Deja Perkins
The Geospatial Urban Birder

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Doctoral Research Assistant
8/2021 – 5/2025

Lead research investigating racial-spatial data gaps in large scale citizen science projects. Conducted research under the Inclusive, Diverse Equitable, Accessible and Large-Scale (IDEAL) Participatory Science grant. Conducted literature reviews related to barriers and motivations to project participation, citizen and participatory science, This position also involved preparing papers for journal submission. Conducted data analysis using R, including statistical analysis such as zero-truncated Hurdle Models, Factorial ANOVAs, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Geographic Weighted Regression, Areal Interpolation, Zonal Statistics, and Dasymetric Mapping. Prepared visualizations in QGIS, ArcOnline, ArcGIS Pro, and prepared topics to lead a lab of 9 mixed career students (undergraduate and graduate).
 

Master's Research Assistant
8/2018-5/2020

Coordinated volunteers and developed activities and materials for engagement of local communities, including ArcGIS story maps, community bird surveys, and Virtual Reality activities. Evaluated program and recruitment strategies for effectiveness. Created a plan to engage new birders in bird-based citizen science projects. Conducted literature reviews on luxury effect and completed statistical analysis for a multi-city comparison of structured vs unstructured bird-based citizen science programs.

Triangle Bird Count Research Technician

2018-2020

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• Conducted avian point count surveys.

• Created maps using ArcMap looking at greenspaces, bird occurrence data and income data layers

• Created story maps using arc online and arc map.

• Managed program volunteers and organized program training workshops.

• Collected 360 images for VR outreach programs and future vegetation analysis.

• Created new content to update website as needed

• Designed bird based activities for community engagement programs

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USDA Wildlife Services National Wildlife Research Center Animal Care and Research Intern

Starkville Mississippi

​2017-2018

 

• Collected routine health parameters such as blood samples, body temperatures and fecal samples from Great Egrets and feral swine, as well as administer euthanasia at close of study.

• Performed necropsies of Double Crested Cormorants and Lesser Scaup and retrieve various body samples including feathers, muscle tissue, sub-q fat, blood, liver, upper and lower GI as well as gained experience sexing Double Crested Cormorants and Lesser Scaup. 

• Performed stomach content analysis of Double Crested Cormorants and Lesser Scaup, gaining experience with fish ID, macro-invertebrate ID and seed ID.

• Provide daily animal care for research animals including feeding and cleaning.

• Completed data collection for various projects.

 

 

Georgia Tech Urban Honey Bee REU

​2017-2017

 

• Conducted independent toxicology research on honey bee larvae, including conducting hive inspections and maintenance and gaining familiarity with proper lab safety and common lab tools, and became comfortable working with common chemicals within a lab.

 

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