Jazzmine Waugh
Jazzmine is a 6th-year PhD Candidate in Biology: Data Science. Her research interests are broad but united in approach: creating data-driven stories in the fields of ecology and social science. Some of her past research projects involve: discovering changes in timing of wildflower blooms on Mt. Rainier, identifying under-represented groups within public participation in science, and investigating the impacts of climate change and oil spills on seabirds. Outside of her PhD work, Jazzmine is also a coordinator for the Research University Alliance (a multi-university collaboration with the goal of diversifying the future of STEM academia) and the president of the UW Science Explorers (which teaches after-school science lessons to a diverse group of elementary school students). In her free time, Jazzmine enjoys reading mystery novels and doing logic puzzles, accompanied by her husband and two fluffy cats.
Jazzmine's project summary:
In the past, research exploring which seabird species are most impacted by oil spills took counts of the dead birds that washed up on shores after spills. Species with a high count were assumed to be more vulnerable to oil. However, this method did not account for the “baseline” rates at which you would expect to see different species-- some species are more abundant than others. My research created a new method, comparing the rates at which seabirds show up on the beach after spills to the baseline rates at which you would expect to see them (1). This work can help managers to better target the most susceptible seabirds for protection.
My proposed artifact is an alcohol ink painting. The painting will be divided diagonally into two parts. Both parts will show an ocean shore with dead birds. However, the left side will depict an average, oil-free time, while the right side will show the same area after a spill. The composition of species on the shore will be different between the oil-free versus oiled shores, showing how after spills some species show up at higher rates than would be expected (and are more susceptible to oil than others).
My work is interdisciplinary in that it pairs data science methods with ecological problems. This research is highly collaborative-- it would not have been possible without data collected by state workers, indigenous tribes, and “citizen scientists” (trained non-experts that collect scientific data). This work is highly publicly-engaged-- it has been shared back to the communities that helped us to collect the data.
(1)Waugh, J. K., Jones, T., & Parrish, J. K. (2022). Using beached bird data to assess seabird oiling susceptibility. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 176, 113437.