Nicholas R. Knezek

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nknezek@gmail.com | (940) 230-5194 | Oakland, CA

Experience

Staff Data Scientist (2020-present) KoBold Metals – Berkeley, CA

• Lead data-scientist for global nickel generative team.
• Managed and coordinated a team of data scientists, geologists, and others to rapidly identify and evaluate properties for staking and acquisition with direct business impact on eight-figure deals.
• Developed and implemented methods for 2D and 3D spatial interpolation and sampling from Bayesian posterior ensembles.

Data Scientist (2018-2019) Arceo Analytics – San Francisco, CA

• Engineered a data pipeline, machine-learning model, and explainer to assess and report on organizations’ cybersecurity risks.
• Proposed, led, and put into production a machine-learning project to classify cybersecurity incident reports into insurance coverages
• Taught workshops and wrote documentation on Python, Jupyter notebooks, and data-science tools for coworkers and customers.

Graduate Research & Teaching Assistant (2013 - 2018) Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California – Berkeley, CA

• Research: Implemented a novel parallel numerical magnetohydrodynamic model for Earth’s core in Python and C, developed new statistical tests and analysis techniques to study observations of Earth’s magnetic field.
• Courses taught: Physics of Earth and Planetary Interiors, The History and Evolution of Planet Earth, Astronomy – The Planets, Deep Time (Cosmology / Earth History)

Technologist (2011 - 2013) NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory – Pasadena, CA

• Assembled and led a team of six specialists to provide mission assurance and environmental analysis for a high-altitude balloon telescope.
• Implemented monte-carlo particle physics simulation software on supercomputer clusters.
• Performed dose-depth radiation analysis for future spacecraft missions using a radiation model (NOVICE) and analyzed orbital-debris risk using an orbital debris engineering model (ORDEM).

Undergraduate Researcher (2009 – 2012) Dartmouth College – Hanover, NH

• Designed, manufactured and assembled balloon payloads utilizing CAD, electronics, and metal work for the Balloon Array for RBSP Relativistic Electron Loss (BARREL) project studying Earth’s radiation belts.
• Analyzed and aggregated data from past balloon flights using MATLAB and IDL.

Education

PhD – Geophysics, Department of Earth and Planetary Science University of California – Berkeley, CA (2013 - 2019) Thesis: Simulation and Observation of Magnetohydrodynamic Waves in Earth’s Core Honors: Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor, Department Graduate Student Representative

AB – Physics, Minor: Engineering Sciences Dartmouth College – Hanover, NH (2008 - 2012) Thesis: Energetic Oxygen Ions Near Europa Honors: Cum Laude, High Honors in Physics, Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society, The Chair’s Prize in physics.

High School Sanger, TX (2004 - 2008) Honors: Valedictorian, National Merit Scholar

Technical Experience

• Programming Languages
  • Native: Python (numpy, scipy, pandas, scikitlearn, PyMC, jupyter, matplotlib, seaborn)
  • Fluent: MATLAB, Bash
  • Conversational: C, FORTRAN 77/95, Java, R, UPC, Perl, HTML, CSS
• Software: LaTeX, Solidworks, GitHub, Excel, Word, Powerpoint
• Hardware: metal and wood shop experience, soldering, designing and modifying analog electronics, construction, auto-repair.
• Other skills: singing [1,2], rock-climbing

Professional Projects

• Numerical simulation of magnetohydrodynamic waves
  • Python and C code to simulate waves in a stratified layer in Earth’s core, implemented from scratch using a hybrid finite-volume and Fourier method.
• Mars thermal evolution
  • MATLAB code to track the time-dependent thermal evolution of the Martian core.
• Earth thermo-chemical-magnetic evolution
  • Python package to track the thermo-chemical evolution and coupling between Earth’s core and mantle.
• Magnetic field observations of Earth’s core
  • Python package to work with various published magnetic field models of Earth’s core, including CHAOS-6, GUFM1, COV-OBS, and various GUFM-SAT models.
• Coupling fluid motions and magnetic signals from Earth’s core
  • Python package to compute generation of magnetic signals due to fluid motions in Earth’s core.

Personal Projects

• Location history heatmap
  • project to track my location every 5 minutes for a year, then visualize as a heat-map and track on Google maps.
• Recipe unit conversions
  • Python package to convert informal cooking measurements such as dash, pinch, smidgen, or drop to standard units and convert between volume and mass measures.
• City climate visualizations
  • Data visualization of the typical climate of various cities showing temperature and sunlight by hour and average rainfall by day using observed data from weather stations and the MERRA-2 and GHCN-D datasets.
• Global temperature anomalies
  • Visualization of the global monthly temperature anomaly over time compared to the +2C target set by the Paris Climate Accords using the HADCRUT4 dataset.

Publications

Knezek, N. and Buffett, B., 2018. Influence of Magnetic Field Configuration on Magnetohydrodynamic Waves in Earth’s Core. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors.

Knezek, N. and Buffett, B., 2017, April. Equatorial magnetic Rossby waves - evidence for a thin, strongly-buoyant stratified layer in earth's core. In EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts (Vol. 19, p. 19429).

Buffett, B. and Knezek, N., 2017. Stochastic generation of MAC waves and implications for convection in Earth’s core. Geophysical Journal International, 212(3), pp.1523-1535.

Buffett, B., Knezek, N. and Holme, R., 2016. Evidence for MAC waves at the top of Earth's core and implications for variations in length of day. Geophysical Journal International, 204(3), pp.1789-1800.

Knezek, N.R. and Buffett, B.A., 2016, February. A Hybrid Finite-Volume Fourier Method for Modeling Wave Dynamics in a Stably-Stratified Core. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.

Buffett, B.A., Knezek, N.R. and Holme, R.T., 2016, February. Are Decadal Fluctuations in Length of Day Caused by Magnetic Waves in the Core?. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.

Knezek, N.R. and Buffett, B.A., 2015, December. A Numerical Model for Magnetohydrodynamic Waves in a Stably-Stratified Layer in Earth's Core. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.

Buffett, B.A., Holme, R.T. and Knezek, N.R., 2015, December. Evidence for MAC waves in the core and implications for the thermal state. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.

Duncan, M. S., Weller, M. B., Wicks, J. K., Knezek, N. R., Black, B. A., Johnston, S. A., ... & Panning, M. P. (2015, March). Mars Thermal History: Core, Atmosphere, Mantle, Phobos, and Surface (MaTH CAMPS). In Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (Vol. 46, p. 2900).

Wicks, J.K., Weller, M.B., Towles, N.J., Thissen, C., Knezek, N.R., Johnston, S., Hongsresawat, S., Duncan, M.S., Black, B.A., Schmerr, N.C. and Panning, M.P., 2014, December. Mars Thermal History: Core, Atmosphere, Mantle, Phobos and Surface (MaTH CAMPS). In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.

Millan, R.M., McCarthy, M.P., Sample, J.G., Smith, D.M., Thompson, L.D., McGaw, D.G., Woodger, L.A., Hewitt, J.G., Comess, M.D., Yando, K.B. and Liang, A.X., Knezek, N.R., 2013. The balloon array for RBSP relativistic electron losses (BARREL). Space Science Reviews, 179(1-4), pp.503-530.

Knezek, N.R., 2012, Energetic oxygen ions near Europa. Physics A.B. Honors Thesis, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.