1. About The Lab
Mission Statement
The Data Diversity Lab, led by Dr. Cristian Román-Palacios, focuses on utilizing data science and bioinformatics to address questions at the intersection of various disciplines, including ecology, evolution, climate change, human health, and software development. Research in the lab revolves around using existing methods to answer new questions, harnessing extensive datasets, creating new methods to manage intricate data structures, and implementing cutting-edge machine learning approaches to a variety of questions. Our primary goal is to tackle significant challenges in biodiversity conservation, phylogenetics, and the effects of climate change on ecological systems and societies. The concept of Data Diversity underscores our dedication to using information from diverse origins while fostering inclusivity and advocating diversity initiatives within the academy.
Core Values/Principles/Code of Conduct
- We strive to explore and harness the mysteries of nature in the most precise, clever, interesting, and useful ways possible. This value is the foundation of the group, and it is the goal that motivates us to persevere in the face of challenges.
- We conduct our scientific work transparently by sharing resources and trying to release code and data in each of our publications.
- Lab members are expected to be clear and accurate about how they conducted their work, what limitations it carries, and what kinds of conclusions are warranted.
- We do our best to make our research products available to other scientists and the wider community, including not just papers but also data and code.
- We take our status as a training environment seriously. We choose projects and structure our work in a way that helps trainees get to where they want to go, whether that means academia, industry, nonprofit work, government work, or something else.
- We gain by engaging with each other as lab mates, with our immediate colleagues at UA, with other people working in our wider field, and with the public. We treat each other with dignity, and the environment in the lab is friendly and inclusive.