Maria Oros
Data Science & Stats
I am a Data Scientist at the Data Science Institute at UW–Madison, where I develop machine learning methods and statistical models for real-world decision-making. With a decade of experience spanning industry and academia, I care as much about understanding the people I work with as I do about the models I build.
My research interests include causal inference, Bayesian statistics, and foundation models, with a strong emphasis on translating theoretical advances into practical, impactful applications. I am honored to work with exceptional people at DSI, having the mentorship of Dr. Kyle Cranmer, and faculty at UW–Madison. I majored in mathematics from the University of Guanajuato and CIMAT, under the guidance of Dr. Carlos Valero and Dr. Rafael Herrera Guzmán who guided me to pursue excellence in my work and have passion for STEM.
As a Latina in STEM and first generation college student, I strive to lead with purpose—creating spaces where my collaborators feel valued and supported, so we can all thrive and do our most meaningful work in data science.
Professional Experience
UW–Madison Data Science Institute
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Data Scientist
- Managed a portfolio of data science research projects with UW–Madison, partner universities, and industry stakeholders.
- Designed and developed statistical, machine learning, and AI-driven solutions.
- Reported results and insights directly to academic and industry stakeholders.
Game Coder Studios
Data Analyst
- Core data analyst for Runiverse, an MMORPG video game.
- Performed statistical analysis and large-scale simulations to evaluate game design scenarios.
- Provided data-driven recommendations to support strategic game design decisions.
BBVA (Mexico & Spain)
Analyst Data Scientist
- Led the development of a national-scale credit risk assessment model for individual customers.
- Built and validated statistical models used in production decision systems.
- Collaborated directly with stakeholders across Mexico and Spain.
Aprende Institute
E-learning / Data
- Designed A/B testing principles to improve user experience and learning outcomes.
- Member of the Insights team supporting data-driven decisions for the Miami front office.
- Applied statistical analysis to evaluate platform performance and user behavior.
True Home
Junior Data Scientist
- Developed and deployed a national real estate pricing model used in production.
- Led data curation and extraction pipelines across multiple data sources.
- Applied NLP techniques to detect legal issues in property listings and improve automation reliability.
Publications & Research
Selected Publications
Full list on Google Scholar: Open Google Scholar
Conference Presentations & Talks
Meta-analytical application and Open Source Tools in Agriculture
Midwest Machine Learning Symposium, University of Chicago
June 2025
Can LLMs be anomaly detectors?
Data Science Institute, UW–Madison
May 2025
An open-source crop disease forecasting tool
Research Bazaar, UW–Madison
February 2025
Technical Expertise
Research Interests
- Causal Inference
- Bayesian Statistics
- Machine Learning
- Meta-Analysis
Programming
- Python
- R
- SQL
- SAS
Cloud & DevOps
- AWS
- GCP
- Docker
- Git/GitHub
Featured Projects
Mechanistic Modeling of Hydrophobic Interaction Chromatography
Developed mechanistic models to characterize protein behavior in hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC), a key purification step in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The models capture adsorption dynamics and elution profiles to support process development and reduce experimental burden.
Open Lambda
Contributed to the design and development of the Open Lambda website, shaping the visual identity of this open-source serverless platform.
Agricultural Forecasting System
Open-source tool for predicting crop disease risks using ML models.
Economic ROI Calculator
Economic models for fungicide profitability assessment.
Team & Collaborators
A few moments with my team and collaborators across projects in data science, agriculture, and open-source tools.
What Collaborators Say
Maria is doing great work with an impactful set of projects. The many testimonials are a sign of the value of her work to our partners and DSI. She is very committed to the mission of DSI.
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