Christian W
- Research Program Mentor
PhD candidate at Louisiana State University
Expertise
Spatial Data Science; Movement Ecology; Marine Biology; Fisheries Science
Bio
Hi! My name is Christian and I am currently a PhD Student researching fish movement at LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This means I'm interested in questions which have an interaction between space and behavior. For instance, does a fish use a particular part of the stream during the spawning season and other areas during other parts of year? While my dissertation focuses on fish, I would classify myself as a spatial scientist, my interests go far beyond fisheries. I've been sitting at a stoplight wondering why traffic accidents occur more frequently at some intersections than others. As a full-time it is important to have an outlet that is not scientific. In addition to spending time with my family, I am currently enjoying running, playing pickle-ball, and teasing my dog. A movie or game night with friends is a great way for me to unwind on the weekend.Project ideas
Spatial Variation in Air Quality across the United States
It is well known that air quality is an important matter of public health. By using publicly available datasets, the student will examine how air quality differs across the United States. Potential questions to explore include: How does average rainfall impact airborne pollutants? Does elevation play a role in pollutant load? These questions present an excellent avenue to lean about simple modeling, basic statistics, introduction to data analysis in R, Excel, or a another software. A more advanced exploration could include kernel density creation or statistical advanced modeling techniques. Potential outcomes include a poster for a science competition, a simple research paper, or an essay.
Relative Habitat Use of Captive Animals
Captive animal behavior may be different from behavior of a counterpart in the wild. If the student researcher would like hands-on experience they can go to the zoo several times and record behavior and locations of the animals in the enclosure. Examining this data could reveal if the animals are using particular areas of the enclosure more or for specific activities (sleeping, feeding, etc.). The student can create a heatmap of areas utilized and learn about recording data on animal behavior. End products could include an essay, poster, or blog post.