Summary
Erica Baken is a quantitative model analyst with a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and nine years of experience turning complex biological and socio-economic datasets into actionable insights. She transitioned from academia—where she led computational biology research on beetle macroevolution and authored an advanced R package for shape analysis—to applied analytics, now testing for fair and responsible banking practices at U.S. Bank using SAS, R, Python, and ML methods. Erica excels at multivariate statistical modeling, reproducible tool development (including R Shiny apps), and communicating results to stakeholders across disciplines. Her blend of deep domain expertise in evolutionary biology and practical experience in regulatory analytics gives her a unique ability to translate nuanced scientific methods into robust, auditable business models.
9 years of coding experience
8 years of employment as a software developer
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Iowa State University
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Biology General, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Biology General at Pomona College
English, Swahili, Norwegian, Spanish