HiFi Laboratory Research

Full Stack Python Software Engineer · January 2024 – May 2025

Worked with Dr. Bellisario’s lab building software tools for bioacoustic analysis—basically using sound recordings to measure environmental health and track species migration.

What I built

Acoustic Indices calculator
Developed a Python app that calculates Acoustic Indices, which are metrics ecologists use to assess environmental health through soundscapes. This was the first citizen-accessible tool for these calculations—previous versions were R-based, slow, and not particularly user-friendly.

The app supports conservation work by the Niches Land Trust in Northern Indiana, helping them monitor species migration patterns and ecosystem health.

Research presentations

Presented my work at Purdue’s Undergraduate Research Symposium in both Spring 2024 and Spring 2025. Got helpful feedback from people across different disciplines who were interested in the intersection of software and environmental conservation.

Funding

Received a research scholarship in Spring 2025 to continue development and support ongoing conservation efforts.

Why this mattered

Environmental monitoring usually requires expensive equipment and specialized software. Making these tools more accessible means more people can contribute to conservation data collection.