Ian S
- Research Program Mentor

MS candidate at University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley)

Expertise

Statistics, data science, physics, R coding, mathematics

Bio

Hello! My name is Ian, and I'm currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Statistics at UC Berkeley. Part of why I enjoy statistics is its incredible applicability to a wide variety of other fields, and I have experience in applying statistical models to areas ranging from finance to gaming to epidemiology. I'm also experienced in teaching and mentoring, having worked with students as a TA both during my undergrad as a physics major and in my current position as a Graduate Student Instructor in Berkeley's stats department. A few fun facts about me: I'm a musician who sings, plays three instruments, and arranges music for my a cappella group, Noteworthy. I am an avid fan of tabletop gaming, particularly D&D, and enjoy creating detailed fantasy worlds, stories, and characters. Other hobbies and interests of mine include hiking, cooking, and playing around with neural networks. I'm excited to see what fascinating projects come my way, and I'm also excited to do what I can to help them come to fruition!

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Who Gets the Shot?: Vaccine Prioritization Modeling for COVID-19

The aim of this project is to model the efficacy of differing vaccine prioritization schemes (in order of age, essential workers first, etc.) in preventing mortality over the tail end of the pandemic. We use Bayesian MCMC algorithms to estimate parameters such as infectivity and fatality from CDC data, then use an open SEIR model in R to simulate mortality and recovery rates based on a given system for allocating vaccines and a given rate of vaccine production over time.

Coding skills

R, SQL, Java, Python

Languages I know

Spanish

Teaching experience

I have been in various TA roles since sophomore year of undergrad, from working through elementary physics material with premed students to my current position as Graduate Student Instructor in Statistics at UC Berkeley. I have also spent time with younger students; during my time as Assessment Associate at Success Academy in NYC, I had to wear numerous hats as COVID-19 forced us into remote instruction, including running a reading group for first graders and helping teach math via one-on-one phone calls.