I love learning.
I am curious and analytical.
From an early age I had an affinity for animals. As a child I often used to go to bed with a beetle held in my curled-up fingers. Some of my friends and family call me an ‘animal whisperer’.
My love of animals led me to study zoology, ecology and conservation at university. In my postgraduate studies I focussed on species conservation and science-based conservation policy. My PhD studies landed me my first job working as a scientist in the Gauteng Provincial government of South Africa. My responsibilities involved reviewing Environmental Impact Assessments, reviewing permit applications for reptiles and amphibians, and contributing to the drafting of national conservation legislation. In other conservation-related work, I taught conservation and statistics courses at university level and have been fortunate to work with incredible colleagues on a diverse set of conservation projects.
In the course of my research I became interested in open source development. I was initially intrigued by the out-sized benefits which open source software offered for conservation research and planning but my gaze inexorably widened. The amazing #Rstats community on Twitter opened my eyes to a heart-warming diversity of open source projects and purposes.
I decided that I want to build useful open source tools for public consumption. To learn these skills, I pursued a more general career in data science and now work as a Senior Data Scientist at Fathom Data.
My professional goal is to build tools that turn data into a public good. In doing so, I hope to emulate those who have encouraged and inspired me.