Road Trip 2015
Evolutionary Algorithm for Bee Populations
Introduction: This project was started in competition for the Metis Bee Challenge on drivendata.org. The goal of the challenge was to classify different photos of bees into their respective genus — honey bee, or bumble bee. The challengers were given thousands of test and training images to naively classify the 200 x 200 pixel images. training images […]
GRB Lightcurve Clustering
Abstract: We present a new method for categorizing and finding Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB’s) with similar light curves from the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE), onboard NASA’s Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO). Using χ2 values as ’similarity distances’ from any two respective GRBs’ 64ms light curves, we compare every GRB to every other GRB through a […]
Exoplanet Detection with Bayesian Blocks
Abstract: Discovery of exoplanets is important for understanding our place in the universe. One fruitful method for locating exoplanets is by the measurement of the drop in flux of the planet’s host star when the planet passes between the observer and the star – also known as transiting. The light-curves produced by planets transiting in […]
Star Cluster Photometry
Abstract: Photometric analysis is a method applied to nearly all celestial objects. It is executed by examining the electromagnetic flux of a given object, and using the results to determine characteristics about the object. One such characteristic of an object, such as in the case of a star, is the spectral type, which can be […]
Road Trip 2014
Distance: 3,755.3 miles Average Speed: 44 mph Lowest Altitude: 282 ft below sea level (Badwater Basin, Death Valley) Highest Altitude: 11,158 ft (Eisenhower Tunnel, Colorado) Lowest Depth: 250 ft below earth’s surface (Mammoth Cave, Kentucky) Hottest Temperature: 121 F Coolest Temperature : 53 F
GRB Pulse Analysis
Abstract: We present a preliminary analysis of previously unstudied gamma-ray burst pulses. Our sample consists of gamma-ray bursts observed between December 19, 1995 and February 2, 1997 by the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on NASA’s Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory. We found that the observable properties of these pulses are consistent with those of previously […]
Phylogeographic Analysis
Abstract: The three-lined salamander, Eurycea guttolineata, is a wide-ranging lungless salamander in the southeastern United States. We have sampled seventy-seven populations spanning the entire distribution of the three-lined salamander. We have amplified, purified, and sequenced 872 base pairs of the mitochondrial gene Cty-b and used this data to reconstruct the evolutionary history of three-lined salamanders. […]