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 at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), studying bird migration using data science approaches.

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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 fundamental 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.

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 stand-up, live band, short novels, and sitting by the window of a cafe in a random weekend afternoon, with a Latte and start coding. You may also find me skipping my work and birding in the Olympic Park.

Both in philosophy and in action, I am open to opinions and debate of fairness, justice, and the right of being oneself. I stand by minority of any kind who fight alone in their unjust environment and discrimination.

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Maxims:

"We only live once"