luc alvarado
 

empowering educators to teach healthy habits

As an Associate Scientist within the Department of Pediatrics at the University of New Mexico, I am promoting healthy habit-forming by training Head Start educators in our nutrition and physical activity curriculum state-wide.

My first foray into translational research, I work with a small team to promote our curriculum which was first developed with funding from the NIH and in recent years has earned toolkit status as a SNAP-ED funded project. My skills have been applied in the development of additional nutrition modules, online training videos, and in the analysis of our participant survey responses.

Leading class online

While working as a facilitator turned teacher at Synthesis School, I met with students ages 9-15 once per week to develop their collaborative problem-solving skills.

Working in any capacity as an educator always teaches me more about myself and the depth of my understanding on any given topic. I love to learn from others and from varied work experiences.

Peering into eyes, to judge emotion detection

In February of 2022, I joined the Baby Lab at KU Edwards. Working closely with Dr. Zieber, I aided in participant recruitment and data collection, working directly with caregivers and infants (aged 7-8 months). During our sessions, we first calibrated the eye tracker and then ran a series of emotional and neutral facial expressions from a set of actors. Calibration is pictured here.

Over the proceeding months, I had numerous opportunities to aid in the design of a similar experiment and also to introduce automated means of processing and analyzing our data. Finding ways to incorporate my computer science background in order to reduce errors and speed up processes is one of my key contributions to any lab. At KU, I was able to leverage Python, R, and MATLAB to improve overall project efficiency.

visualizing transportation funding

Working with a small team at the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) in 2020, I automated steps in a formerly cumbersome annual reporting process. Each year, RTC publishes a report comprised of federal- and state-level data in order to enable transportation alternative activist organizations and state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) to collaborate on new trail conversion and maintenance.

In the course of my time at RTC, I gained experience liaising with state departments and creating the datasets and subsequent figures and charts that illustrate the flows of funding across multiple federal funding schemes. I joined their team to learn more about how funding and policy can be impacted by non-governmental actors in alignment with states.

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Presenting on Data best Practices

Upon invite from Fishtown Analytics, the creators of dbt (data build tool), I presented on novel data governance and warehouse design. The meetup took place at the Casper office in New York. I spoke to an audience of roughly one hundred attendees, composed of data scientists, data engineers and other data professionals.

My presentation promoted data governance best practices using the framework outlined by Wittgenstien for mental models. I drew on my experience creating highly-useable datasets for Citibike, under bikeshare operator Motivate Co. and later within the Micromobility team at Lyft.

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Investigating Food Access in the Bronx

My thesis featured primary research in the form of interviews with local residents and program providers in the South Bronx. Additionally, I included a literature review from reports published by New York governmental departments and the USDA.

In order to earn my interdisciplinary degree of Urban Studies from Fordham University in 2012, I researched and authored a thesis on food access and education in the South Bronx. My academic advisor, Dr. Mark Naison provided guidance and feedback.

 
 
 
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developing water policy FOR THE CHEROKEE NATION

In the summer of 2011, I accepted an NSF-funded position in the fourth cohort of the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at University of Arkansas. The program focused on assessment and sustainable management of Ecosystem Services.

The goal of the project was to develop water resources information and analysis to support development of a comprehensive water plan for the Cherokee Nation. In collaboration with the Cherokee Nation Environmental Protection Department, I used GIS analytical tools and USGS databases to evaluate water resource availability and current water use. Additionally, we developed future demand scenarios and models of global climate change to evaluate future water resource availability in the Cherokee Nation.

Under the direction of P.I. Dr. Marty Matlock and in partnership with members of the Cherokee Nation, I co-authored a draft water plan and inventory of water resources.