News and Events
Mathematics and Statistics Department Colloquium:
Rainbow numbers of equations and graphs
Presented by Dr. Zhanar Berikkyzy, Associate Professor of Mathematics at Fairfield University
Monday, March 24, 4:15 – 5:15 pm
Palamountain 202
Refreshments beforehand at 4:00 pm
Abstract: The rainbow number of a set of integers X for a given equation eq is the smallest number of colors r such that every exact r-coloring of X admits a rainbow solution to the equation eq. During this talk, we will discuss this number for several important equations, including
Schur's and Sidon equations. We will then consider this parameter in graph setting
and connect it to the anti-van der Waerden number of a graph, the fewest number of
colors needed to guarantee a rainbow 3-term arithmetic progression. We will survey
recent results for various classes of graphs, including trees and products of trees.
Most of this talk will be accessible to students who have taken an introductory proofs course.
Mathematics and Statistics Department Colloquium:
Dynamics and Persistence of a Generalized Multi-strain SIS Model
Presented by Dr. Scott Greenhalgh, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Siena College
Monday, February 24, 4:15 – 5:15 pm
Palamountain 202
Refreshments beforehand at 4:00 pm
We're pleased to welcome Dr. Scott Greenhalgh of Siena College as our first invited speaker of the semester. We hope to see you there!
Abstract: Autonomous differential equation compartmental models hold broad utility in epidemiology and public health. However, such models typically cannot account explicitly for myriad factors that affect the trajectory of infectious diseases, with seasonal variations in host behavior and environmental conditions as noteworthy examples. Fortunately, using non-autonomous differential equation compartmental models can mitigate some of these deficiencies, as the inclusion of time-varying parameters can account for factors that vary temporally. The inclusion of these factors does come at a cost though, as many analysis techniques, such as Poincare maps and Floquet theory, are typically only tractable numerically.
In this presentation, I will illustrate a rare n-strain generalized Susceptible-Infectious-Susceptible (SIS) compartmental model, with a very general time-varying recovery rate, where the Floquet exponents are algebraic expressions. I'll start with an introduction to stability analysis, using the logistic growth equation, before completely characterizing the persistence and stability properties of an n-strain generalized SIS model. Finally, to demonstrate the applicability of the work, I'll apply it to recent syphilis incidence data from the United States, utilizing Akaike Information Criteria and Forecast Skill Scores to inform on the model’s goodness of fit relative to complexity and the model’s capacity to predict future trends.
Speaker Bio: Scott Greenhalgh is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Siena College. Scott has been selected as an MAA Project NEXT fellow, a Biomedical Data Science Innovation Lab innovator, an REUF fellow, and a GBD collaborator at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Previously, Scott worked as a postdoctoral scholar at both Queen's University in Canada and at Yale University's School of Public Health. Scott's current research program centers on applying mathematics to evaluate the impact of disease interventions, public health policy, and virulence evolution on both the health and economic burdens of disease.
Summer Research Information Session
Thursday December 12, 3-4pm
CIS 328
In this information session, we will discuss REUs, internships, and other mathematics and statistics research opportunities. Take a break from studying for your finals, come have a cookie and a cup of coffee, and learn about how to get paid for doing math or stats over the summer! We'll share lots of resources, hear from some of your classmates about their research experiences, and answer any questions you might have.
More information about REUs and internships, including a list of opportunities, is available here.
All Skidmore students are welcome! We hope to see you there!
Mathematics and Statistics Department Colloquium:
Seven Introductions to Alan Turing
Presented by Dr. Suraj Uttamchandani, Assistant Professor of the Learning Sciences, Adephi University
Friday, October 4, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Palamountain 202
Refreshments beforehand at 3:00 pm
For our first invited colloquium talk of the year, we are excited to welcome Dr. Suraj Uttamchandani from Adelphi University, who will join us on Friday, October 4 to present his talk, Seven Introductions to Alan Turing. We hope to see you there!
Abstract: Alan Turing was a British (choose: Mathematician / Computer Scientist / Codebreaker / Philosopher / Gay Person). You might know him as the person Benedict Cumberbatch portrayed in the movie The Imitation Game. At age 24, Turing solved a major problem in math logic and proof (the “entscheidungsproblem,” isn’t that a great name). At age 27, he was crucial in breaking Nazi codes and ciphers, contributing to the end of WWII. And at age 38, he created the “Turing Test,” which we still use to examine how good artificial intelligence is (and some argue, ChatGPT has finally passed this test). Despite these accomplishments, Turing was still arrested and prosecuted for being gay, leading to his death by suicide at age 41. In this interdisciplinary talk, I will lead us on a guided tour of Turing’s life and his work. In the process, I will discuss my own experiences with mathematics, the learning sciences, and LGBTQ+ education, and so highlight how math, history, and social sciences are intertwined. This talk is introductory and will be accessible to all; no prior knowledge in math or computer science is necessary.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Suraj Uttamchandani (he/him/his) is an Assistant Professor of Learning Sciences at Adelphi University. His work centers on political and relational dimensions of equitable learning, in learning environments as diverse as undergraduate STEM education, LGBTQ+ education, and technology-mediated instruction. He previously was a Visiting Research Scientist at the Center for Research on Learning and Technology at Indiana University, where he also completed his Ph.D. in the learning sciences. Prior to that, he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from SUNY Geneseo. His work has been funded by SUNY and the Mozilla Foundation, and his research has appeared in venues such as Journal of the Learning Sciences, International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, and Discourse, Context, & Media.
Welcome to our newest faculty member,
Professor Christopher Seaton!
We are pleased to welcome Professor Christopher Seaton to the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Skidmore College. Prof. Seaton earned his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2004. He joins us this fall after 20 years on the faculty in the Mathematics and Statistics Department at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.
Prof. Seaton’s research focuses on the geometry and topology of singular spaces, particularly orbifolds, singular symplectic quotients, and orbit spaces of Lie and topological groupoids. He enjoys mentoring undergraduate research and related projects in symplectic geometry, differential topology, computational invariant theory, and related areas. He has published nearly 40 mathematics papers in peer-reviewed journals, including eleven that he has coauthored with his undergraduate students.
Prof. Seaton has extensive experience teaching courses on a variety of topics at all levels of the undergraduate mathematics curriculum. This fall he will be teaching Linear Algebra (MA 200) and Abstract Algebra I (MA 319). Please extend a warm welcome to him when you see him in the Department!
Mathematics and Statistics Departmental Seminar presents Careers in Industry Seminar & Panel Discussion
Friday, April 21
Emerson Auditorium
Seminar Talk: 2:30 – 3:00 p.m., “From Liberal Arts to Data Science," Dr. Kimberly
Fessel
Refreshments: 3:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Panel Discussion: 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.,
Panelists: Dr. Kimberly Fessel, Dr. Kai Sikorski, Edvin Leon ’19, Xinyi Gu ‘20
While exciting, the ever-evolving field of data science can feel exclusive, amorphous,
and down-right scary. Data literacy seems important given that so many of tomorrow’s
jobs will involve artificial intelligence in one form or the other, but what exactly
is data science and how can you get started learning about it?
In this presentation, I will share some of the most important things I have learned
from my experiences as a liberal arts college student, a postdoctoral researcher,
an advertising analyst, a data science bootcamp director, and now a freelance data
consultant. Find out what the biggest differences between academia and industry are,
what it’s like to work as a data scientist, how to make a killer instructional video
for YouTube, and what classes you can take right now to prepare yourself for a potential
career leveraging data.
The Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the CLTL present:
Two Events with Dr. Pamela E. Harris, Associate Professor of Mathematics, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
With additional support provided by the Presidential Discretionary Fund and the Charles Lubin Family Chair for Women in Science
Speaker Bio: Dr. Pamela E. Harris is a Mexican-American mathematician. She serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She co-founded and serves as President of Lathisms: Latinxs and Hispanics in the Mathematical Sciences. She cohosts the podcast Mathematically Uncensored and coauthored the books Asked And Answered: Dialogues On Advocating For Students of Color in Mathematics, Practices and Policies: Advocating for Students of Color in Mathematics, and Read and Rectify: Stories of Advocacy from Students of Color in Mathematics. Full bio available here.
Event 1: “On Becoming Better Mentors and Advocates in STEM,” a faculty workshop
Monday, February 27, 10 a.m.
The Wyckoff Center
Description: In this talk, I discuss some of my past mentoring experiences and their effects on my self-confidence and my career progression. Based on these experiences I share concrete ideas on how to build better mentoring relationships. I also detail how becoming advocates for systemic and cultural changes in STEM fields provides another way to help create environments in which members of groups who have been historically underrepresented and underserved can thrive authentically in the STEM community.
Event 2: “Parking Functions: Choose Your Own Adventure,” a research talk
Monday, February 27, 2 p.m.
Emerson Auditorium
Abstract: Consider a parking lot consisting of n consecutive parking spots along a one-way street labeled 1 to n. Suppose n cars want to park one at a time in the parking lot and each car has a preferred parking spot. Each car coming into the lot initially tries to park in its preferred spot. However, if a car's preferred spot is already occupied, then it will proceed forward in the street parking in the next available spot. Since the parking lot is along a one-way street, it is not guaranteed that every car will be able to park before driving past the parking lot. If we let ai denote the preference of car i and all of the cars are able to park under these conditions, then the preference list (a1, a2, …, an) is called a parking function (of length n). For example, (1,2,4,2,2) is a parking function, but (1,2,2,5,5) is not (you should convince yourself of this!). In this talk we provide an answer to the question of how many parking functions of length n there are and we consider many new avenues for research stemming from this enumerative question.
Mathematics and Statistics Departmental Seminar: To Infinity and Beyond
Dr. Biji Wong, NSF MPS-Ascend Postdoctoral Fellow and a Griffiths Assistant Research Professor of Math at Duke University
Friday, Nov. 18, 2022 at 3 p.m. with refreshments starting at 2:30 p.m.
Emerson Auditorium, Palamountain Hall
For our final seminar talk of the fall semester, Skidmore's Mathematics and Statistics Department is excited to welcome speaker Dr. Biji Wong from Duke University. Please join us at 2:30 pm in Emerson Auditorium for refreshments and conversation. Dr. Wong’s talk will begin at 3 pm.
Abstract: In this talk, I will give a gentle introduction to surfaces, objects that resemble the outer layer of a soccer ball or the glaze on a donut. Along the way, we will talk about what it means to live on a surface and how to use our understanding of surfaces to study our universe.
Mathematics and Statistics Departmental Seminar: “Rainbow Problems in Groups”
Dr. Michael Young, Associate Professor of Mathematics and Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Carnegie Mellon University
Friday, Oct. 21, 2022, 3 p.m. with refreshments starting at 2:30 pm
Palamountain 202
For our October seminar talk, Skidmore's Mathematics and Statistics Department is excited to welcome speaker Dr. Michael Young from Carnegie Mellon University. Please join us at 2:30 p.m. in Palamountain 202 for refreshments and conversation. Dr. Young’s talk will begin at 3 p.m.
Abstract: A set is considered rainbow if each element of the set is assigned a distinct color. In this talk, we will discuss problems and techniques about determining the minimum number of colors needed in order to guarantee that every coloring of the integers contains a set of integers that is rainbow and a solution to a given equation.
Mathematics and Statistics Departmental Seminar presents Graduate School Panel Discussion
Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022, 7 p.m.
Glotzbach Atrium of the Center for Integrated Sciences
The Math/Stat Departmental Seminar is excited to announce that we'll be hosting a Graduate School Panel Discussion. This event is open to students of all years who want to learn more about mathematics and statistics graduate programs. You do not need to be a declared math major/minor or stat minor to attend. Come enjoy a slice of pizza while asking all the questions you have about grad school -- things like "What can I do with a graduate degree?", "What is grad school like?", "How do I prepare?", and "Where should I apply?" Our panel consists of four experts, two of whom are Skidmore alums. The panelists are:
Dr. Michael Young (Carnegie Mellon University) - Michael Young is an Associate Professor of Mathematics
and the Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Carnegie Mellon University. He
is an accomplished discrete mathematics researcher and the former Director of Iowa
State University's Postbaccalaureate Certificate program.
Dr. Kelly Isham '16 (Colgate University) - Kelly Isham graduated from Skidmore in 2016 and got her
PhD in mathematics at the University of California, Irvine in 2021. She has been at
Colgate University since 2021, first as a Visiting Assistant Professor, and now as
an Assistant Professor.
Dr. Vojtech Kejzlar (Skidmore College) - Vojtech Kejzlar completed his PhD in Statistics at Michigan
State University in 2020. He is an Assistant Professor of Statistics in the Mathematics
and Statistics Department at Skidmore.
Suzanne O'Hara '21 - Suzanne O'Hara is currently a graduate student at Wesleyan University in Middletown,
CT. They are in their second year of studies toward a PhD in mathematics with a concentration
in algebra.
RSVPs are appreciated, but not required. You can email Dr. Kirsten Hogenson to RSVP or for more information about the event.
Mathematics and Statistics Departmental Seminar: “Dating the Demise of the Dinosaurs”
Dr. Steve C. Wang, Professor of Statistics, Swarthmore College
Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, Refreshments at 2:30 pm, Remote Talk at 3:00 pm
We are excited to kick off the 2022-2023 seminar series with speaker Dr. Steve C. Wang from Swarthmore College. Please join us for refreshments starting at 2:30 pm, followed by talk starting at 3:00 pm. This will be a virtual talk and attendees are welcome to attend the Zoom presentation in CIS 348 or join via Zoom from another location.
Why did the dinosaurs go extinct, and when? And how do we know? Much of our knowledge of the history of life comes from the fossil record. But the fossil record is incomplete, and as a result, potentially misleading. How, then, can we learn anything about life on earth millions of years ago? In this talk I will discuss my research on how we can recognize mass extinctions --such as the one that killed the dinosaurs --from imperfect clues in the fossil record. Along the way we will explore some seemingly unrelated topics, including how the Allies estimated the strength of enemy forces during World War II.
Please email Dr. Csilla Szabo at cszabo@skidmore.edu for the Zoom link.
Mathematics and Statistics Departmental Seminar: “Math and Civic Tech”
Dr. Nelson Colón, Digital Service Expert (AI/ML & Cyber) at Defense Digital Service
Friday, April 15, 2022, 3-4 p.m. via Zoom
We are pleased to welcome speaker Dr. Nelson Colón who will lead an informal conversation about mathematics and its applications in the private sector and civic tech, and other possible career paths outside of academia for students with a STEM background.
Dr. Colón is a Mathematician and Data Scientist with a passion for Education, Equity and Civic Tech. Nel received a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Iowa for his work in Topological Quantum Field Theory. He also worked at Microsoft for the Intellectual Property Products & Solutions team where he led the development of Machine Learning products to detect Fraud, Waste & Abuse. Nel left the private sector to serve as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow for three terms, leading the development of AI products to accelerate Benefit processing for our Nation's Veterans. He is currently on a two-year tour of service at the Department of Defense, where he serves as a Subject Matter Expert on AI and Cybersecurity to the Department.
Please email Dr. Kirsten Hogenson at khogenso@skidmore.edu for the Zoom link.
Mathematics and Statistics Departmental Seminar
“Crocheting Mathematics”
Dr. Hanne Kekkonen, Assistant Professor at TU Delft, Netherlands
Friday, March 25, 2022, 12-1 p.m., hyflex in Tang Museum Malloy Gallery and on Zoom
We are pleased to welcome speaker and Radical Fiber artist Dr. Hanne Kekkonen who will give the general-level talk “Crocheting Mathematics.” This talk will be broadcast in the Tang Museum so afterward attendees can view Dr. Kekkonen’s work, as well as the full Radical Fiber exhibit.
Visit us for the abstract, Zoom link, and an RSVP form. Please email Dr. Kirsten Hogenson if you have any questions.
Professors Mark Huibregtse, Rachel Roe-Dale, and Becky Trousil serve as faculty advisors for Tang exhibit
For most of the past two years, three members of the MAMS Department (Mark Huibregtse, Rachel Roe-Dale, and Becky Trousil) were members of the faculty advisory committee that assisted Rebecca McNamara (Tang Associate Curator) in planning the exhibit titled Radical Fiber: Threads Connecting Art and Science. The exhibit features a wide variety of pieces in the fiber arts that exemplify deep connections and paths of influence between the arts and the sciences (including mathematics), with the paths of influence and inspiration flowing both ways. The advisory committee helped with the selection of pieces that would be most relevant to Skidmore courses and wrote short “wall label” essays describing certain of the pieces and the related scientific ideas. We also participated in the opening reception for the exhibition, including by serving as guides during the live-streamed curator’s tour. Now that the exhibit is up and running (through June 12,2022), the advisory committee members will be working on their “book essays,” contributions to the exhibition catalogue that expand on the wall labels. We all enjoyed the experience of working on the advisory committee, and we urge everyone to be sure to see the exhibit.
Mathematics and Statistics “ExploreMore” Information Session & Pi Day
Friday, March 4, 2022, 2–3 p.m.
CIS room 348
Join us to learn about the Mathematics major and Mathematics & Statistics minor programs, about various opportunities for independent study, about extra-curricular educational and social departmental events, pi(e), and more.
Mathematics and Statistics Departmental Seminar
"Fixed Points, Stability, and Oscillations: How can we manipulate systems?"
Dr. Kim Ayers, Assistant Professor of Mathematics at California State University San Marcos
Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, 2-3 p.m.via Zoom
We are pleased to welcome speaker Dr. Kim Ayers, who will give the talk "Fixed Points, Stability, and Oscillations: How can we manipulate systems?" Please see the attached poster for abstract.
For a Zoom link to attend this talk, please email: Dr. Kirsten Hogenson: khogenso@skidmore.edu
