Sometimes, our team members are new, but also not-quite-new. That’s true for Bernard A. Coles IV. While he’s a new permanent hire, he’s been with us for a while.
We always like to take the opportunity to spotlight our team members. And we love getting to know them better. And what better chance than a contractor joining our team as a full-time employee?
Get to know Bernard in this Q&A – and be on the lookout for some interesting non-job skills!
Tell us about your role at CHER. What’s your position and focus?
I am a Network Scientist on the Abacus data team.
I conduct social network analyses across multiple projects to discern important social connections and how these connections impact health, perceptions, the flow of information, social capital and cohesion in groups.
What was your path to CHER?
I started with CHER as an independent contractor in spring 2023 and quickly grew to appreciate the culture and the folks here.
I think last summer was the first time I had mentioned to Michelle Song that I’d love to join Abacus full time if they had room on the data team.
And now, a year later, here I am!
What are your goals while at CHER?
Serious career goals: I want to continue to develop as a researcher and keep gaining new skills in things like SQL, APIs, learn to understand python code, learn useful data management and analysis techniques in various programs.
Fun social goal: I make a mean cheesecake and want to bring one to a company event!
What are some challenges you have faced in your field of work (or that you anticipate in your role with CHER)?
I think the most common challenge when it comes to reporting social network analysis findings is balancing jargon from literature with language people will know and understand.
For example: translating “node 76 rests on the shortest paths between the most other nodes signaling a high betweenness centrality” to something like “if this person was not in the network we’d see a much more disconnected graph, signaling their importance for the flow of info” and then explaining why it matters in context.
What’s a fun fact about you?
I have been doing Taekwondo since I was 6 years old and was a nationally competitive martial artist when I was between 12 and 18.
Because of this, I grew up with a strong influence from Korean culture. I can read/write and understand a lot of Korean and its one of my favorite genres of food!
I can still do back-flips and most of the kicks!