Nick Gondek

Nick Gondek is a Data Scientist / Research Software Engineer at the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center for Data Science and Environment (DSE). He is dedicated to creating simple and scalable data infrastructure to address complex challenges in our changing environment, particularly within conservation biology, agriculture, and social science.

Nick brings diverse experience across DSE's focal areas of biodiversity and climate resilience. After starting his career catching songbirds for evolutionary biology research projects in Arizona and Hawaii, he worked with Conservation Metrics to develop machine learning tools to detect seabirds, bats, and elephants in acoustic recordings for wildlife managers and research groups worldwide. He later worked with sustainable ag startup Unfold to develop lettuce and tomato varieties for vertical farms and greenhouses, and most recently, with startup Blumen Systems to streamline the siting and permitting process for developers of clean energy infrastructure.

Prior to joining DSE, Nick obtained a Master's degree in the Computational Analysis of Public Policy from The University of Chicago, with an emphasis on econometric, database design, and machine learning applications within social science. With the University of Minnesota, he earned dual BS degrees in (1) Fisheries, Wildlife Conservation Biology, and (2) Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management.