Resume

Summary

  • Leveraging 7+ years of data science expertise to drive business decisions and scientific discovery spanning genomics, geospatial applications, and commercial decisions.
  • Demonstrated 8+ years of project leadership, from project inception to effectively communicating results with actionable outcomes.
  • Proven ability to enhance organizational effectiveness through enabling impactful decision-making with data-guided insights
  • Skilled in seamlessly integrating data from diverse sources with varying structures and complexities, transforming it into actionable datasets for informed decision-making.
  • Adept at collaborative multi-disciplinary teamwork, effectively enabling an iterative predictive modeling approach, demonstrating a high level of effectiveness in fostering collaboration across diverse disciplines.
  • Adept at crafting compelling data narratives that result in actionable outcomes, fostering a significant and far-reaching impact across the organization.

Keywords

predictive modeling | algorithms | multivariate optimization | geospatial modeling | assay optimization | deep learning | experimental design | Bayesian decision making | data storytelling | technical writing | interactive dashboards | project execution | project ownership | execution decision | data-guided assay pipelines | cross-indication | decision guided business intelligence | data science best practices | stakeholder communication | logistics modeling | Python | Linux system administration | AWS | Docker | Jupyter | Shiny | Microsoft Office Suite

Experience

To be annouced

April 2024

  • something awesome

AgBiome

June 2022 - March 2024

Data Scientist

  • Effectively communicating data insights across the company: from early-discovery pipeline to commercial sales of AgBiome Products through constructing interactive dashboards, whitepapers, and compelling visualizations.

  • Spearhead the development of AgBiome’s digital twin for 30+ projects, decreasing lead generation time by 200% through the integration of predictive modeling, data science, and physical screens.

  • Engineer multivariate-optimization algorithms, leading to a 250% improvement in screening efficiency for insecticidal, herbicidal, biostimulant, and biomining applications.

  • Develop geospatial machine learning algorithms, increasing the diversity of AgBiome’s microbial library by targeted sampling strategies, providing novel resources for research.

  • Pioneer novel predictive modeling, which led to a 250% efficiency in assay optimization for various indications.

  • Lead nationwide environmental sampling trips increasing microbial diversity by targeting priority genera, contributing to the enrichment of AgBiome’s microbial resources.

  • Develop data science infrastructure, optimizing system performance, and enhancing data processing efficiency, resulting in quicker insight delivery while maintaining reproducibility.

  • Lead, manage, and execute on contract research organizations interactions from environmental permitting to chemical and genomic analyses.

North Carolina State University

June 2021 - June 2022

Post-Doctoral Researcher

  • Applied spatial models to predict pest population dynamics throughout North America, utilizing 1900+ pest monitoring traps spanning 40+ years of data, resulting in accurate predictive and forecast models.

  • Engineered a robust data pipeline to seamlessly integrate extensive pest monitoring data, facilitating data-driven decision-making of pest population forecasting.

  • Designed and conducted experiments to analyze the impact of cover crop on soil moisture in sorghum fields using non-linear models based on sensor data.

  • Contributed to the development of pesticide efficiency in sorghum and sweet potatoes, enhancing agricultural practices.

  • Successfully presented ongoing and completed projects, both orally and in written form, with multiple articles under preparation and stakeholder presentations.

  • Advised 4+ graduate students on coding techniques and statistical analyses, ensuring high-quality research.

  • Shared programming and statistical modeling expertise with peers and students, implementing innovative statistical approaches.

Arizona State University

September 2016 - May 2021

Graduate Student Researcher

  • Led international teams from three continents constructing predictive non-linear models promoting crop protection strategies in Australia, Africa, and Southwest Asia.

  • Implemented a data pipeline that integrated long term insect pest population survey data from federal and four state level agricultural entities.

  • Collaborated with seven coauthors on machine learning projects investigating how locust plagues are impacted by climate change resulting in a published scientific research article.

  • Constructed scripts relating insect pest population dynamics to remotely sensed data via Google Earth Engine.

  • Facilitated workshops with 100+ participants identifying the governmental structure of locust management internationally.

  • Provided statistical and programming expertise to four published scientific articles integrating diverse research fields to inform crop protection globally.

  • Advised 15+ undergraduate and graduate students and professionals on advanced statistical and coding techniques.

Technical Skills

Programming Languages: Python, R, Java, SQL

Selected Libraries: NumPy, pandas, geopandas, scikit-learn, PyTorch, tensorflow, statsmodels, tidymodels, glmer, glmmTMB, lme4, mgcv, caret, randomForest, sf, sp, raster, shiny, data.table, ggplot2, dplyr lubridate, Version Control: Git, GitHub

Writing: LATEX, markdown, R markdown, Quarto

GIS: Google Earth Engine, QGIS, ArcGIS

Cloud Computing: Amazon Web Services, Linux system administration

Scientific Publications

Lawton, D., Huseth, A. S., Kennedy, G. G., and 41 more authors (2022). Pest population dynamics are related to a continental overwintering gradient. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(37), e2203230119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2203230119

Humphreys J, Srygley R., Lawton D, Hudson A., Branson D (2022). Grasshoppers exhibit asynchrony and spatial non-stationarity in response to the El Niño/Southern and Pacific Decadal Oscillations, Ecological Modelling, 471, 110043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2022.110043

Lawton D., Deveson T., Piou C., Spessa A., Waters C. and Cease A.. (2022) Seeing the locust in the swarm: acknowledging spatiotemporal hierarchy improves insect outbreak models. Ecography, 2022, 02. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05763

Lawton D., Le Gall, M., Waters, C., Cease, A. J. (2021) Mismatched diets: defining the nutritional landscape of grasshopper communities in a variable environment. Ecosphere, 12(3), e03409. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3409

Lawton, D., Waters, C., Le Gall, M., & Cease, A. (2020). Woody vegetation remnants within pastures influence locust distribution: Testing bottom-up and top-down control. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 296, 106931. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.106931

Wang B., Deveson E., Waters C., Spessa A., Lawton D., Feng P., and Liu D. (2019) Future climate change likely to reduce the Australian plague locust (Chortoicetes terminifera) seasonal outbreaks. Science of the Total Environment, 668, 947-957. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.439

Lawton, D., Parlindungan, D., Pratama, P., Aswin, P., Jundara, P., Darmawan, R., Ruyani, A., Matthews E. C., Somers, A. (2018) Living amoung water montiors: an exploratory study of an urban water monitor (Varanus salvator) population in Bengkulu, Indonesia. Biawak, 12(10)

Education

Arizona State University
PhD in Environmental Life Sciences
- Dissertation: What Causes a Locust Swarm: A Hierarchical Patch Dynamics Approach
- Acquired $60,000+ in research grant funding

Tempe, AZ
May 2021

University of North Carolina at Greensboro
B.S. in Biology - Thesis: Urbanization effects on leaf mining densities and leaf damage of white oak (Quercus alba) in Guilford County, North Carolina
- Acquired $8,000 in funding for six month research trip to Sumatra,

Greensboro, NC
December 2015