Jessica Miotto

Recent university graduate from the University of Toronto, St. George Campus, with 4+ years’ experience in customer service and computer programs such as Excel, Python, ArcGIS, and QGIS.I have worked in a variety of scientific labs, including chemistry, biology, ecology, morphology, and geology labs. For the past two years, I have been working as a research assistant at the University of Toronto mainly focusing on creating and analyzing databases in excel and using QGIS to study the spread of environmental areas in Toronto.

Over the past two years I have been working with Marc Cadotte at the University of Toronto, Scarborough campus, as his research assistant. I worked as the sole research assistant in aiding in the creation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Institutional Strategic Initiative spanning the three UofT campuses. For this work I created a database regarding SDG related initiatives at institutions throughout Canada and internationally, I also created a citation network showcasing UofT research and how they fall under the SDGs. I also worked closely with one of his PhD students on their research regarding the spread of urbanization in Toronto from 1930-2016. This work required the use of GIS where I separated and transformed different landcover types through vector-based methods.

I am a recent graduate student from the University of Toronto, St. George campus, with a double major in Earth and Environmental Systems and Biodiversity and Conservation Biology (Evolutionary Biology). I completed my degree in April of 2021, obtaining an Honours Bachelor’s Degree in Science. I completed courses in chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, Egyptian history, paleoenvironmental studies as well as oceanography. Throughout my four-year term I conducted extensive lab work in various labs ranging from chemistry labs to biology/ecology, mammalogy, earth systems, and paleontology labs. In these labs, I learned how to use different types of microscopes, how to identify sediments, minerals, plant species, and animal specimen, and how to effectively analyze data. I am striving towards work in paleoenvironment analysis or conservation and feel that this opportunity would be very beneficial for me.