Researcher: Sara Stoudt (Assistant Professor of Mathematics)
Many ecological questions require hard-won data, but thanks to participation from community members on a variety of nature apps like iNaturalist, eBird, and eButterfly, there is more and more data available for a variety of species, across longer time scales and broader spatial extents. However, this data is collected in a less systematic way, so there are limitations for its use for statistical modeling. Sara Stoudt, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, works with ecologists to find creative ways to make this data usable for scientific research. Along the way, they learn about both the animals and the data collectors themselves.