Stanford
Stanford Research Computing

Mark Yoder, Research Software Engineer and Computational Scientist

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Computing interests and specialties:

  • Research computing software: development and distribution
  • Earth and Sustainability Sciences
  • Quantitative analytics and database technologies
  • Python
  • SLURM

Came to us from:

  • University of California Davis
    • Postdoctoral researcher
    • PhD (2011) Physics: Earthquake predictability, natural hazards science, and disaster response SaS applications
  • LANDAUER / Fluke Health Solutions (FHS): Senior data scientist and device physicist
  • Engage3: Python specialist and data scientist

Profile

Mark is a computational scientist who makes software code work on Sherlock and Nero GCP for researchers at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability’s (SDSS), for whom he serves as Research Computing’s principal liaison. 

Specializing in resource allocation and optimization, Mark applies a combination of systems thinking and analytical/software expertise to assure that our HPC systems are well-matched to researchers’ needs.

No stranger to academic publishing or the indispensable role that computing plays in modern research, Mark’s skill set spans data engineering, software development, and data science. He has a PhD in Physics and Natural Hazards Science from UC Davis and several peer reviewed papers to his name (see below for a selection).

“Mark has a broad set of skills and expertise in research computing, including HPC (high performance computing), data storage and format, computational algorithms and software tools,” says SDSS’s CIO John Freshwaters, “and our PIs and research team members value him as a subject matter expert and consultant.” 

Mark isn’t one to let “the perfect be the enemy of the good” and, as he says, “I’m most comfortable when I’m outside my comfort zone. When solving a problem, I don’t worry about the boundaries of my job definition.” 

When he makes a case for fine-tuning or expanding Stanford’s HPC systems and researchers’ usage of them, Mark is a candid and persuasive information sharer: “When I show a graph to a PI showing how they're using Sherlock resources — instead of just telling them they could do so more efficiently — they respond well.”

“Beyond individual consultations, Mark maintains a global view of [SDSS’s] computational resources. The usage metric data he’s compiled have been instrumental in informing our school’s computational resource purchases,” wrote Eric M. Dunham, faculty director of the SDSS Center for Computation, in a recent summary of Mark’s contributions. 

“Mark takes delight in solving some of the most challenging tasks facing computational researchers – compiling and linking together complex software packages, scripting job submissions, and helping users optimally tailor their resource requests. This level of collaborative support goes beyond what even the best system administrator would typically provide,” added Professor Dunham.

“Mark helped our group so much on one project that we acknowledged his contributions with co-authorship on a scientific paper. The project simply couldn't have happened without him!”

Select Publications and Memberships