| The morel foraging season is well underway in the south of the USA and heading further north by the day! As a data scientist, I wanted to see if data could help boost people's chances of finding these delicious mushrooms. A quick summary of how it works: 1. I linked 1,000s of past morel sightings to habitat data (e.g. climate, soil, tree species) and weather data (e.g. temperature, rainfall) from the weeks before [1-6] 2. I used this data to train machine learning models and find patterns in how habitat and weather affect where and when morels are likely to grow 3. These models help identify areas where the habitat is suitable for morels, and produce a daily forecast of the likelihood of finding them based on recent weather Like any forecast, it's not perfect and more of a guide than a guarantee. But I think it's a good starting point if you don't already know a spot or have a sixth sense for timing. Let me know if you have any questions! [1] https://www.gbif.org/species/7904574 [2] https://chelsa-climate.org/exchelsa-extended-bioclim/ [3] https://www.isric.org/explore/soilgrids [4] https://www.fs.usda.gov/science-technology/data-tools-produc... [5] https://www.ecmwf.int/en/forecasts/dataset/ecmwf-reanalysis-... [6] https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/weather-climate-models/gl... |