Casey Youngflesh

Ph.D., Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, 2018
Master of Con. Bio., Conservation Biology, University of New South Wales, 2011
B.S., Ecology and Evolution, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2007

The Youngflesh Lab operates at the intersection of ecology and data science. We combine ecological theory with leading-edge quantitative tools to understand the drivers of biodiversity and population dynamics and how these processes vary across scales. We view these problems largely through the lens of global change and are interested in what this work can tell us regarding which species and systems are most vulnerable to these changes.

Research in the lab develops reproducible, analytical pipelines that leverage ecological 'big data' using approaches such as hierarchical Bayesian models and deep learning. Data streams come from a variety of sources, including community science projects, satellites, remote camera networks, and field-based efforts. Our work primarily uses birds and marine mammals as mechanisms to study these dynamics, though interests span a broad range of ecological systems.