Kelsey Campbell
Founder
Gayta Science
Washington, DC USA
“Live your truth. There are so many different ways you can live, but you’re not going to be happy unless you’re being yourself.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationKelsey Campbell
Milestones
My road in life has been direct.
As a child, I went from living in a more open-minded community in Canada to living in a very small town in Indiana—it was a difficult transition for me as a young nonbinary, gender-fluid person.
My mother was very religious and in an abusive relationship, so coming out to her was pretty difficult and didn’t go well.
In high school, I was most interested in animation until my senior year economics class won over my interest.
I decided to major in economics in college—one of my courses was all about econometrics, which is how I became interested in using data to explain the world around you.
My first job out of college was in public health research at a nonprofit—I was essentially a data scientist before that job title was officially coined.
I really loved working with data and wanted to further explore this newer data science field, so I went back to school for a master’s degree in analytics.
I currently work as a data scientist for Visionist, where I provide analytical support for company projects, collaborate with software development teams, and experiment with new technologies.
Outside of my job with Visionist, I took inspiration from data I collected about my own experience to create Gayta Science, which uses data to shed light on the LGBTQ+ community.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Graduate
Analytics
North Carolina State University
Analytics
North Carolina State University
Career
Founder
I use data analytics and visualization to shed light on the LGBTQ+ experience.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Numbers
Technology
Communicating / Sharing Stories
Day to Day
You can usually find me writing code to discover insights in data. With Gayta Science, I am typically asking an interesting question related to the LGBTQ+ experience, exploring data sources that could be used to shed light on the question, and then creating visuals and a narrative to communicate findings. In the past I’ve worked on both research and development teams, and a data scientist role can vary depending on the goal of a project. It is a broad field that you can shape your own path in.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for everyone
Take a free introductory online coding (Python or R) and statistics class. Find an interesting dataset online (github and kaggle are good sources) and explore it. Think of interesting questions you have that the data can speak to and try to create summarizations, statistical tests / models, and visualizations that answer your questions. Follow conversations on Twitter or other social platforms of those who you admire in the field.
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Society in General:
"You're not welcome in STEM environments."
Challenges I Overcame
Gangs / Violence
LGBT
Interviewed By
At Your Fingertips
Computer science from new perspectives
