Global Water Resources Researcher

Developing Global Models for the Estimation of Snow

Overview

Throughout most of my undergraduate experience, I have worked for Dr. Jessica Lundquist as a research assistant in her Mountain Snow Hydrology Research Group. I started as a website manager, updating the group’s primary site and developing a secondary site, as well as lab manager, overseeing the organization distribution of fieldwork supplies for the group. Eventually, I moved into working on data analysis projects while continuing to manage the websites and lab supplies; I assist graduate students with data wrangling and coding projects in order to model snow. This position has not only allowed me to develop technical skills through coding and the application of classroom learning, but also soft skills through teamwork and communication about scientific research.

Personal Importance of Work

Through this opportunity, I have been able to explore my passion in water resources at a higher level than in my coursework. The challenging, self-guided nature of the position requires me to problem solve individually while learning to ask for help from senior members of the group. Further, I play a role in projects which explore important issues including sustainability, climate change, and water resources which are significant to me as I am able to contribute to common good and improve people’s daily lives. As such, I have developed further in my values of growth and contribution by taking on challenges and completing projects which would affect those further outside the university, from Washington State to Switzerland.

Tasks Accomplished

Redesigned and continuously update the group’s primary website with communication about research and accomplishments by the group
Implemented a secondary website in order to communicate the value of snow to a broader audience through collaboration with several universities
Organize and distribute lab inventory for group members as well as partners of the group
Perform data analysis through coding and data wrangling for the implementation of snow models
Develop coding tutorials for undergraduate and graduate students with varying coding knowledge, including creating working code in Python based on previously developed MATLAB code as well as publishing the code to a class website with annotations for students

Leadership Competencies Gained

Problem Solving

Most of my work, from creating websites to data analysis, was heavily based on coding which I learned on the job. As a result, not all of the code that I implemented was seamless. I spent many hours identifying issues, parsing through the code to find the source of each issue, and finding ways to make my code better. Due to the nature of coding, there were often multiple options for addressing each issue, requiring me to think critically about each alternative to find the solution that would be long-term, well-functioning, and implementable. Since I would be passing my work on to another person, whether that be the next web manager or the graduate student who would be using my data wrangling in their snow model, it was important for me write code that would be useable for others, which I kept in mind as I resolved these issues.

Writing

As the website manager, I have been tasked to write about group member’s published research and accomplishments for its distribution on the website. Since I write about other people’s work, it is particularly important for me to spend time ensuring that my writing is intentional and well thought out in order to best represent each group member. In addition, my writing is intended for audiences from those with little knowledge of snow hydrology to experts from other universities. This requires me to balance how concise my writing is with the level of detail necessary for any person to understand the topic.

Functioning Independently

For most of my time with the group, I have been the youngest, often by over three years. I have also often been working on projects which were challenging and outside of my comfort zone, but I did not always have other group members to help me besides weekly check-ins with my mentor. This created a large knowledge gap which I learned to overcome on my own. I discovered how to find the most effective coding resources, create timelines for myself, and find other resources on-campus in order to answer my questions. I learned how to make progress on projects without set due dates and how to communicate about this progress to my mentor when necessary without prompting.

Resiliency

Since most of my work involved coding which I had no prior experience with, I encountered many setbacks. I battled obstacles which took me days, or sometimes weeks, to overcome, even while working 40 hours per week. This affected my confidence as well as exposed knowledge gaps in my work; I was challenged by days where I spent 8 hours trying to resolve an error in my code and by the end of the day I felt that I had made no progress besides eliminating approaches which did not work. However, I learned how to stay focused mentally, believe in my ability to problem solve, and ask group members for help when necessary. This has enabled me to complete complex projects and move forward with new work.

Plan

During the summer, I was assigned with one overarching project to be completed by the beginning of fall quarter. It was left to me to independently identify smaller tasks, plan out when I would need to finish each task to complete the project on time, and allow myself buffer time for solving unexpected problems. Overall, I was able to plan out three months of work in order to create a website with Python tutorials for students. This plan was particularly important for me to be able to articulate to my mentor in order to give her confidence in my ability to finish the project.

Self-Development

When I took this job opportunity, I knew it would be a growing experience for me. I wanted to learn skills and topics outside of my classes in order to better understand my personal strengths as well as more broadly understand the technical and scientific sides of water resources research. Through this position, I have experience in coding languages and knowledge of snow science which I could not have acquired otherwise – especially starting as a freshman. This learning has now translated into a unique skillset and perspective which I can bring into internships, research, and class outside of my research group.

Research

I developed the best research skills through learning how to code in Python. I learned coding as I went, so it was essential for me to find the best methods for my code in order to pass it on to others in the group. There are often many functions used in Python which create the same product, but do so with different degrees of effectiveness and reliability depending on the application. I used research skills to find the best information to support my code choices in order to present my code to others in a way that I was proud of.

Lessons Learned

I am able to better reach out for help from others while also being able to self-motivate. I follow through on items that don’t have strict due dates by using planning and problem-solving skills. In the future, I expect my growth from this job to aid me in the above leadership competencies in other full-time jobs which have longer projects and fewer check-ins compared to my classwork. In addition, I will be able to work through challenges while learning something new by myself. Before this experience, I was very motivated by outside influences such as deadlines or structured syllabi, but through this position I have grown in self-management and how to work through obstacles by myself.

Artifacts

This is the webpage I developed for the data sciences class at UW. Interact with the tabs through this site or visit https://mountain-hydrology-research-group.github.io/data-analysis/ to explore the page further.

This is an example of Python code and its resulting plots which I used to analyze meterological data relating to snow water resources.

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