Statement of Purpose
06 Aug 2017
SOP that was sent along with my application to the ICS graduate program.
Master of Science in Information and Computer Sciences
Although my intended area of graduate study is in computer science, I cannot discuss it without mentioning my other driving force behind this application: my experiences in the field of marine biology. Along with computing, the study of marine life has long been one of my predominant interests, and it was clear to me that my undergraduate career would center around one of these two subjects. I decided to study marine biology at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and I believe I could not have had a more enlightening experience had I chosen any other focus. During that time I was able to secure my confidence in my ability to analyze problems as a scientist and I was also reintroduced to computing, but now as a way to solve biological problems. I have grown increasingly interested in computer science since, and as a result, have started studying various programming languages relevant to building and using bioinformatics programs.
My undergraduate career in marine biology did not initially go as expected, with far more time utilizing computer programs than I had anticipated. Lab assignments utilized ANOVA tests regularly, and my genetics, microbiology, and even ecology courses often required DNA sequence comparisons. It was not until my final year that I truly understood the importance of the techniques I had been using. That final year was one of many learning opportunities for me. In my advanced topics capstone course, I further investigated my already established interest in deep-sea ecology. Many related studies I reviewed at that time required genomic and proteomic analyses to reach conclusions on how organisms were linked across deep-sea habitats. My first directed research project, completed at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology under the guidance of Chris Bird, also relied heavily on the analysis of DNA. My goal in this project was to assist in the selection of unique DNA fragments to be used in a microarray, deemed the Reef Chip, to detect the presence of marine organisms in a particular location. In order to sort out the genetic material, I had to utilize bioinformatics tools such as BLAST and the sequence analyzer Geneious. I was intent on becoming proficient in these programs, and in the process, I began to investigate the advances that computer technology had provided for biologists.
I continued to rely on computational programs for my second directed project, which focused on morphological variations between species of limpets occurring at similar habitats. I benefited greatly from using the statistical analysis programs Stata and SPSS as they allowed great flexibility in data manipulation. I picked up the language required to use Stata more effectively, and suddenly, I found myself studying other languages. I had experimented with Java and C++ in the past, but admittedly did not apply that knowledge usefully. With all my exposure to lab use of computational tools, however, I had now found an area to apply that knowledge to. After a year of volunteer work at HIMB, I decided to continue my studies again at UHM, but this time in the field of information and computer science.
It has now been a year and a half since I started taking ICS courses as a post-baccalaureate student, and I strongly believe that my future pursuits lie within this field. With the education obtained from an intensive computer science program, I would like to contribute back to the field of biology. The applications of computer science to biologists are within a broad and increasing spectrum, from discovering efficient algorithms that process nucleotide and protein sequences, to predicting the structure and purpose of an incomplete biological system. A strong background in computational systems, programming languages, and algorithms is required to apply these techniques, and I believe the MS Program in Computer Sciences at UHM can provide me with that knowledge. It would also benefit me greatly to study at UHM because its extensive research in both computer science and biology often interact with each other, offering growing opportunities in bioinformatics and a faculty that is diverse in many areas. I look forward to a higher learning experience in this program, and to future endeavors involving the applications of computer science.
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