My name is Valerie Poynor, and I am currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the NOAA Fisheries Laboratory under the CSTAR progam, The Center for Stock Assessment Research. I work alongside my advisors, Marc Mangel and Steve Munch. The focus of our research is in combining Bayesian nonparametric methods and stochastic optimization for fisheries management. I also work intermittently on the main campus (UC Santa Cruz) as a lecturer in the Applied Math and Statistics department.

Here I am!

image

I earned my MS (2010) and PhD (2013) in Statistics and Applied Mathematics from Statistics and Applied Mathematics Department at UCSC. I worked under the supervision of Professor Athanasios Kottas . My thesis research focused on developing Bayesian nonparametric methods in modeling survival data with primary interest in inference for the mean residual life function. I received my BS in Mathematics (concentration Statistics, minor Chemistry) in 2008 at the California State University, Bakersfield, Mathematics Department. During my undergraduate career, I worked with Professor Sam Behseta. We studied neuronal firing intensity rates over multiple conditions using standard nonparametric methods. We later partook in a larger collaboration (see Research tab).