Esteban Arenas
Denver,USA
Summary
Professional data scientist with 10+ years' experience delivering projects, leading policy change, and creating analytical innovation in the field of data and environmental sciences, achieving measurable improvements in management and performance. Inquisitive, creative, and passionate analyst with a proven record of finding patterns in data and delivering visually appealing comprehensive results. Logically and artistically minded bicultural problem solver with a relentless focus on progressive and sustainable use of data.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
Work History
Data and Policy Analyst, Mexico
Global Fishing Watch (GFW)
La Paz, Mexico
05.2020 - 02.2023
- Creating a random forest model to estimate the likelihood of small-scale fishing illegal activity occurring within the marine protected area of Loreto in Baja California Sur, resulting in a shinny application being delivered to and utilized by authorities to inform their patrolling of the MPA
- Providing insight on national political shifts and partner fisheries agency changes in the region
- Writing several blog entries pertaining to environmental policy actions taken by the current Mexican administration, aiding other organizations in staying informed and facilitating dialogue on actions to be taken
- Analyzing and scoring countries through a weighted average index according to how well they're currently doing in protecting their Exclusive Economic Zones, finalized as an interactive blog suggesting potential research focuses that can be developed further.
Data Analyst, Latin America
Global Fishing Watch (GFW)
Denver, Colorado
05.2020 - 02.2023
- Provided Chilean and Mexican fisheries authorities analytical results highlighting research opportunities, resulting in them sharing their observers on board data with GFW and improving our fishing detection neural network algorithm
- Used Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) data to track the primarily Chinese squid fleet, allowing fisheries agencies to visualize the scale of their operation and ensure their legality
- Evaluated fishing effort within a proposed Chilean Marine Protected Area, enabling the Chilean government to make an informed decision on the fishing displacement effects this could entail
- Working with R, Python, SQL, BigQuery and GIS daily to clean incoming data, evaluate new methodologies or features in GFW products, and perform analyses for country partners
- Delivering reports resulting in more efficient management and exposing of illegal behavior
- Shared commented code on Github, keeping outputs organized and facilitating colleagues to verify accuracy of results
- Lead workshops for country partners, showcasing GFW products and training on their use and functionalities
- Designing and creating training material in Spanish and English for external product trainings and internal standardization of procedures.
Fisheries Specialist
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
La Paz, Mexico
05.2018 - 05.2020
- Created Monte Carlo policy analysis simulation using R Shiny testing the effect an area closure would have on average catch per vessel, allowing for a user-friendly interface and URL to be the final deliverable to the client
- Creating a database of international coastal community enterprises supported by WWF, analyzing potential success factors present in each, and determining which ones would be most promising for continued WWF support, providing a valuable tool with specific criteria for decision making
- Compiled and analyzed data using R and Excel on Mexican fisheries' fuel subsidies as part of an international WWF group participating in World Trade Organization, designing a visually appealing two pager advocating for the prohibition of capacity enhancing subsidies
- Carrying out an economic analysis to determine the financial viability of reduced bycatch shrimp trawling alternative gear in the Upper Gulf of California, further strengthening Mexican authorities' position on getting fishers to adopt alternative gear
- Designed posters through Inkscape and developed a functioning website for partners to identify sustainably certified suppliers in Mexico and be able to easily incorporate them into their supply chain.
Climate Change and GIS Specialist
Conservation Trust for North Carolina (CTNC)
Raleigh, North Carolina
05.2016 - 08.2016
- Presented at CTNC headquarters in Raleigh and wrote a final report on climate change resilience of CTNC properties, incorporating climate change resilience into a land acquisition prioritization model moving forward
- Using land resilience criteria developed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), analyzed climate change resilience of CTNC protected properties through ArcGIS
- Organized database of CTNC protected properties, including excel spreadsheets and GIS shapefiles
- Physically surveyed CTNC protected properties to ensure no development or other irregularities occurred
- Researched and provided recommendations on bundling climate change action with activities of interest to climate change skeptic audiences.
Education
Masters: Data Science - Environmental Economics -
Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment
Bachelor: Environmental Science and Economics -
Vassar College
Skills
- Spatial Analysis - ArcGIS, QGIS, LIDAR, GPS
- Data Analysis and Coding - R, Python, SQL, Earth Engine, Machine Learning Algorithms
- Cloud & DevOps - Github, Slack, Jira, AWS, BigQuery, Google Cloud
- Writing - Survey Design, Memos, Technical and Non-Technical Reports, Translations
- Design & Visualization - Tableau, Adobe Creative Suite, Gimp, InkScape
Languages
- Spanish, Native/ Bilingual
- English, Native/ Bilingual
Timeline
Data and Policy Analyst, Mexico
Global Fishing Watch (GFW)
05.2020 - 02.2023
Data Analyst, Latin America
Global Fishing Watch (GFW)
05.2020 - 02.2023
Fisheries Specialist
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
05.2018 - 05.2020
Climate Change and GIS Specialist
Conservation Trust for North Carolina (CTNC)
05.2016 - 08.2016
Masters: Data Science - Environmental Economics -
Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment
Bachelor: Environmental Science and Economics -
Vassar College
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