Diane Blackwood
Evolution Software Developer at Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan, United States
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolDiane Blackwood is an Evolution Software Developer with 11 years of professional software experience and a deep interdisciplinary background spanning zoology, biomedical engineering, and wildlife sciences. She builds research-driven tools—C++ evolution engines compiled with Emscripten, JavaScript web UIs, and Unity educational games—while collaborating closely with curriculum teams to translate complex evolutionary models into classroom-ready experiences. Her work on the Avida-ED platform and contributions to the avida codebase show a focus on improving analytical capabilities and environmental modeling for digital evolution research. Earlier career roles mix signal processing, acoustics, and database-backed research systems for biosonar, fisheries, and ecological studies, reflecting strong skills in statistics, algorithm design, and data engineering. Based in East Lansing, she pairs hands-on development with domain expertise in field studies, having led remote acoustic experiments and built custom hardware and analysis pipelines.
11 years of coding experience
14 years of employment as a software developer
MS, Biomedical Engineering, MS, Biomedical Engineering at The University of Texas at ArlingtonPh D, Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences, Ph D, Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M UniversityBS, Zoology / Electrical Engineering, BS, Zoology / Electrical Engineering at University of Florida
English
Github Skills (11)
aida10
avi10
c-language10
cprogramming-language10
ida10
data-analysis9
algorithms8
algorithm8
apidoc7
api7
computational-biology6
Programming languages (3)
Github contributions (5)
devosoft/avida
Sep 2017 - Mar 2021
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer
Back-end DeveloperContributions:25 commits, 21 pushes, 3 branches in 3 years 5 months
Contributions summary:Diane primarily focused on extending the functionality of the Avida platform, particularly around spatial definitions and resource management. Key contributions include the implementation of new actions for printing reaction counts and adding periodic resource inflow functionality. The user also addressed bugs related to cell box calculations within the environment and refactored some code. These changes demonstrate an emphasis on improving the platform's analytical capabilities and environmental control.
avida
DBlackwood/Avida-ED-Eco
Jul 2018 - Aug 2022
User interface for Avida-ED using flex boxes instead of Maqetta
Contributions:423 commits, 32 PRs, 481 pushes in 4 years 2 months
boxesuser-interfacepythonflex
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