I am interested in biological problems that require both computational and statistical methods. I started out doing tropical ecology. Then I was a software tester for a while, where I learned programming. I took a bunch of statistics classes at night (two of my favorites were Bayesian Statistics and Stochastic Simulation). I am a fan of open source collaboration and plan on using software engineering techniques like automated testing, version control and continuous integration in my future research. Here are some things I want to learn more about:
- Bayesian hierarchical modeling and probabilistic graphical models
- Bayesian nonparametrics, including all the stochastic processes theory beneath it (Dirichlet processes, etc)
- Nonparametric and semiparametric statistics in general
- Variational Inference- I find this an intriguing alternative to MCMC
- Spatial Statistics (I love looking at maps)
- How does the choice of projection affect things? Is there a way to do 3-D spatial