Statistics Research Team Explores Biological Questions
Statistics faculty member Trevor Ruiz and his student research team: Nathan Greenfield, Nick Patrick, Jose Garcia, Alea Seifert and Nicole Yee (from left to right). Photo by Alexis Kovacevic.
May 2025 / NEWS STORY
by Nick Wilson
Student researchers led by statistics Assistant Professor Trevor Ruiz are using data science to learn more about the natural world, including fascinating research on rattlesnakes.
Ruiz arrived at Cal Poly two years ago with an interest in exploring applications of statistics in biology and ecology. Now, using time series analysis and other statistical methods, Ruiz and his research team are collaborating with internationally renowned snake expert and Cal Poly biological sciences Professor Emily Taylor. They’re striving to address questions around variability in rattlesnake metabolism and energetic expenditure associated with environmental and behavioral drivers such as climate, latitude, altitude, reproduction, and hibernation.
“We’re exploring thermoregulatory patterns and using those patterns as a basis for inferring metabolic rates under different conditions and in different locations in North America,” Ruiz said.
Over the past year-and-a-half, three Cal Poly students in statistics and biology have participated in collaborative research with Ruiz and Taylor. Two more students will join the group this summer to start work on a new project related to hydration and water retention among desert lizards. Third-year statistics major Nicole Yee, of Sacramento, said that she has gained valuable experience through working with the group. In the past year she has presented work at the Statistics Frost Symposium as part of the Frost Summer Undergraduate Research Program and at other research events at Cal Poly.
“The most exciting thing that I learned from my stats work on rattlesnakes is actually what applying statistics looks like outside of the classroom,” Yee said. “Before this project, I didn’t have a great idea of what that could entail. I was pleasantly surprised about how much I enjoyed the work, since I did not know much about rattlesnakes or biological applications of statistics in general.”
Statistics research students meet with Dr. Ruiz (top right).
Photo by Alexis Kovacevic
What began as a statistical consultation with Taylor has evolved into a full-fledged research partnership. Their work to date focuses on analyzing time series data related to how snakes maintain their core body temperatures, known as thermoregulation. As snakes are ectotherms (dependent on external sources of heat), thermoregulation is dependent on behavior. Ruiz and Taylor’s research uses “high frequency measurements of internal body temperatures for individual snakes over time” to understand thermoregulation and Ruiz works with students on “applying statistical techniques to infer associations between observed thermoregulatory patterns and potential behavioral drivers.”
In an article published in the Journal of Thermal Biology in August 2024, Ruiz, Taylor, Cal Poly biological sciences postdoctoral researcher Haley Moniz, and other collaborators compared internal body temperatures of pregnant female snakes in rookeries, or rattlesnake dens, to those of non-pregnant female snakes in prairies.
“Rookeries facilitated maintenance of higher body temperatures, which could allow pregnant females to thermoregulate more accurately than non-pregnant females in the prairie, especially during the night when snakes cannot use solar radiation to actively thermoregulate,” the researchers wrote.
Ruiz and Taylor initially focused their collaboration on analyzing data collected from a high-altitude site in Colorado where snakes are active outside of their dens for shorter periods than in other places due to frequent cold weather. They are now comparing similar data collected by various snake researchers across the United States and Canada between 2005 and 2024 to explore questions related to climate and geography. The research raises questions about whether it can be energetically beneficial for snakes to hibernate for longer and be active for shorter periods of time each year.
Ruiz, who started at Cal Poly in Fall 2023, earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy at Reed College in Portland, Oregon and then his master’s and Ph.D. in statistics at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. While Ruiz says statistics can be used to assess data across the spectrum of research fields and developing trends worldwide, he has leaned toward projects that explore impactful topics combining biology and statistics.
Another current project in Ruiz’s research group includes ongoing work with chemistry Associate Professor Emily Bockmon studying oceanic pH levels off the Central Coast and considering potential impacts of acidification on marine life.
“Currently, we have meetings that include all students Dr. Ruiz is doing research with so that we can all see what everyone is working on and have the chance to further learn,” Yee said. “I can tell that Dr. Ruiz wants all of us to grow in our research and I can see that he truly cares about each of his projects and spends a lot of time with each one. He has created an environment that encourages a lot of growth.”
Statistics faculty member Trevor Ruiz explains a concept during a research team meeting. Photo by Alexis Kovacevic
