This year, DASIL welcomes a new member of our staff, Yujing Cao, who will be serving as the new data scientist. In her position at DASIL, Yujing will bring her expertise in data analysis and visualization to further expand DASIL’s capability to help students and faculty members integrate data analysis into research and classroom work. In today’s big data era, enormous quantities of data are available, and Yujing will help Grinnell students and faculty explore them.
Originally from China, Yujing got her bachelor degree in Statistics from Anhui University. Her passion for data science led her to a PhD program in Statistics at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she obtained her degree in 2016. Her research was on graphical modeling of biological pathways in genomic studies. She is also interested in network analysis, machine learning, and trying different tools for data visualization. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking, and exercising.
Yujing was excited about the position at Grinnell because of her strong interests in teaching and in data visualization. As she puts it:
“I wanted to look for a position which provides opportunities to create interesting data visualizations along with other data analysis work. I love using graphs to tell stories behind different data sets.
Working environment is another factor that led to my decision to come to Grinnell. I strongly resonate with the core values of a liberal arts education. At Grinnell College, I can work in an academic environment helping faculty and students while promoting the use of data in research and learning.
Yujing also discusses a number of skills crucial to succeed in the field of data science. Data science is an interdisciplinary field requiring knowledge from mathematics, statistics, data mining and machine learning. Statistical knowledge and knowledge from other fields can help form good questions and seek direction, while programming skills (e.g. joining data sets and visualizing data) are needed for implementing our ideas. To be a good data scientist, you should possess strong programming and analytical skills.”
According to Yujing, “One of the most important qualities for any data scientist is curiosity. Curiosity encourages us to dig in and make interesting discoveries about data. Also, good communication skills can make a great data scientist. You should be able to clearly articulate your results and the implications of your findings to others, including other data scientists and people who don’t share a similar background.”
Her tip for students interested in a career in data science is to “keep an open mind to learn from different disciplines and sharpen your programming skills. In addition, a student who is interested in being a data scientist should take advantage of any opportunities to get hands-on projects that use real data.”
Faculty or students interested in meeting with Yujing should drop by DASIL(ARH 130) or her office (Goodnow 103) or contact her via email at caoyujin@grinnell.edu for an appointment.