Intro:
Before developing a passion for scientific programming, Nick’s background was in cellular and systems neuroscience, so he understands the workflows and needs of scientists and can effectively translate those needs to technical solutions with which scientists can work. He joined BioTeam in May 2021 and now focuses on scientific infrastructure, software development, and training.
Focus Areas:
- Infrastructure
- Cloud
- Education and Training
- Data Visualization
- Scientific software development
Tools:
- Python
- R and RSTudio
- AWS
- ImageJ and Fiji
Scientific Areas:
- Neuroscience
- Cell biology
- Translational research
- Electrophysiology
- Microscopy and image analysis
- Scientific Visualizations
Background
Nick has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Colorado where he worked on how myelin producing glial cells (oligodendrocytes) and neurons in the central nervous system interact and adapt to facilitate learning in the olfactory system. His work spanned multiple technical areas within neuroscience, including animal behavior, advanced microscopy (including super resolution methods such as STED), and electrophysiology. Nick began learning programming languages and IT tools out of frustration with using manual methods of data handling and analysis for large-scale microscopy data and discovered a passion for building reliable, reproducible systems and tools that even non-technical scientists could use. He began building tools and data analysis pipelines for his own work and spent a significant amount of time teaching programming and data management concepts to fellow researchers at the University of Colorado. Nick was also involved with a translational research project with clinicians and engineers that focused on designing a flexible fiber-optic coupled microscope for use in human neurosurgery procedures.
Personal Interests:
Nick picked up fly fishing when he was living in Colorado and loves spending time outdoors when he is not working on personal projects with a Raspberry Pi and Teensy development boards.
