling, Big and Small
- 4 Years of quantitative research experience in a professional environment
- 3 years coding full-time in R, developing scripts, writing packages and tutorials
- R, SQL, ESRI software suite, postGIS, Python for ArcGIS, Tableau
- Using parallel processing techniques to wrangle large quantities of data
- Adapting small area methods to understand uncertainty around sparse data
- Synthesizing publically-available and private/sensitive information
- Using remote-sensing and satellite imagery for scientific inference
- GitHub/Version Control
Communicating Data
- Author of MapSuite, an R Package on Spatio-temporal mapping for publication maps and Shiny visualizations
- Teaching experience in technical environments- designed and run workshops on the MapSuite package, instructor for basics of ArcGIS, Tableau, and the fundamentals of spatial data analysis
- Comfortable presenting work to a variety of audiences (from technical presentations for colleagues and collaborators, to undergraduate classrooms, and talking about maximum likelihood theory over happy hour)
- Engaging public speaker (check out a 45 minute guest lecture on data science for an undergraduate audience on YouTube here)
- Involved in academic research since 2010, resulting in publications in high-impact peer-reviewed journals, with press coverage from news outlets such as FiveThirtyEight, CNN, Vice, and The Seattle Times. See Google Scholar for a full listing of publications.
Education
Masters of Arts, Geography, 2017.
University of Washington.
Recipient of Department of Geography’s Edward L. Ullman Masters Student Award, for “written presentation of high quality scholarship culminating in a significant contribution to knowledge.”
Post Bachelor Fellow, 2014-2016.
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
From the program description: “The PBF program combines academic research, education, and professional work with progressive on-the-job training and mentoring from a renowned group of professors and researchers. Through research, training workshops, coursework, and field experience in developing countries, the program aims to produce the next generation of scholars and leaders in global health measurement and evaluation.”
Bachelor of Arts
Geography, 2013. University of Colorado at Boulder.
Employment
Researcher
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Sept 2016- August 2017.
Developed code and methods for research pertaining to child growth failure (stunting, wasting, and underweight) at 5km-5km grid level in Africa, using the combination of on-the- ground household surveys and remotely sensed data in spatio-temporal models. This work was published in Nature, and can be found here.
Teaching Assistant
Geography Department, University of Washington, Sept 2016-March 2017.
Orchestrating practical hands-on experience during lab sessions on introductory GIS and statistics, including the basics of the ESRI software suite, SPSS, and Tableau. Courses: Geodemographics (GEOG 245) and Spatial Analysis (GEOG 317).
Post-Bachelor Fellow
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Sept 2014- Sept 2016.
Full-time research position developing and applying quantitative methods for the spatio-temporal analysis, fusing publically available and restricted use data to generate small area estimations of disease burden. Projects included analysis of mortality and morbidity patterns at the county and census tract level in the United States, and machine learning algorithms for survey-based validation of remotely-sensed meteorological events in Africa, and estimated of health indicators in the districts of Zambia.
Student Research Participant
National Renewable Energy Labs, May 2014- August 2014.
Performed geospatial analytics on vector and raster data, programing for GIS, and generated data visualizations related to renewable energy science during internship with the Geospatial Data Science team. Developed and adapted code using ArcGIS, Python, R, and postGIS/MySQL.
Research Assistant
Institute of Behavioral Sciences at the University of Colorado, May 2013-August 2014.
Generated new evidence describing the impact of neighborhood racial composition on health, as part of a team of scientists. Developed novel geospatial algorithms to integrate demographic information with restricted public health data, extracted information to link patients’ neighborhoods with health outcomes while protecting personally identifiable information (PII) by generating a programmatic “black box” to be run on-site at the Research Data Center in DC.
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant
Geography Department, University of Colorado, January 2013-May 2013.
Instructed portions of Intro to GIS course for University of Colorado's Geography Department. Helped students understand concepts, troubleshot problems, and advised projects.
Conservation Science Intern
The Nature Conservancy, Sept 2012-January 2013.
Created cohesive management plans that detail long- and short-term goals, monitored procedures and ecological values for properties owned and easements managed by The Conservancy.
Environmental Educator/Naturalist
Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, June 2011-August 2011.
Led interpretive and environmental education programs for the public and assisted with management of the visitor center and 25-acre nature preserve.
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Biology Department, University of Colorado, January 2010-August 2010.
Documented, monitored, and assessed field collected local pollinator decline. Collected, identified, and data processed bumblebee samples throughout Boulder County for academic research.
Leadership and Community Involvement
Instructor for Ski and Snowboard Crevasse Rescue Course, The Mountaineers, Spring 2016.
Instructs students on safe practices for traveling in glaciated terrain. Leads discussion and practice of advanced crevasse self-rescue methods.
Mountain Search and Rescue Team Member, Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, January 2013-September 2014.
Responded to emergencies on vertical and mountainous terrain throughout Boulder County, CO, provided first aid and evacuation. Worked as an integral part of a team to solve critical problems in high-stress and consequence environments. Created and implemented system for geospatial data transfer system between field teams and FEMA for time sensitive for decision-making and resource allocation during Boulder County's 100-year flood in September 2013.
President and Founder of Wilderness Medical Subsidy Program
Hiking Club at the University of Colorado, 2012.
Gear Reviewer
Backpacker Magazine and Active Interest Media, October 2011- Current.
Provides feedback on new equipment in the form of written reviews and digital multimedia based on extensive outdoors experience and field tests. Covered the Outdoor Retailer Show (an outdoor business showcase) in January of 2013 as a member of the Backpacker Reader Reporter team. Featured as “Hero”; in May of 2012’s Backpacker Magazine article describing a mountaineering accident and my achievements to acquire funding for wilderness medical training for my peers.
Publications
See my work in journals such as Nature and JAMA, at this separate post here.