About me
Hi there! My name is Yangkang Chen (陈旸康) (pronounce "Yahng kahng"). I'm currently a PhD student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), studying bird migration using data science approaches.
Research interests
I have a strong and broad interest in avian ecology and evolution, with a particular focus on how historical and current environmental changes influence the evolution of functional traits, behavior, migration-related characteristics, and shift of distribution and phenology. In practice, my motivation lies in incorporating variety of data sources, including citizen science, functional traits databases, specimens, tracking data, and genomes. By employing state-of-the-art statistical and machine learning models, I aim to uncover the mechanisms and processes in avian ecology. In this era of big data, I firmly believe that conducting comprehensive studies can reveal potential ecological principles and have a more significant impact than the collective findings of several regional studies.
I'm always open to collaborations at all stages of research. I'm also seeking undergraduate students who want to work on publishable bird migration + data science projects. Feel free to reach out!
A current member of Van Doren Lab of Migration Biology: https://www.migrationbiology.org
Beyond research
I enjoy backpacking and hiking, especially to high altitude plateau in Western China (QTP, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau) when I was an undergrad at Sichuan University. During my master's studies in Beijing, I enjoy watching stand-up comedy, playing guitar, going to live band performance, reading short novels, and sitting by the window of a cafe in a random weekend afternoon, thunderstorm outside, with a cup of Latte and start coding. You may also find me skipping my work and birding in the Olympic Park.
I believe in fairness (Equity, not Equality), justice, and every person’s right to be themselves. I stand with any minority forced to fight alone against discrimination and unjust treatment.
"We only live once"