Aside

Projects Talks The 'I' in Team - Peer-to-peer best practices for growing data science teamsProjects Talks Transportation System Performance EvaluationProjects Talks Oddly Satisyfing - Find delight in the mundaneData Science Writings Color Palette ExplorationProjects Talks COVID-19 Surveillance at the Metro PlantProjects Talks Regional Truck Corridor StudyData Science Writings Radial rtistryProjects Talks Regional Parks and the American Community SurveyData Science Writings Maps with {edgebundle}Data Science Writings Converting Peloton resistance to Bowflex C6 resistanceProjects Talks Twin Cities Rent TrendsProjects Talks Monitoring public adherence to social distancing guidelines with traffic dataProjects Talks Using Location Based Services Data for Calculating the Greenhouse Emissions of Communities in the Minnesota Metropolitan RegionProjects Talks councilRProjects Talks Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Passenger and Commercial TransportationProjects Talks Minimum distance to COVID-19 testing facilitiesProjects Talks A brief introduction to R packages and package developmentData Science Writings Finding the perfect sock pattern with ravelRyProjects Talks Who is a local? Using aggregated cell phone location data to research regional parks visitorsData Science Writings How eMoods Aided My Recovery And Inspired My Data Science CareerData Science Writings Housing Density in US CitiesData Science Writings Fisk's 'Mississippi Meander' in RProjects Talks Como Regional Park Hex Grid StreetLight AnalysisProjects Talks 3 Years of Mental Health: A quantified-self storyData Science Writings HIV and African American Populations in the USIndustry Positions Senior Data ScientistIndustry Positions Data ScientistAwards Productivity and Goal AttainmentAwards Keystone AwardAwards Community Builder Award - Dream TeamEducation B.A., Geography, Industry Positions Research InternIndustry Positions Every Penny Counts Emergency Financial Assistance Program AssistantIndustry Positions Sexual Health EducatorProjects Talks Chuck Green Civic Engagement FellowshipIndustry Positions Submissions ManagerIndustry Positions Teaching FellowIndustry Positions Health AdvocateIndustry Positions Communications Chair

Key Skills

  • R
  • R Shiny
  • R package development
  • Quarto
  • HTML/CSS, JavaScript
  • Tableau
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • VS Code
  • JavaScript
  • Git/GitHub
  • ESRI Products
  • Project management

Open Source Contributions

  • councilR Organization specific package for consistent style and data practices.
  • streetlightR R wrapper for StreetLight InSight® API.
  • covid-poops Shiny app for monitoring COVID-19 viral presence in metro wastewater.

Main

Liz Roten

I am a highly motivated data scientist and cartographer with a passion for data visualization. I make complex topics easy to understand using compelling visual design. My static and interactive visualizations are attractive and powerful tools for decision making.

Experience

Current2024

Senior Data Scientist

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • Data scientist in travel research and modeling.
  • Duties include data visualization, research methods and statistical model development, and R package development and maintenance.
  • Promoted from standard in Februrary 2024
20242018

Data Scientist

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • Data scientist in community development research and travel research and modeling.
  • Duties include data visualization, research methods and statistical model development, and R package development and maintenance.
  • Promoted from Associate in May 2021
2018

Research Intern

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • Developed innovative method for using aggregated and anonymized location-based services (LBS)/ cell phone location data to analyze regional parks traffic patterns across multiple seasons and years.
  • Independently created an interactive, online data visualization using open-source tools, such as R Shiny, and a git-based workflow.
  • Successfully presented findings to stakeholders and provided complete documentation.
20182016

Every Penny Counts Emergency Financial Assistance Program Assistant

JustUs Health St. Paul, MN
  • Completed tasks such as check requests, posting, data management, record keeping, and program development.
20182015

Sexual Health Educator

Macalester College Health and Wellness Center St. Paul, MN
  • Collaboratively developed sexual health education curriculum for all first-year students
  • Worked with student organizations and administrative offices to provide seminars on topics including sexual violence, Title IX Policy, and healthy relationships
20172015

Submissions Manager

Persephone’s Daughters Remote
  • Helped produce a high quality literary magazine that fulfills the mission of empowering women who have experienced various forms of abuse and degradation.
  • Organized all prose, poetry, and art submissions and direct an international staff via internet communication.
20172015

Teaching Fellow

Breakthrough Twin Cities St. Paul, MN
  • Taught 7th and 9th grade students in Summers 2015 and 2016 with independently developed math and epidemiology curricula
  • Planned and executed a leadership retreat for about 40 ninth grade students.
  • Planned and executed a two hour show displaying our students’ hard work to an audience of at most 650 people, as well as a display hallway, potluck, t-shirt, and planning necessary for each.
20162016

Health Advocate

Minnesota Internship Center Charter High School Minneapolis, MN
  • Advocated for students ages 14-21 in doctor, dental, vision, and health insurance needs.
  • Served as certified Mnsure navigator
20142012

Communications Chair

Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church Nashville, TN
  • Elected by peers to direct photography and video production for large youth events
  • Coordinated peers, administrative staff, and conference production company staff

Education

20182014

B.A., Geography, (Data Science, Community and Global Health)

Macalester College St. Paul, MN
  • Emphasis on data science, GIS, quantitative research methods, and visual design

Select projects and talks

September 2023

The ‘I’ in Team - Peer-to-peer best practices for growing data science teams

posit::conf(2023) Chicago, IL
  • How to gracefully expand your team without pulling your hair out
May 2023

Transportation System Performance Evaluation

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • A comprehensive review of the Twin Cities transportation system, built with R and Quarto
July 2022

Oddly Satisyfing - Find delight in the mundane

rstudio::conf(2022) Washington, D.C.
  • How to take a project you hate and turn it into something you love
February 2022

COVID-19 Surveillance at the Metro Plant

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • Open source project and R Shiny app
December 2021

Regional Truck Corridor Study

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • Making a legacy project reproducible
March 2021

Regional Parks and the American Community Survey

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • Interactive visualization displaying regional parks and trails in context with American Community Survey (ACS) demographic data
October 2020

Monitoring public adherence to social distancing guidelines with traffic data

2020 AMPO Virtual Conference Remote
  • To estimate public adherence to social distancing guidelines during the Coronavirus outbreak, we analyzed departures from typical traffic volumes on the metro freeway system of the Twin Cities region. A robust modeling approach, open-source code repository, and web-based dashboard for interacting with the data are assisting decision makers in Minnesota as they update social distancing guidelines and monitor economic recovery.
October 2020

Using Location Based Services Data for Calculating the Greenhouse Emissions of Communities in the Minnesota Metropolitan Region

2020 AMPO Virtual Conference Remote
  • To address the scarcity of transportation emissions data in Minnesota, the Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities has developed greenhouse gas emission estimates for transportation and land for cities, townships, and counties of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Region. This session will demonstrate how to leverage big data to centralize this type of research, save public funding, and enable communities to focus their efforts on implementing strategies to become more sustainable.
October 2020

councilR

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • Created and maintained an organization specific R package
  • Package includes templates, color palettes, and standard data processing functions
July 2020

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Passenger and Commercial Transportation

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • Independently developed technique for estimating greenhouse gas emissions from commerical and passenger vehicles
  • Collaborated with colleagues to include data in comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions inventory
July 2020

Minimum distance to COVID-19 testing facilities

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • A map series analyzing how COVID-19 testing centers are distributed across Minnesota
May 2020

A brief introduction to R packages and package development

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • Introduction to the R package I wrote for the Metropolitan Council
  • I review the anatomy of an R package, highlight a few package features, and provide an overview of how to use GitHub for collaboration at the Council.
March 2020

Who is a local? Using aggregated cell phone location data to research regional parks visitors

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • Tallk and workshop for students on using aggregated location-based services (LBS) data to gain insights on regional parks visitors
June 2019

Como Regional Park Hex Grid StreetLight Analysis

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • Visualize high activity areas within Como Regional Park and seasonal trends
December 2017

3 Years of Mental Health: A quantified-self story

lizroten.com St. Paul, MN
  • Mapping my travel patterns and mental health from 2015-2017
2017

Chuck Green Civic Engagement Fellowship

JustUs Health St. Paul, MN
  • Independently researched mental health disparities through large-scale client survey and literature review
  • Gathered comprehensive feedback from JustUs staff through focus groups and interviews

Select Data Science Writing

I blog about data science and visualization on my website lizroten.com

July 2022

Color Palette Exploration

lizroten.com
  • Color palette exploration with ggplot2 and generative methods
April 2021

Radial rtistry

lizroten.com
  • Generative art with ggplot2
March 2021

Maps with {edgebundle}

lizroten.com
  • Mapping US flight networks
March 2021

Converting Peloton resistance to Bowflex C6 resistance

lizroten.com
  • Visualizing spin bike difficulty
April 2020

Finding the perfect sock pattern with ravelRy

lizroten.com
  • Using the Ravelry API to find just the right sock pattern
February 2021

How eMoods Aided My Recovery And Inspired My Data Science Career

emoodtracker.com
  • Guest blog post on mental health and data science resulting from my “3 Years of Mental Health: A quantified-self story” project
February 2020

Housing Density in US Cities

lizroten.com
  • Examining residential zoning in Pittsburgh, Austin, and Boston
October 2019

Fisk’s ‘Mississippi Meander’ in R

lizroten.com
  • A few maps inspired by Harold Fisk’s 1944 geological investigation
November 2017

HIV and African American Populations in the US

Macalester College
  • A value-by-alpha map showing the intersection of African American populations and HIV prevalence

Awards

2023

Productivity and Goal Attainment

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • Awarded for work on the Transporation System Performance Evaluation
2022

Keystone Award

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • A cross-functional team came together to effectively share our monitoring data on the Met Council’s COVID-19 wastewater surveillance webpage and with the media.
  • The Keystone Award recognizes employees who demonstrate exceptional work performance. The award recognizes employees for being good ambassadors for the agency and for delivering unique, exceptional and inspired projects.
2021

Community Builder Award - Dream Team

Metropolitan Council St. Paul, MN
  • Awarded along with Todd Graham, Matt Schroeder, and Krysten Ryba-Tures for outstanding work in measuring and visualizing how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the region’s workers and households with focus on race/ethnicity and cultural group disparities.