My summer class in Villefranche, an enriching experience
by Alessandro Cresci, on
My name is Alessandro Cresci and currently I am a graduate student at the RSMAS, University of Miami, advised by Dr. Claire Paris. Thank to the exchange program with the UMPC I was able to attend the summer class in multivariate statistics in Villefranche, with Dr. J-O Irisson, Dr. S-D Ayata and Dr. S.Gasparini.
I am personally very grateful for this enriching and extremely helpful experience.
My research is focused on the study of the orienting abilities of marine fish larvae, and in particular on the magnetic sense. Before joining the class, I could conduct experiments in Norway at the marine station of Austevoll in order to collect data about the orientation of the post-larval glass eels in their natural environment utilizing the DISC (Drifting In Situ Chamber) technology. The class in multivariate statistics allowed me to improve my knowledge on the analytical techniques, which provided me of new tools for exploring my data, and relate the behavior of my eels to many environmental parameters. Moreover, the class has a full module dedicated to the statistical analysis by the software R. This gave me the possibility to successfully utilize R in the analysis on my DISC data and to highlight new, unknown aspects of the behavior of the glass eels.
This summer class has been of great utility for my research and I was able to submit a manuscript to Nature Communications.
I would recommend to everybody to make this great experience of study in the unique colors of the Mediterranean Sea.
