About

Axiom Data Science is an informatics and software development firm focused on developing scalable solutions which can be leveraged across a variety of users, clients and institutions in order to make the best tools for data management, integration, and visualization. We support a variety of federal, private, academic and non-governmental organizations managing and conducting research in the ecological, geological and ocean sciences.

Staff and Facilities

Axiom Data Science staff includes software architects and engineers, GIS and data analysts, web and graphic designers, scientists and data librarians. Our headquarters are located in Anchorage, Alaska, with two main satellite offices in Portland, Oregon and Wickford, Rhode Island. Axiom operates a High Performance Compute (HPC) cluster in Portland composed of more than 1400 processing cores staged in a series of interconnected blade arrays as well as 1.4 PBs of storage distributed across clustered storage nodes. Compute nodes and storage nodes are connected over a low latency, converging network fabric (40 Gb/Sec Infiniband). GlusterFS is employed as a storage software abstraction layer that enables clients and storage servers to exploit data transfer over Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) protocols. This configuration enables data throughput from the storage cluster to the compute cluster to reach speeds greater than 160 Gb/Sec in high-concurrency situations necessary for large-scale scientific modeling as well as hosting, querying and visualizing large, long-term data sets. Axiom also has a dedicated multi-braided 1 Gb/Sec high speed internet connection for large file transfers between external data centers and the high-bandwidth demands of centralized web/cloud based applications.

Staff Bios

Rob Bochenek

President

Rob has been developing data management and cyber infrastructure solutions for research programs and organizations for the past fifteen years. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a degrees in aerospace engineering and mathematics. Early in his career Rob spent five years at the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council leading the data management team in processing, documenting and organizing the informational products produced from the scientific research funded to understand and monitor the ecological effects of the oil spill. Based upon that experience, Rob founded Axiom in 2006 to develop more generalized and holistic solutions for data management. He specializes in scientific geospatial information management with applications to physical/biological modeling and decision support data warehouse knowledge systems.
rob@axiomdatascience.com

Shane St Savage

Chief Infrastructure Officer

Shane is a founding partner of Axiom, and has been programming professionally for over a decade. Through many years of conducting data salvage and application development projects he has become a strong advocate for maintaining clean, organized and well described datasets; creating user interfaces that are both powerful and intuitive; and writing well documented and reusable code. Shane graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 2002 with a degree in biological sciences, which gives him a useful insight into biological research.
shane@axiomdatascience.com

Lyra Bochenek

Operations Manager

As operations manager, Lyra executes the behind-the-scenes tasks that enable Axiom to operate efficiently and effectively. She leads organizational logistics, identity development and graphic design. Lyra is a founding partner of Axiom. Before launching Axiom, she worked for 7 years as an associate editor for Alaska Newspapers Inc and and was the creative lead for the marketing department at Alaska USA FCU. She has a degree in Journalism and Public Communications from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Outside of work she can be found romping in Alaska with her two girls, gardening and trying to keep up with young ultimate frisbee players.
lyra@axiomdatascience.com

Luke Campbell

Senior Software Engineer

Luke is a software engineer with a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of New Haven and is a former Sonar Technician in the United States Navy. Luke has a strong background in developing GIS applications and software architecture to manage MetOcean data. He has worked on the Ocean Observatories Initiative, Integrated Ocean Observing System, multiple regional association observing systems, and forecasting software for the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center. He loves programming, hiking, flying, and in his younger years jumping out of airplanes.
luke@axiomdatascience.com

Adrienne Canino

Data Librarian

Adrienne is a data librarian, science literacy enthusiast, and sci-fi fan. Her work experience has stretched from environmental conservation to data librarianship. She earned a Masters in Professional Studies in Environmental Studies from State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 2014 and a Masters in Library and Information Science from Syracuse University in 2018. Her career has included leading cross-departmental initiatives in data literacy and research data services, digital archiving work, coordinating a youth conservation corps program, and planting many trees.
adrienne@axiomdatascience.com

Melanie Feen

Environmental Data Scientist

Melanie is a data scientist and storyteller. She earned a Masters in Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island in 2020 researching the ocean carbon cycle from sensors deployed on underwater marine robots. Prior to her time at Axiom, Melanie was a Data Analyst at Sofar Ocean exploring data from global ocean wave buoys. In her spare time, you’ll often find Melanie outside rock climbing or hiking with her dog.
melanie@axiomdatascience.com

Dr. Kari Fenske

Project Manager

Kari's background is in fisheries population dynamics modeling and management with federal and state agencies. She has a Ph.D. in Fisheries from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and an M.S. in Marine, Environmental, and Estuarine Sciences from the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland. Kari's experience includes fisheries research or management in the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and the Great Lakes, but she'd rather be traveling to exotic destinations or camping than actually fishing. She lives near Madison, WI in a spacious 1970s ranch house that is a big step up from the RV she and her husband lived in for 2.5 years in Alaska, or the 33' sailboat they lived in for one winter on the Chesapeake Bay.
kari@axiomdatascience.com

Ian Gill

Junior Environmental Data Scientist

Ian earned a Masters in Environmental Science at Western Washington University in 2011 and has spent over a decade doing fieldwork in Alaska, mostly watching bears catch salmon along various streams and rivers. His graduate research at McNeil River focused on the behavioral ecology of brown bears foraging for salmon and the impacts of bear-salmon predation on salmon populations. Ian worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game from 2012 to 2016, first as a habitat biologist and later as a science editor, where he learned to appreciate well-documented data, well-used semicolons, and the serial comma.
ian@axiomdatascience.com

Trevor Golden

Environmental Data Scientist

Trevor earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies and Outdoor Studies from Alaska Pacific University, emphasizing in quantitative ecology and philosophy of science. He is a big fan of the scientific method, and is particularly interested in optimizing the process of discovery by building robust solutions to challenges in data management and analysis. Before joining Axiom, Trevor spent six years in ecology working on a variety of projects ranging from the ingestion and validation of meteorological observations, to the analysis of movement patterns in telemetered animal locations.
trevor@axiomdatascience.com

Dr. Karina Khazmutdinova

Project Manager

Karina's background spans physical and observational oceanography, speleology, grants management, and environmental policy. Prior to joining Axiom, she served as the Senior Program Officer for the Gulf Research Program at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, where she led the development of programs focused on the Gulf of Mexico ocean dynamics and offshore energy safety. Karina has a Ph.D. in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics from Florida State University. Outside of work, she can be found planning various trips, going to the theatre, reading, or aiming to hike the full length of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal in one day.
karina@axiomdatascience.com

Kasandra Lassagne

Environmental Data Scientist

Kasandra begain as a Data Science Intern at Axiom working mainly with data ingestion and becoming familiar with the many branches involved with working in a software company. She has a dual bachelor's degree in Mathematics and General Biology from George Fox University. Most of her experience is in ecological data analysis projects focusing on tree distributions in the pacific northwestern forests and coastal ranges.
kasandra@axiomdatascience.com

Aidan Lewis

Software Engineer

Aidan earned his B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Gonzaga University (2021) where he cheered on his beloved Zags. Before Axiom, Aidan developed software for the Alaska Department of Revenue. He enjoys playing soccer, biking, climbing, and is a morning person on powder days.
aidan@axiomdatascience.com

Dr. Chang Liu

MetOcean Data Scientist

Chang received his Ph.D. (2019) and M.S. (2013) in Marine Science from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where he developed expertise in computational and data analysis skills in ocean sciences, specializing in modeling larval transport and geolocation methods for demersal fish species. He worked at the University of Connecticut as a Postdoc and Research Associate, where he focused on storm surge and wave modeling in coastal Connecticut, before joining Axiom Data Science in January 2023.
chang@axiomdatascience.com

Josh Rhoades

Software Engineer

Josh is a full-stack software developer. Following his B.S. in Computer Science from Arizona State (2007), he has worked in Linux system administration, web and backend development, as well as data and interface design. His claim to fame is that he has co-authored two full length novels (which makes the mistakes in his emails all the more embarrassing and no less frequent). He loves cycling, rock climbing, and plaintext file formats. He lives in Anchorage with his girlfriend and their fish.
josh@axiomdatascience.com

Lauren Showalter

Project Manager

Lauren has a Master’s in Marine Science from the University of Alabama and has worked in the data management space since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. She uses her background in marine ecology and management to improve availability and access to research data. She has managed the development of a large scale data repository and interdisciplinary data programs focused on the Gulf of Mexico region and ranging in topics from oceanography to community resilience. Lauren is passionate about helping people see that good data management is not difficult and can benefit their careers and science as a whole. Outside of the office Lauren enjoys taking her dogs to the brewery, knitting, riding her bike around D.C., and playing board games with her husband.
lauren@axiomdatascience.com

Joe Sonnier

Grants and Contracts Manager

Joe joined the Axiom team in 2021 from a senior leadership role in the Alaska nonprofit sector. He earned his Bachelor and Master of Business Administration at Alaska Pacific University. Much of his career has been focused on organizational design, sustainability, and strategic leadership. Joe is a technical writer at heart and loves crafting documents that benefit both organizations and people. Outside of work you can find him in the Chugach chasing mountaintops with his fearless corgi.
joe@axiomdatascience.com

Brian Stone

Senior Software Engineer

Brian Stone has a Bachelor of Arts in Art Studio from Colorado College in Colorado Springs. He's developed web-based applications since 2004 and specializes in web design and usability concepts. Prior to his work at Axiom, Brian was the primary web administrator for the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska.com, and he created a variety of interactive maps and graphics to supplement newsroom stories. At Axiom, he creates cross-platform, web-based spatial planning applications that allow users to interactively explore multiple large scientific data sets across time, space and depth.
brian@axiomdatascience.com

Iwen Su

Technical Project Manager

Iwen has worked on a variety of field and data projects in fisheries and aquaculture over the past 10 years. Her data journey began in 2016 at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, where she built a strong foundation in data science and management. She earned her Master’s degree in Coastal & Marine Science and Management in 2018 from the Bren School, University of California, Santa Barbara. Iwen’s interests in sustainable seafood and “better science in less time” led her to join an ocean software startup. There, she helped grow the data science team, developed science-driven software products, and managed several client-based and R&D projects. In her down time, she likes to climb rocks and be in the sun.
iwen@axiomdatascience.com

Dr. Kristen Thyng

MetOcean Data Scientist

Kristen has a long history of changing academics fields. She started with a B.A. in Physics at Whitman College, followed with a MSc. in Applied Math at the University of Washington, then a PhD in Mechnical Engineering at UW. Afterward, she went to Texas A&M for a Postdoc in Oceanography and later worked as a Research Scientist and then Research Professor. Now, she has found the best combination of all these fields as a MetOcean Data Scientist! Kristen has made numerical ocean simulations for applications including tidal turbine siting; understanding coastal ocean physics; and tracking material like oil, harmful algal blooms, and drug packages. Her work also has included data gathering and analysis, teaching Python, and the design and sharing of colormaps to use for beautiful and intuitive visualizations. Outside of work, Kristen spends time with her important people and creatures, and tries to find the ocean and mountains.
kristen@axiomdatascience.com

Chris Turner

Data Librarian

Chris is a data librarian and metadata evangelist trying to make it easier to responsibly share and document research data. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Alaska, Anchorage (Mathematics, 2007) and a Master of Science from Syracuse University (Library and Information Science, 2012). His prior work experience includes working in libraries doing serials cataloging, collection maintenance, and photo and document digitization, serving as a data management consultant for NSF funded research groups while an eScience Fellow as SU, and comparing and crosswalking scientific metadata standards while interning at the NSIDC. Chris was hired at Axiom to help document data resources, develop metadata strategy, liaise with program managers and PIs, and to develop and promote data management best practices. Outside of work, he enjoys long bike rides and brothy soups.
chris@axiomdatascience.com

Francis

Therapy Dog

As a puppy prodigy and adult dog phenom, Francis has dual degrees in Saliva Production and Getting in the Way. Before working at Axiom as an occupational therapist, Francis spent years learning the way of the dog in his owner's garage. He currently loves being off leash, corralling and giving rides to kids, barking at moose, and cleaning his plate.
francis@axiomdatascience.com


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