Chloe Rickards

Chloe Rickards

Data scientist, statistical programmer, and mathematical modeler. Rock climber and artist in my spare time.

Objective

I am a research analyst with the City College of San Francisco, working to improve the California community college experience with data-driven solutions. I come from a background of epidemiological statistics and ecological modeling. I am a creative problem solver, an artist, and a climber.

Current Position

Administrative Analyst - Office of Research and Planning at the City College of San Francisco

Education

University of California - Santa Cruz

M.S. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (Sept. 2022), Kilpatrick Lab

Stanford University

B.S. Bioengineering with Honors (June 2018), De Leo Lab

Portfolio Projects

Modeling a Gene Drive in the Schistosomiasis System

  • Tools Used: Python, Jupyter Notebook, Mathematical Modeling, Sensitivity Analysis

COVID-19 Infection Fatality Rates and Income Inequality

  • Tools Used: R, Shiny, Regression Analysis, Data Analysis

Compartmental Epidemiological Models

  • Tools Used: R, Shiny, Mathematical Modeling

Skills

Programming Languages: Python (NumPy, pandas, Matplotlib, Jupyter), R (tidyverse, ggplot, Shiny), SQL, Stan, MATLAB, Java, Markdown, LaTeX

Additional Skills: Statistical analysis, Bayesian inference, Markov chain Monte Carlo, Mathematical modeling, Data visualization, Science communication

Experience

Administrative Analyst, 02/2023 - present, City College of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

  • Assess patterns in enrollment, equity, and learning outcomes to promote instiutional effectiveness
  • Use SQL queries to retrieve information for easily-interpretable reports and data visualizations for faculty members and administrators to reference

Graduate Student Researcher, 09/2020 – 09/2022, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA

  • Estimated Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) of COVID-19 in early 2020 from publicly available case and death data, resulting in the first IFR estimate for a United States population
  • Inferred undiagnosed infections using a Bayesian framework, while still accounting for age differences and variances in incubation and reporting delay distributions
  • Compared global fatality rates to identify root causes for international differences in mortality outcomes, and found that income inequality is a major driving factor for mortality outcomes for people aged 40-60
  • 1st author on resulting publication; in review, with a preprint available at: https://bit.ly/3abTiVg

Postbac Student Researcher, 11/2019–08/2020, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

  • Aggregated qualitative data on the lifespans and environmental persistence of 150 parasites and pathogens; found that diseases with environmental components are more difficult to control and eradicate
  • Published findings available at: https://bit.ly/3c30owl

Undergraduate Student Researcher, 06/2015 – 06/2018, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

  • Constructed a stochastic model of the population genetics of the freshwater snail responsible for transmitting schistosomiasis, a Neglected Tropical Disease and a disease of poverty
  • Projected theoretical changes to local disease burden after introducing a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene drive designed to confer resistance to the snail hosts
  • Findings in review, with a preprint available at: https://bit.ly/3Mxg4oa

Teaching Assistant, 09/2020 – 08/2022, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA

  • BIOE 109: Evolution, Fall 2020
  • BIOE 107: Ecology, Spring 2021
  • COSMOS: Entomology, Summer 2022

Podcast Producer, 09/2021 - 10/2022, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA

  • Interviewed local biologists and conservationists for the Santa Cruz Naturalist podcast
  • Mixed and edited podcast content to air on a local radio station for a general audience

MINT Program Mentor, 09/2021-06/2022, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA

  • Mentored undergraduate students in the process of applying to graduate schools
  • Provided undergraduate students with opportunities to gain lab and field experience

Awards

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Winner (2020)

University of California Santa Cruz Regent’s Fellowship (2020)

Coha-Gunderson Prize in Speculative Futures (2022)

Publications

For more information about my publications, including abstracts and links to the PDFs, please click here