Shannon Edie, MSc student in Statistics, has been awarded the James Robert Thompson Fellowship in the UBC Spring Graduate Awards Competition. The fellowship, made available by the late James Robert Thompson, B. Comm., 1967, is awarded to a student or students planning a career related to preservation of the natural environment, particularly in preserving the natural and wilderness areas in BC and the Yukon.
Shannon is working with Nancy Heckman (Statistics Department) and David Rosen (Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries) studying movement data of migratory marine mammals. Her goal is to develop a quantitative approach to explore navigation mechanisms during migration. Understanding these mechanisms will lead to better understanding of the impact of human activity and climate change on migratory behaviour.
Shannon plans to pursue a career in ecological statistics, combining her skills in statistics and data science with her passion for ecology. Her goal is to continue working on preservation of biodiversity in northern Canada.