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From Marine Science to Code: PhD Tutor for Science, Math and AI/ML
Oc B.

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Hourly Rate: $50
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About Oc

Bio

I am a PhD candidate in Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, where my research applies deep learning to bioacoustic and visual monitoring of marine ecosystems, including whale call classification and coral reef fish behavior. Before Scripps, I earned a Master of Media Arts and Sciences from the MIT Media Lab, focused on computational tools for fisheries conservation, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with minors in Computer Science and Technical...

I am a PhD candidate in Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, where my research applies deep learning to bioacoustic and visual monitoring of marine ecosystems, including whale call classification and coral reef fish behavior. Before Scripps, I earned a Master of Media Arts and Sciences from the MIT Media Lab, focused on computational tools for fisheries conservation, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with minors in Computer Science and Technical Theatre from Florida Atlantic University, graduating Cum Laude. This training lets me tutor in Python, machine learning, data science, statistics, biology, and oceanography, as well as general STEM coursework and exam preparation.

My teaching experience spans nearly a decade across several age groups and settings. This past summer I was an AI Pioneers instructor for Inspirit AI, teaching applied machine learning to middle and high school students in Oakland. At Scripps I have served as a teaching assistant for a Marine ArcGIS course and currently mentor high school, undergraduate, and master's level interns twice weekly on coding and hardware projects, including building autonomous underwater cameras and fish detection algorithms. At MIT I was a teaching assistant for a course on blockchain applications and ethics, working with undergraduate and graduate students. Earlier, I led weekly afterschool coding and soldering workshops for middle schoolers in underrepresented Broward County, Florida communities, introducing them to Arduino electronics.

My approach centers on one on one, project based learning rather than lecture style instruction. I meet students where they are, break complex concepts into concrete, hands on examples, and adapt explanations to each student's background and pace. Whether helping someone debug a Python script, grasp a statistics concept, or prepare for a biology exam, I focus on building genuine understanding and confidence, not just the right answer.

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Education

Florida Atlantic University
EE CS
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Masters
University of California San Diego
PhD

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Approved Subjects

Electrical Engineering

Electrical Engineering

I hold a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, with minors in Computer Science and Technical Theatre, from Florida Atlantic University, where I graduated Cum Laude. Since then, I have applied that foundation to design and deploy embedded hardware systems in the field, including low-cost burst-mode autonomous cameras, seafloor vector-sensor recorders, and hydrophone systems used in coral reef research in Hawaiʻi. My hardware experience spans circuit design and fabrication tools including Eagle, AutoCAD, Inventor, SolidWorks, and Verilog for FPGA development, as well as microcontroller platforms like Arduino and embedded computing systems such as NVIDIA Jetson. I also hold a certificate in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Technology and currently mentor students on building stereovision-enabled autonomous camera systems.
Environmental Science

Environmental Science

I am a PhD candidate in Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, specializing in marine bioacoustics and ecological sensing in an Environmental Acoustics Lab. My fieldwork has included co-leading a multi-year acoustic enrichment experiment on a coral reef in Kāneʻohe Bay and developing autonomous camera and hydrophone systems for ecosystem monitoring. I hold certifications as a Scientific Diver and Small Boat Operator, reflecting hands-on experience in ocean fieldwork beyond the classroom. I can help students understand core oceanography concepts as well as more specialized topics in bioacoustics, marine ecology, and ocean instrumentation.
Machine Learning/ AI

Machine Learning/ AI

I am a PhD candidate developing deep learning models to classify millions of whale vocalizations and detect fish larvae from underwater video, giving me hands-on experience with convolutional networks, autoencoders, contrastive learning, and unsupervised clustering. I previously worked as a machine learning research engineer at NOAA's Northern Gulf Institute, where I led curation of a large-scale fish image dataset and co-authored a peer-reviewed workshop paper at CVPR's Fine-Grained Visual Categorization workshop. My work has also included generative adversarial networks for satellite imagery, developed during a research fellowship with NASA and the SETI Institute's Frontier Development Lab. I can guide students through both the theoretical foundations of machine learning and practical implementation using TensorFlow and PyTorch.
Study Skills

Study Skills

My own late ADHD diagnosis at 29 forced me to rebuild my study habits from the ground up while completing a PhD, so the strategies I teach are ones I have personally tested under real academic pressure, not just theory. I rely on techniques like externalizing tasks, breaking large projects into small concrete steps, time-blocking, and building in accountability checkpoints, all adapted from managing my own executive function challenges through years of graduate research, teaching, and mentoring. I currently mentor high school, undergraduate, and master's level students on complex, long-term projects, which has sharpened my ability to identify where a student's study system is breaking down and adjust it to fit their specific learning style. I focus on building sustainable, individualized systems for organization, time management, and focus rather than one-size-fits-all study tips.
Web Design

Web Design

As a researcher whose work depends on communicating complex science to broad audiences, I have built and maintained my own professional website and portfolio using HTML/CSS and WordPress, and I use Figma regularly to design interfaces, presentations, and visual materials for research projects. My background in scientific visualization, cartography, and figure design gives me a strong eye for layout, typography, and usability that carries directly into web design principles. I also draw on a Technical Theatre minor from my undergraduate degree, which involved hands-on design and production work, complementing my more technical HTML/CSS skills. I can help students learn foundational web design concepts, from HTML and CSS structure to using tools like Figma and WordPress to build clean, functional websites.
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Hourly Rate: $50
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