Brian Whyte Email & Phone Number

Berkeley, California, United States

Teaching assistant for life science classes for 7 semesters (Ecosystem Ecology, Global Change Biology, Intro Bio, Intro Entomology). Created and delivered my own lectures. Managed the performance of hundreds of students, mentoring them through research and writing projects.

Berkeley, California, United States

I studied how animals use information to decide who gets to be members of their societies. In ants, I found that the smell of their exoskeleton wax can possess small differences that are socially meaningful, but do not sacrifice the waterproofing function of this wax on their body surface. In trematodes, I proposed philosophical arguments for why polyembryonic parasites have a similar social evolution to social insects, and I showed that worms inside of snails are capable of recognizing if other parasites come from the same marsh as they do.To successfully complete these projects, I implemented the following methods: > Pairwise permutation testing for a three-way unidirectional behavior assay design I invented to study how trematodes percieve different "types" of enemies > Random forest classification to select which features are important for our ecological models > Proportional hazard modeling to assess how multiple covariates influence the lethality of dessication on Argentine ants > Partial least squares regression for predictive ecological models where multicollinearity was problematic > Power analysis to determine necessary sample size of experiments > Automated data transformation and analysis to organize and identify chemical compounds from GC/MS data, and share with collaborators quickly

Constance, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

I trained Convolutional Neural Networks to research collective pose estimation of trematode groups using Python, Tensorflow and DeepLabCut. This was the first case of anyone using ML methods to search for collective behavior patterns in parasitic worms. Financially sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Program (DAAD).

Aspen, Colorado, United States

Balanced education, entertainment, and safety while giving guided nature hikes throughout the Rocky Mountains to audiences of all ages.

Manabí, Ecuador

Designed and performed a point-sampling method to estimate the number of Mantled Howler Monkey groups at the Jama-Coaque Reserve in Ecuador. This required systematic trail walking from 5-11 am, using the estimated distance to each group howling event as a way to estimate population density. Used QGIS, Unmarked (R package), anecdotes, and model projections from scientific literature to determine, from multiple sources, that there were likely 14-15 groups in the boundaries of the reserve.

Knoxville, Tennessee, United States

Designed an agent-based evolutionary simulation (in R) of ant supercolony collapse, working as the biology consultant for a team of mathematics students and professors. This simulation was stochastic, and modeled spatial dispersal, population growth, recognition thresholds of friend vs. foe, and benefits/costs of warfare for multiple nests within supercolonies in the United States.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Animal Behavior And Ethology

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Ecology

Summa Cum Laude (GPA: 3.96/4.00)

Associate Of Science - As, Liberal Arts And Sciences/Liberal Studies

Magna Cum Laude (GPS: 3.59/4.00)