Name: Ebenezer Fatunsin
Pronouns: He/him/his
Institution: University of Alabama
Department: Biological Sciences
Biography:
My name is Ebenezer Fatunsin, a doctoral student of Ecology and Biostatistics at the Department of Biological Sciences, the University of Alabama. My research centers on computing and analytical skills to solve knotty ecology problems. I have a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in forestry at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria where I graduated with a GPA of 3.64 on a scale of 4.0. I emerged as the best graduating student in my class of 2016/2017 academic year. I have hands-on experience with programming, geographical and statistical software like R, Python, GIS, SPSS and Microsoft Excel. II recently presented a poster on modeling spatial pattern of climate and topography on productivity of forests in the southeastern United States at the Ecological Forecasting Initiative (EFI) unconference at the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) headquarters, Boulder, Colorado state, USA. This study used a mix of GIS and R to model the effects of climate change on the Alabama forests’ terrain. After my Ph.D. program, I plan to pick up a job as a university faculty, where I would continue to conduct high-level computing research and publish my results to reach and benefit my world-at-large.
Academic Status: PhD Student
Year in program: 2nd
Research Area/Department: Biology; Data Science
Other, specify:
Major/Specialty: Biostatistics Ecology
Degrees Earned or in Progress: Bachelor’s degree (Agricultural science) Master’s degree (Forestry) Ph.D. in progress (Biology)
What courses or academic preparation have you completed to prepare for a summer internship experience?
I have completed Advanced Statistics in Biological Sciences I have completed Applied Regression Analysis I have completed Geographical Information System (GIS) with Python built-in I have good knowledge of Python programming language.
Have you published any research or worked on research/technical projects? Yes
Where has your research been published or where have you conducted research/technical projects? Fatunsin, E.O. and Staudhammer, C.L. (2023). Modeling spatial pattern of climate and topographical effect on forests in southeastern USA Fatunsin, E.O. (2020). Technical Assessment of Wood Species Utilized for Roofing in Ado-Ekiti. Proceedings of 7th NSCB Biodiversity Conference, October 2020, pp256-261.
Please describe your research/academic interests:
My research interests include but are not limited to: 1. Biological statistics is my central research focus where I currently examine the relationship between forest structure and climatic changes as it affects forest productivity. 2. Statistical programming and computing using software like R, Python, GIS, etc. are my research tools and programming languages. 3. Data analytics and visualization.
Computational and Data Science Areas:
Computational Science Applications, i.e., Bioscience, Cosmology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Nanotechnology, Climate, etc.; Computer Science; Data Analytics and Visualization; Machine Learning and AI
Research Synergy:
Data science will help me as a forestry professional and Biostatistician to make predictions and gain insights that can help me achieve sustainability goals. For example, data science can help: 1. Predict forest structure parameters using remote sensing data which is what I am currently studying. 2. Flag suspicious timber imports by analyzing trade data. 3. Address problems such as forestland acquisition, carbon sequestration, and ecosystem services
Motivation:
I am highly motivated for participating in this program. The knowledge I would acquire will hasten and broaden my career goals.
Lightning Talk Title: Mitigating Climate Change Through Data Science