Welcoming new members to the PyData Pittsburgh organizing team
A new chapter begins for Pittsburgh's open-source data science, machine learning, and Python community
Back in November, I announced that I would be stepping down as the lead organizer for PyData Pittsburgh in mid-2025. Today, I’m excited to share that three fantastic members of the PyData Pittsburgh community have stepped up to join our organizing team: Doug Nicola, Madison Ebersole, and Nathan Brouwer!
Doug, Madison, and Nathan have already been instrumental in organizing tomorrow’s Machine Learning in Astronomy event. You should expect to hear a lot more from them in the future!
Doug Nicola
Doug first learned to program on an Apple II in 1978, using Logo and turtle graphics. In high school and college, he moved on to FORTRAN, Lisp, Pascal, BASIC, and assembly. In the 90s he taught himself C++ and sold games as an indie developer for Windows 95. Early professional work was in banking in San Francisco as an IT Data Support Specialist. During the early 2000s, he worked as a Software Engineer for a small company that developed the network design and simulation software used by all the cable TV giants of the time. Moving on to start a one-person 3D design shop, he worked for clients such as Dr Pepper, Nike, and Toyota to design 3D mockups for retail displays and installations. Now moving into data engineering and AI/ML, he is in the process of creating a new one-person shop using Python and Snowflake as his main tools. In his free time, Doug enjoys swimming, music, surrealism, hiking, and playing with his cats.
Madison Ebersole
Madison is an NLP Data Engineer at an AI healthcare startup, where she builds tools and pipelines that help machines learn. She's currently pursuing a Master’s in Analytics at Georgia Tech and enjoys learning more about the ever-evolving world of AI. She recently moved to Pittsburgh and is excited to get involved with the Pydata community. When she’s not teaching computers new tricks, she enjoys rock climbing and local volunteering.
Nathan Brouwer
Nathan is a computational biologist and data scientist working for Highmark Health, focusing on payment integrity and Fraud, Waste, and Abuse detection. Previously, he was a Teaching Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, where he ran classes in computational biology, environmental science, and biological data analysis. When not Python-ing, he chases his kids, runs with his dogs, and occasionally sits down to read a book.
While Doug, Madison, Nathan, and others will play starring roles in running the PyData Pittsburgh community moving forward, long-time members and organizers like Pete Fein, Colin Dean, and I, among others, will still be involved to help as needed and provide continuity.
Please join me in welcoming Doug, Madison, and Nathan to their new roles on the organizing team. Thank you for helping keep Pittsburgh’s open-source data science, machine learning, and Python community vibrant and growing!