undergrad

I am an undergraduate student at Metropolitan State University working toward a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Industrial and Applied Mathematics with a minor in Applied Statistics. As an intern, I am working with John Fieberg and Juliana Vélez to develop and train an artificial intelligence to process camera trap data. My primary interests as a future ecologist include invasion biology, global climate change, and using mathematics and computer programming to model ecological problems.

Thomas was awarded funding from the University of Minnesota's Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program to explore the effects of measurement error on estimates of movement parameters.

For my Spring 2018 Undergraduate Research Opportunity, I used data from camera traps to explore temporal and spatial portioning among carnivore species in northern Minnesota, with mentorship from John Fieberg and Fabiola Iannarilli. I am currently finishing my senior year at the UMN studying Fisheries, Wildlife, & Conservation Biology. Post-baccalaureate, I plan on gaining more field experiences before diving into graduate school. When I’m not studying, I enjoy photography, reading, and hiking.

My undergraduate honor’s thesis explored the effects of subsampling hair snare on the spatially explicit models used to enumerate Black Bear (Ursus americanus) populations in northern Minnesota, and my current post-baccalaureate work uses a simulation framework to explore similar concepts.