2020-10-01-mike-spencer.md

layout	title	author	rse	phenotype	excerpt	date	external_media	length	duration	explicit	rse_stories	resources
post	Pushing the bubble	@pweschmidt	Mike Spencer		From assessing snow fall in Britain to livestock movements, Mike has provided his expertise in data science to policy makers and influencers. So testing the data and underlying assumptions is an essential step. For this it is sometimes necessary to move outside our comfort zone.	2020-10-01 01:30:00 -0700	https://rseng.github.io/rse-stories-episodes-1/2020/rse-stories-mike-spencer-episode-36.mp3	12320518	00:25:39	no	true	name url Mike's Portfolio Blog https://scottishsnow.wordpress.com name url Mike's Twitter https://twitter.com/MikeRSpencer name url Mike's Webpage http://mikerspencer.com name url Scotland's Rural College https://ww1.sruc.ac.uk

Well before he realised he is an RSE Mike was already involved in software development and data science for some time. And you can't help but be impressed with the range of projects Mike has been working on. In this episode we focus on two of them: snow fall in Britain and livestock movement for Scotland's Rural College. His and his colleagues' work provide data for policy influencers and makers. It is therefore important that the quality of data and underlying assumptions are properly assessed. Getting this balance right is often difficult and requires, as Mike says, "pushing the bubble."