Cameron Pujdak Email & Phone Number

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion Division - Surveillance, Evaluation, & Epidemiology Office (SEEO)• Coordinate annual health surveillance activities for the Hawaii Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (HI-BRFSS)• Assess and improve the quality of HI-BRFSS data by developing and implementing computer programs developed using SAS and R• Conduct complex data analyses on large and small datasets using appropriate methodological techniques. Provide consultation and technical assistance on process and outcome evaluations, including data collection and study design• Prepare and disseminate data products to guide agency-wide program planning and evaluation, and state and national health policy development. Data products include reports, infographics, legislative briefs, peer-reviewed manuscripts, and presentations• Provide consultative and technical services to internal programs, outside agencies, community organizations, and the public• Conduct annual data collection, analysis, and reporting of performance measures and development of impact statements to meet federal reporting requirements of the DP13-1305 and DP14-1422 Centers for Disease Control & Prevention grants

Los Angeles, California, United States

Sanitation Department - Environmental Monitoring Division (EMD)• Collect, process, and analyze marine and estuary water samples to assess the general health of collection locations based on bacterial presence and abundance• Monitor Santa Monica Bay, Marina del Rey Harbor, Ballona Creek, Los Angeles Harbor, and Cabrillo Beach shorelines for fecal indicator bacteria levels• General practices to follow aseptic technique in the lab, field, and on water vessels• Microchannel and multichannel pipetting • 4-wheel off-road driving

Greater Los Angeles Area

Art Production• Multi-million dollar government project producing artwork designed by Frank Gehry for the Eisenhower Presidential Memorial• Sought qualified individuals to work on art production and recruited 60% of project staff• Trained new staff in micro-welding, product storage, and packaging for product delivery• Worked with project manager on task prioritization, floor plan, and work protocol to optimize project efficiency• Assisted with functioning and maintenance of automated welders• Lead quality control of finished art pieces• Proficiency with power tools and micro-welders

Northridge, Ca

Dudgeon Intertidal Laboratory• Field Work • Intertidal algal identification and collection • Monitor intertidal community abundance and growth • Establish and maintain experimental plots to determine effects of community assemblage/genetic diversity on recovery • Work in extreme weather conditions such as darkness, high winds, and heavy rain• Laboratory Work • DNA extraction of high polysaccharide species • DNA barcoding using 2bRAD • Algal spore culturing • Complex life-history species work• Analytical Work • Maintenance of large genetic and ecological datasets • Generate programs to concatenate large datasets • Generate and modify ecological programs • Program writing in PYTHON and R• Fulfill upload requirements to maintain NSF grant funding

Northridge, Ca

In this position, I assisted in instructing "Experimental Design and Analysis" (Undergraduate Course) and "Biometry" (Graduate Course). These courses are intended to expose students to proper data collection and analysis methods for biological research. The undergraduate course covers linear statistical tests (Regression, ANOVA) and the graduate course covers through multivariate statistical tests (nMDS, PCA, PERMANOVA). My responsibilities for this positions revolved around managing course logistics, providing technical support when using Excel, editing code written in R and facilitating subject retention. Much of my position involved explaining appropriate experimental designs to reduce variability from unwanted sources and identifying the proper statistical methods for analysis. For the latter, the courses required a quantitative understanding of frequentist tests, therefore explanations were focused of deriving where the appropriate variability should come from and whether the variability provided in a linear equation for the test was appropriate.

Northridge, Ca

As a Teaching Associate for CSUN, I was responsible for instructing lower-division introduction biology courses for both major and non-major students. Courses involved both a wet-lab and a computer lab portion. The former focused on hands on experiments relating to the breadth of biological fields, each of which was the main focus of one day of a lab session. The latter related to these same fields, however these sessions focused on experiments which were fiscally/temporally unavailable in person (electron microscopy, genetic breeding experimentation, etc.). For these courses to function, I was responsible for teaching biological principles, leading a variety of experiments, developing valuable educational tools and tests, interacting with students of a variety of ages, organizing and managing class schedules, and providing technical support.

Santa Barbara, California Area

As a Teaching Associate for UCSB, I was involved with the instruction of two courses; "Aquatic Community Ecology" and "Stream and River Ecology". I led classes of 20-30 students in contents and activities related to the materials provided in the lectures. For the former, class sessions centered around reviewing and critiquing recent academic literature relevant to both marine and freshwater systems. To do so, I was tasked with developing Powerpoint presentations to succinctly summarize studies, detail the strengths and weaknesses of the research, and provide interesting discussion questions. For the latter, I was responsible for leading analyses relating to assessing the quality of habitat conditions in freshwater systems, and determining the consequences of such results. This culminated with a case study in which students were tasked with providing a report (written in the conventional layout of an academic article) of how a chain of rivers and lakes responded to and were recovering from a large-scale forest fire. To fulfill the needs of this position, I had to 1) be proficient with Powerpoint, Excel, and JMP10, 2) have a strong understanding of ecology in freshwater and marine systems, methodologies used to assess the health of these systems, and biometric analyses, 3) Effectively lead both discussions and quantitative analyses, and 4) organize and manage an effective lesson plan.

Santa Barbara, California Area

As a Campus Learning Assistance Services (CLAS) Tutor, I 1) led classes of 20-40 students which supplemented calculus courses offered by the university and 2) met individually with students enrolled in calculus and statistics. To lead courses, I was responsible for creating and implementing lecture plans, provide challenging questions, clearly describe mathematical principles, and interact with students of a variety of class levels. Many of these responsibilities applied to individual tutoring as well, however lecture plans were personalized for these students and accommodations were made for students with particular needs (ADHD, short-term memory loss, etc.). Lastly, as part of this position, I led review sessions. For these, I was tasked with managing and engaging 150+ students at a time.

Santa Barbara, California Area

The program with which this position was assigned was intended to expose and excite elementary level students about basic chemistry principles. Each week, schools would visit the facility and classes would experience two hours of hands on experiments across a broad range of chemistry topics including density, polarity, alloys, principles of heating and cooling and changes of states of matter. To do this, "stations" were set up relating to each of this topics to conduct relevant experiments. As a coordinator, it was my job not only to be a specialist in each station, but to make sure each station was properly prepared for experiments, train volunteers to lead experiments, and to be at hand in case an emergency presented itself. To fulfill these duties I had to: have a strong understanding of chemistry, be charismatic to maximize the effectiveness of teaching and training, handle cryogenics, create engaging experiences, and manage large groups of children and undergraduates.

I was responsible for the development of a microbial bioreactor intended to readily assess the consumption of carbon within a water source. As this was my senior thesis, there was very little assistance from outside sources which allowed my duties to be numerous. My duties included: designing/crafting bioreactor columns, designing the experimental setup (both physical and statistical), monitoring bacterial growth over time, measuring water samples, maintaining sterility of samples and bioreactors, and lastly basic lab work such as glassware cleaning and solution preparation.

Master Of Science (Ms), Biology, General, 3.94

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Aquatic Biology/Limnology, 3.65

Activities and Societies: Moorea Coral Reef Laboratory, Santa Barbara Coastal Laboratory, Carlson Microbial Oceanography Laboratory.