Employee Spotlight: Christian Coffman

Meet ORAU employee Christian Coffman. Christian is an ORAU contractor working under the National Student Services Contract (NSSC) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Working in Statistical Programming Support in Duluth, MN, Christian supports EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD), The Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure (CCTE), and the Scientific Computing & Data Curation Division (SCDCD). Christian’s work with CCTE supports research under multiple national research programs by assisting with statistical programming and model development.

CCTE supports ORD by providing solutions-driven research to rapidly evaluate the potential human health and environmental risks due to exposures to environmental stressors and ensure the integrity of the freshwater environment and its capacity to support human well-being. Within CCTE, the Scientific Computing & Data Curation Division (SCDCD) develops the knowledge and information architecture necessary for integrating, transforming, and managing large-scale data streams related to assessing the risk of chemicals.

Christian’s work with the CCTE team includes assisting with scientific data management and integration, data visualization, identification of appropriate statistical and machine learning methods, data analysis, and R package and application development needs for CCTE. In addition, he is working on a project to streamline Great Lakes water quality data integration. Christian said, “The challenge lies in consolidating data from multiple databases, which has hindered researchers from fully utilizing its explanatory power. Our software package aims to remove this hindrance by providing automatic data assembly and quality control. We're also gearing up for a machine learning application to predict chlorophyll-a and harmful algal blooms by proxy.”

When asked what his favorite part of working at EPA has been so far, Christian said, “The EPA has been a delightful surprise, offering an efficient work environment and a fantastic culture. Colleagues not only respect each other's work but also their personal lives, fostering a positive and collaborative atmosphere with notable coworker friendships.”

Background

Christian graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale before attending graduate school at the University of Minnesota and earning a Master of Science degree in Chemistry. In addition, he is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Biostatistics at the University of Minnesota. After Christian received his master’s in chemistry, he shifted gears to teach statistics in New York at the high school level. Teaching statistics helped nurture his love for quantitative decision-making processes and statistics and eventually led him to pursue a Ph.D. in Biostatistics. While in his Ph.D. program, he led development teams at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain in the development of statistical tools and quality control pipelines.

Fun Facts:  Christian enjoys making music, playing sports, home improvement projects, and quality family time.