Hello!
Just launching my new Steemit profile with an "introduceyourself" post. My name is Lachlan and I'm from Tasmania, Australia, however recently I seem to be dividing my time between Sydney and Hobart.
Marine Science
I work primarily in science where I study marine predator foraging behaviour (as part of my PhD) and the terrifying marine predator I've been focusing on lately is the little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor), and yes, they are considered a marine predator :).
My work revolves around using bio-logging devices to determine what these animals do when they're at sea and how they might react to anthropogenic climate-change, consequently I often spend extended periods working on offshore remote islands. There's all sorts of data we can collect besides GPS determined movement patterns. For example: one technique we use involves deploying penguins with accelerometers (much like the device that tells your phone which way around it is except with 3 axes instead of 2) to determine when the penguin has encountered and caught prey (usually small fish). Ultimately I'm hoping use my research to asses how marine ecosystems on Australia's east coast are reacting to changes in the East Australian Current (which has been intensifying over the last seven decades, transporting more warm, salty, nutrient poor water down Australia's coast).
One of my remote work stations.
Interest in Cryptocurrenies
I'm definitely late to the party in cryptocurrencies and block chain technology. I remember first hearing about bitcoin when I was finishing school back in 2010 but it never really caught my attention again until this year (2017). I began researching projects such as Ethereum and I've been hooked since then, I find the whole space fascinating (also the possibility to earn a little money is also rather attractive, I won't lie).
I decided to invest in some cryptos in early 2017 (with my meagre student salary). I tend only to invest in cryptocurrencies and tokens in which I see there to be strong future utility for the technology and primarily I focus ones that I can see myself using in the future (hence my presence here on Steemit!). Consequently my portfolio is primarily comprised of Ether (ETH), Neo (NEO & GAS), Golem (GNT) and I recently decided to partake in the Genesis Vision ICO (GVT). I am a HODLer through and through. Having worked so long in ecological sciences and understanding that markets are second order chaotic systems, I have absolutely no confidence in my ability to make market predictions so I am HODLing all the way. This is the only stratergy I can truly endorse.
Development
In my science work I frequently develop complex scripts and programs to process my data. I write in primarily in Python and R but also can operate sufficiently in JS, CSS and also HTML (I know that's not a programming language!). Recently I have been teaming up with on of my closest friends (and the best coder I know by a long shot) to develop novel DApps and Crypto-based applications for a variety of devices. It's slow work considering we both work full time in other areas but watch this space, we hope to announce some things soon :). Recently we just added another friend/team member to our projects which has been exciting so things should start moving a little quicker. We're hoping to enter the recently announced NEO DApp contest but no promises!
Surprising, but a big part of working with penguins is coding.
Hobbies
I don't just sit around all day thinking about penguins, programming and hitting refresh on coinmarketcap.com (as a good HODLer never should). I also like to do other stuff. My main love is surfing and I spend my time on the remote beaches of Tasmania or the more populated Northern Beaches of Sydney.
Thanks to it's remoteness, there are some amazing waves you can have all to yourself in Tasmania!
I've enjoy windsurfing, sailing and I love going on remote hikes into Tassie's wilderness (can't check coinmarketcap when your 3-days walk from phone reception!).
There ain't views like this anywhere else!
Anyway! That's more than enough about me. I'm looking forward to exploring Steemit and becoming part of the community. Feel free to drop me a line anytime!
Thanks if you made it this far ;)!
Lachlan.