How do we use big data to solve important problems?

Physicist and Senior Data Scientist @ Physicists and Senior Data Scientist on Verifii project: - Develop physics based models, algorithms, and statistical methods of signal analysis related to radiation dosimetry From October 2015 to Present (3 months) Postdoctoral Researcher @ - Geophysical data science - Statistical and Geodetic seismology - "Extreme events”: Scale invariant phenomena, natural hazards, anthropogenic disasters, geo-physical data science. - Grant Proposal writing: Contributed to several NSF and NASA proposals; authored independent fellowship and "early career"​ proposals. Projects: -NASA QuakeSim and E-DECIDER projects, Dept. of Energy (DOE) Damage and fracture research. -Virtual Quake/California Earthquake simulator (VQ): - GitHub: https://github.com/geodynamics/vq - Simulator development (C++, Python, MPI) - Data mining - Python/C++ extension based data mining toolkit development - Synpsis: VQ is a boundary element, fault type earthquake simulator. The primary benefits of the simulator are that we can 1) produce extended, ~10,000 + year, earthquake catalogs from which we can directly calculate the statistics of large earthquakes, 2) sort and partition the data to isolate individual rupture sources, and 3) modify the physics and fault geometry in order to conduct specialized experiments. My roles in the project include incorporating the correct physics into the simulator, the development of production-grade code for both the simulator and analytical tools, designing experiments with the simulator and analyses of the data, publishing papers, and overseeing development activities. - Data modeling, numerical simulations: - Model validation and verification - Physical and statistical model constraints - Seismic hazard analytics, statistical models of earthquakes, seismicity sequences, fracture mechanism, and other advanced scientific statistical methods. - “Invasion percolation” based damage propagation model related to hydro-fracturing, earthquake rupture, and wildfire propagation. - Short, medium, and long term earthquake forecasting. Produce web-based and other automated tools related to scientific publications. From January 2012 to Present (4 years) Associate, Informatics for bioStratica @ Data science and informatics solutions engineering. From November 2013 to Present (2 years 2 months) Python Specialist/Data Scientist @ Data modeling, intelligent algorithms, data science. Relevant skill-set: Data intensive Python and C++ development, Oracle and SQL, advanced database technologies including Cassandra. From February 2014 to July 2014 (6 months) Lecturer/Instructor @ Teaching GEL-17, "Earthquakes and other Hazards,"​ a review type course discussing natural hazards, hazard engineering, and the makings of a "disaster" from hazard: The cost, in both lives and property, incurred from natural disasters is a direct threat to sustainability. Some examples: Combined, the 2004 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami and the 2010 Haiti earthquake resulted in over 500,000 deaths and many billions of dollars in damage. The 2008 Wenshuan earthquake in China killed over 70,000 people and completely destroyed several towns in the mountainous region; Hurricane Katrina (2005) resulted in over $108 billion in damages, and the 1900 hurricane in Galveston killed over 8,000 people. While we cannot stop earthquakes, volcanoes, and hurricanes, by understanding these natural hazards -- even on a very basic level, we can significantly mitigate losses and save lives. This course strives to develop a basic literacy of the physics and Earth science behind these various natural hazard and also discusses means by which exposure to them can be mitigated. From September 2013 to February 2014 (6 months) Instructor of Physics @ Taught introductory physics to, primarily, nursing, industrial arts, and biological science majors. The primary objective of the course was to develop strong critical thinking and problem solving skills, as opposed to simply plugging numbers into equations. An additional objective was for students to develop confidence in the face of unfamiliar challenges, for example to understand that equations are not (always) scary; rather they are a compact way of presenting certain types of information. From September 2012 to December 2012 (4 months) Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant @ Statistical physics and natural hazards science: wildfire dynamics, seismic hazard, operational earthquake forecasting. From September 2005 to December 2011 (6 years 4 months) Software Developer/Systems Analyst @ Summary: Industry software development is driven by customer demand. Customers demand products that work dependably, are easy to use, and that save them time and money. Software development involves a pipe-line that starts with proof of concept and terminates with extensive QA testing and an *on time* release into production. Data driven, web (or mobile) based products are often built on top of a complex back end infrastructure; it is critical for a good developer to consider not only the project at hand, but the versatility and scalability of this infrastructure to efficiently support new products in the future. - Production grade code and software - Customer driven product specifications, collaboration with executive and product teams - Product design: A simple front-end masking a complex back-end infrastructure - Developed and supported health care informatics products and data services - Developed secure online documents delivery system, significantly reducing end-of-quarter printing and mail delivery requirements. - Streamlined deployed client software to mitigate tech. support requirements. - MS SQL 2000+ database administration and business logic development. - Stand alone applications, application components, back-end database infrastructure, web applications, reports development using Visual Basic, Visual Fox Pro, Transact SQL, Visual InterDev (ASP, HTML, DHTML, Java Script, VB Script), Business Objects. - Software and SQL business logic QA - Designed Security and Disaster Prevention/Recovery systems, Y2K, HIPAA policies - LAN Administration, network security, Lotus Notes Admin, MS SQL 2000 DBA; Streamlined tech support procedures, SW deployment, SW configuration, and SW design to reduce support related call volume and workload From November 1999 to June 2005 (5 years 8 months) Santa Barbara, California AreaIT Support Specialist @ Rolled out several hundred new workstations to Electronic Warfare Division engineers, provided technical support to sensitive accounts. From August 1999 to November 1999 (4 months) Support Specialist, Product Engineer @ Product design, Crystal Reports, Software/hardware/database support, systems installation. From May 1999 to August 1999 (4 months) Desktop support technician @ General desktop support. Supported a broad spectrum of hardware and software including Windows, NetWare, MS Office, Lotus Notes, People Soft, Zeta-Fax, Ethernet, Token Ring, various Main Frame interfaces, Remote Access issues. From January 1998 to October 1998 (10 months) Night mainframe operator, network administrator @ Duties included operation of a Unisys ClearPath Mainframe running ITI banking software, Windows NT admin, PC support, HTML Authoring, fault-tolerance, network, and backup solutions. From November 1996 to September 1997 (11 months) Snowboard instructor @ "Your snowboard doesn't care what you think or what you want; your snowboard only obeys the laws of Physics. Fortunately, the laws of physics are very predictable. On the other hand, they are quite unforgiving." When possible, I liked to teach little lessons in Physics in the context of snowboarding. One of my principal strategies was to break the sport down into its very fundamental components -- in other words, find the simplicity in this very complex sport. From November 1996 to June 1997 (8 months) Undergraduate Research Assistant @ (various appointments) Scientific workflow and data management. Developed scientific databases and interactive database applications to expedite research. Observational/Experimental Cosmology (Prof. Phil Lubin, UCSB Fall 2004 - Summer 2005): Worked primarily with a bolometry group to build infrastructure and develop techniques to micro-fabricate superconducting bolometers. Worked with electronics, software development, machine shop, and organized the timely development of necessary components by a team of graduate and undergraduate students. Used visual and UV laser frequencies to dissociate and ionize alkali molecules and atoms. Studied time of flight and yield spectra to explore resonant structures and paths to ionization. Conducted experiments, maintained equipment, worked with electronics, constructed theoretical models, analyzed data. From October 1994 to October 1995 (1 year 1 month)

PhD, Physics @ University of California, Davis Department of Physics From 2005 to 2011 BA, Physics and the liberal arts @ Wesleyan University From 1992 to 1996 Shasta High School From 1988 to 1992 Mark Yoder is skilled in: Research, Analysis, Programming, Higher Education, Data Analysis, Statistics, Writing, Databases, C++, Python, Mathematics, SQL, Science, Technical Writing, Matlab