Ainsley Owens’ Webpage

I am a graduating Biology major at Southern New Hampshire University. This semester, I did some work with BioStatistics/BioInformatics, using RStudio. This is a page where I will share some information about myself and the work that I am doing. So far, I’ve done some work to analyze data on Penguins, and I also have done some work to analyze data on Squirrels. I completed multiple notebooks working with DNA genomes and the replication origin. This work can all be accessed and viewed through this webpage.

About Me

I am a senior at Southern New Hampshire University, graduating with my Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Public Health. Throughout my time at SNHU, my main interest and academic focus has been Human Biology. Post-graduation, I am looking to work in the medical field. Prior to taking this BioInformatics course, I did not have any previous experience with coding, BioStatistics, or RStudio. I am hopeful that the skills and knowledge I attained from this course will be beneficial in my future career.

Work with Penguins

I started learning how to use R by working with the Palmer Penguins data set. During this project, I learned and practiced the basics of R. I ran an analysis using a small subset of 44 penguins. I ran this analysis by using R to organize the data into lists by species, geographical location, sex, and size. Using some newly learned functions of R, I was able to determine how physical features like bill length, flipper length, and body size varied by species and sex. I also created graphs and tables to visualize this data. If you are interested, you can view my analysis here.

Work with Squirrels

I then continued learning how to use R by working with the NYC Squirrels Census data set. I ran an analysis on 2,373 squirrels. I organized the data by several factors; fur color, age, and behavior. I also analyzed how behavior differs based on age and time of day. If you are interested, you can view my analysis here.

Work with Genomes

I furthered my knowledge and skills with R by working through three notebooks, analyzing genomes and DNA sequences. The ultimate goal of this project was to find the replication origin of a DNA genome. During DNA replication, proteins must locate the origin where the process begins. I learned several new coding methods and tools. Including but not limited to creating lists and sample genomes, as well as setting a seed for random number generation to ensure reproducible results. I also learned how to create for loops, and if/else statements to ensure the code is only ran when specific criteria are met. I learned how to scan in datasets, and correctly solve bioinformatics problems on the Rosalind problem. Additionally, I learned how to use functions to write reusable code and count the number of occurrences of patterns in a list, or genome in this case. These tools and functions all brought me closer to finding the replication origin of a genome, although future work is still required. If you are interested in viewing these notebooks, they can be found here.