COS - MathStat Newsletter Spring 2021

Mathematics and Statistical Science Newsletter

Letter From The Chair Dear students, alumni, and friends of the Department of Mathematics and Statistical Science, Welcome to the Math-Stat newsletter!

The year 2020 brought a big change to the department: the merger of mathematics and statistics into a single department. I believe that the merger will benefit not only our department, but also the students, the university, and the community, based on the combined ability of contributing to the development of interdisciplinary research programs, such as Data Science, as well as enhancing our undergraduate and graduate programs.

The faculty members and students of the department had many achievements in the last year. Rob Ely was promoted to the rank of full professor, Chris Remien was awarded tenure and promoted to the rank of associate professor, and Ann Abbott, Theresa Allen, and Manuel Welhan were all promoted to the rank of senior instructor. In student news, several of our outstanding students were recognized with awards for their achievements (see page 7 for more details!). Many faculty members also received awards and recognitions, including federal grants and prestigious fellowships. While the faculty invested a significant amount of their time developing new teaching delivery methods to teach students through traditional in-person teaching and online media, they managed to maintain their cutting-edge research projects, produced high impact scientific results, and were committed to important outreach activities such as the COVID-19 modeling (please see the faculty updates and recent grant activity for more details).

The year 2020 brought another big change to the department. In December 2020, Kirk Trigsted retired as the Director of the Polya Mathematics Learning Center. Kirk was a key figure in the creation, implementation, and success of the Polya Center. He was a superb teacher as well as a wonderful colleague for all of us in the department. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for all the

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contributions that he made during his time at UI. Please join me in congratulating Kirk on his retirement and wishing him good luck in the future (see page 2 for more about Kirk’s retirement and the new Polya team).

I am deeply saddened to share the news that Dr. Jim Calvert passed away on January 21, 2021, at the age of 84.

Jim was the 8th and 11th chair of the Department of Mathematics. Please join us in reflecting on his contributions to the department and beyond. You can read more about the history of the department, along with the full list of past department leadership, on page 3.

The year 2020 was unprecedented, and the impact of COVID-19 brought challenges to everyone. The pandemic put students in a very difficult financial situation, making scholarships more important than ever. During these challenging times it is nice to have good news to share. It is with great appreciation that I announce the new Dr. Thomas and Mrs. Linda McMillan Scholarship, which will award its first scholarship in 2021-2022. The generosity of our donors, such as Dr. and Mrs. McMillan, makes it possible to award scholarships to some of our best students.

The COVID-19 pandemic also taught us how resilient and capable we are of adapting to new situations. With the hope of putting the hardships of COVID-19 behind us, I look forward to the continued growth and opportunity of the department. After having to postpone in 2020, we look forward to the next Jon A. Wellner Lecture in 2021. Watch for more information! It is my sincere hope that you enjoy this issue of our newsletter. Please send us feedback on this issue and let us know what you would like to see in future newsletters.

Hirotachi Abo, Department Chair

Spring 2021

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Congratulations to Professor Brian Dennis on receiving the College of Science Distinguished Faculty Award for 2020.

Congratulations, Brian!

Congratulations to Department Manager Jana Joyce on receiving the 2021 Outstanding Staff Award in the Administrative Assistants Category.

Congratulations, Jana!

Faculty Promotions

Retirement

We had five faculty promotions from 2020 to celebrate in our department:

Kirk Trigsted, Director of the Polya Mathematics Learning Center, retired at the end of December. Kirk joined UI in 1994 as a graduate student. He earned his M.S. in mathematics at UI in 1996. Kirk was the Interim Director of the Mathematics and Statistical Assistance Center (MSAC) in 19971998 and was the Director of MSAC from 1998-2001.

Rob Ely was promoted to Full Professor.

Rob’s research is in Mathematics Education. He has taught courses at the undergraduate level such as Calculus (Math 170), Mathematics for Elementary Teachers (MTHE 235), and Modern Geometry (Math 391), and graduate courses such as Theory of Learning in Mathematics (Math 504 and EDCI 502), Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching Training (Math 504 and EDCI 502), and Seminar in Mathematics Education (Math 504).

Chris Remien was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor. Chris’s research is in Mathematical Biology, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology. He has taught courses at the undergraduate level such as Mathematical Biology (Math 437), Ordinary Differential Equations (Math 310), and Probability Theory (Math 451), and graduate courses such as Seminar on Epidemiological Modeling (Biol 501) and BCB Lab Experience Math/Stat (BCB 508).

Ann Abbott was promoted to Senior Instructor. Ann has taught courses at the undergraduate level, such as Intermediate Algebra (Math 108), College Algebra (Math 143), Statistical Methods (Stat 251), and Statistical Analysis (Stat 431), and graduate courses such as Teaching Practicum (BCB 597).

Theresa Allen was promoted to Senior Instructor. Theresa has taught courses at the undergraduate level such as Intermediate Algebra (Math 108), College Algebra (Math 143), Math in the Modern World (Math 123), and Survey of Calculus (Math 160).

Congratulations to Associate Professor Jennifer Johnson-Leung on receiving the College of Science Malcolm and Carol Renfrew Faculty Fellowship for Manuel Welhan was promoted to Senior 2020.

Instructor. Manuel has taught courses at the undergraduate level such as IntroducCongratulations, Jennifer! tion to Analysis (Math 471 & 472), Analytic Geometry and Calculus I, II, and III (Math 170, 175, and 275), and Linear Algebra (Math 330).

Congratulations!

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Spring 2021

In 2001, Kirk was integral in the creation of the Polya Mathematics Learning Center and he held the title of Director for 20 years. Kirk leaves behind a legacy of university service that will be missed. We wish Kirk well on his next adventure!

Happy Retirement, Kirk!

Polya Leadership With the retirement of the Director of the Polya Mathematics Learning Center comes a change in leadership. Ann Abbott is now serving as Acting Director of Polya.

We also welcome two new staff members: Sam Johnson, Academic Specialist (replacing Kelly Christenson, who moved to Academic Support Programs as the Academic Coaching Coordinator) Christin Fort, Administrative Coordinator (replacing Olivia Calza, after her move to continue furthering her education).

Mathematics and Statistical Science 875 Perimeter Drive MS 1103 Moscow, ID 83844-1103 Brink Hall 300 208-885-6742 mathstat@uidaho.edu www.uidaho.edu/sci/mathstat Mathematics and Statistical Science

Department History With our recent merger and departmental name change, we thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane and revisit department history. The first mention of a Head of the Department of Mathematics was in the 1932 Catalog. However, mathematics existed at the University of Idaho prior to 1932. Archived documents clearly indicate that Eugene Taylor was the highestranking mathematics faculty member from the time of his arrival at the University of Idaho in 1920.

In the Fall of 1994, the Ad Hoc Committee on University Statistics recommended that a separate Division of Statistics be created.

Throughout the academic year the logistics of the new division were worked out, with Dale Everson acting as interim leader for the division. In the Fall of 1996, the split of the department became official and we became two units: The Department of Mathematics and the Division of Statistics. Statistics existed as a Division until 2004 when it officially became the Department of Statistics.

The first of several department name changes occurred in 1982. Prior to 1982, introductory statistics was taught in agriculture, business and economics, education, engineering, forestry, and psychology. To improve efficiency and allow for the development of upper division and graduate statistics courses, Statistics was formed in 1982 by combining statistics teaching and consulting functions that were spread throughout the university.

This creation led to a name change, and the Department of Mathematics and Applied Statistics was formed. In 1988, to convey the nature of the statistics program, the Applied portion of the name was dropped, and the department name changed to the more appropriate Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

In 2015, the two departments remained separate entities, but came under the leadership of one faculty member, Chris Williams. This continued until 2020 when the departments merged back together to create the new Department of Mathematics and Statistical Science under the leadership of one department chair, Hirotachi Abo. The department has undergone many changes in the past 100 years, and we look forward to seeing what the future brings!

Distance Learning

Department Names A brief history of the evolution of names for the department:  Department of Mathematics, 19321982  Department of Mathematics and Applied Statistics, 1982-1988  Department of Mathematics and Statistics, 1988-1995  Department of Mathematics, 19962020  Division of Statistics, 1996-2004  Department of Statistics, 2004-2020  Department of Mathematics and Statistical Science, 2020-present

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The pivot to distance learning in Spring 2020 continues the long history the department has had with distance learning.

The photo above shows Mathematics Professor Elna Grahn teaching a distance learning course in 1961 (one of the first at UI). Math 1 was broadcast on KUID-TV and shown in several other classrooms to increase enrollment opportunities. To prevent students from changing the channel on the television to something other than the math lecture, the department hired someone to sit in each room as a monitor!

Photo credit: Walter Johnson '64.

Spring 2021

A review of the history of department leadership.

Mathematics Eugene Taylor, Department Head, 1920-1950 J. Lawrence Botsford, Department Chair, 1950-1954 Kenneth A. Bush, Department Chair, 1954-1961 Hans Sagan, Department Chair, 1961-1963 Howard Campbell, Department Chair, 1963-1978 Larry Bobisud, Acting Chair, 1974-1975 Larry Bobisud, Department Chair, 1978-1982 Jim Calvert, Department Chair, 1982-1990 Clancy Potratz, Department Chair, 1990-1994 Erol Barbut, Department Chair, 1994-1998 Jim Calvert, Department Chair, 1998-2001 Monte Boisen, Department Chair, 2001-2015 Chris Williams, Interim Chair, 2015-2020 Hiro Abo, Department Chair, 2020-Present Statistics Dale Everson, served as an acting director during the formation of the new division of statistics, 19951996 Randy Byers, Interim Director, 1996-1997 Al Manson, Division Director, 1997-2001 Chris Williams, Interim Division Director, 20012004 Rick Edgeman, Department Chair, 2004-2012 Chris Williams, Department Chair, 2013-2020

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Thank You Donors We are grateful to all who have contributed amounts, both large and small, to the department this year.

Donations support and enhance our programs. Your generous support makes a significant difference to our students.

Interested in supporting the students and faculty of the Department of Mathematics and Statistical Science? You may choose whether to direct your gift toward a specific goal of your choice or to have your donation used for our most pressing needs at the department’s discretion. Donations can be received online or through the mail.

To donate online, visit:

https:// www.givecampus.com/ schools/UniversityofIdaho

To mail a donation, send a check made payable to University of Idaho Foundation.

Include a note with the following information: My gift of $______ is enclosed. Please direct my gift to: Department of Mathematics and Statistical Science OR specify what you would like to donate to.

Remembering Jim Calvert Dr. James Edward Calvert Jr. passed away on January 21, 2021 at the age of 84.

Jim joined the mathematics faculty at the University of Idaho in 1967 and continued to work here for 34 years. During his tenure at UI, he was chair of the Math Department twice (from 1982-1990 and 1998-2001), for a total of 11 years. During his last year as Chair, he was responsible for the creation of the Polya Mathematics Learning Center.

He chose to name the center after his longtime mentor, the renowned Stanford professor, George Polya. Dr. Polya volunteered in Jim’s high school math classes, recognized Jim’s talent in mathematics, and took on a mentoring role in Jim’s mathematical life.

Jim received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Berkley, M.S. in Mathematics from the University of California at Davis, and Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of California at Davis. His research was focused on boundary value problems in differential equations. In the 1980s he also did work in formal languages, which was important in the early days of computer science.

Jim was loved by his colleagues and staff.

He always put his faculty, staff, and students first. He was a wonderful person, a great mathematician, and a respected leader of our great department.

Mail your check and note to: University of Idaho Foundation, 875 Perimeter Drive MS 3143, Moscow, ID 83844-3143.

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Gifts in Honor of Jim Jim was a longtime supporter of the UI Arboretum. If you would like to honor Jim’s memory, his family suggests gifts to the Jim and Susan Calvert Family Arboretum Fund at the University of Idaho.

To donate by mail: Calvert Arboretum Fund JF191 c/o University of Idaho Foundation 875 Perimeter Drive – MS 3143 Moscow, ID 83844-3143.

To donate online: Go to www.uidaho.edu/givenow and enter “Calvert” in the designation field.

Thank you, Chris Thank you to Dr. Chris Williams for serving as Department Chair of Statistics for seven years and as Interim Chair of Mathematics for five years!

Former Department Chairs Five former department chairs were together during the 2001 gathering to celebrate Jim Calvert’s retirement. These faculty members served as department chair from 1978-2015.

From left to right: Monte Boisen, Jim Calvert, Clancy Potratz, Erol Barbut, Larry Bobisud.

Spring 2021

Mathematics and Statistical Science

2020-2021 Scholarships All mathematics and statistical science majors are automatically considered for scholarships. Scholarship amounts range from $500 up to $6500. Scholarship selection is made by the faculty of the department in March.

The generosity of our donors makes it possible to award scholarships to some of our best students. See page 4 if you are interested in contributing.

J. Lawrence Botsford Scholarship Recipient: Gregory Gravelle Awarded to mathematics majors entering their junior or senior year.

Eugene and Osa Taylor Mathematics Scholarship Recipients: Michael Alberda, Tessa Beebout, Tiana Black, Madeline Breyfogle, Isabella Gale, Robert Goes, Gregory Gravelle, Emily Jackson, Luke Kendra, Tyler Skaggs, Jacob Wagner, Mete Yuksel Awarded to mathematics majors entering their junior or senior year.

Ya Yen Wang Memorial Scholarship Recipients: Tessa Beebout, Hanna Belt Intended for a junior or senior in Mathematics.

Pyrah Family Scholarship Recipient: Cassandra Madrigal For undergraduate mathematics majors, with preference to students from Idaho.

Linn Hower Honor Scholarship Recipient: Avery Pierce-Garnett For junior and senior applied mathematics majors, preferably from rural Idaho, with a high potential for success in a mathematics or scientific field.

The Mathematics Department Scholarship Recipients: Adelaide Boyer, Mitchell Dyer, Luke Kendra, Eli Smith Supported by annual contributions of friends of the department and is awarded primarily to freshman and sophomore mathematics majors.

Perry Math Scholarship Recipient: Austin Cramer Awarded to mathematics graduate students.

Malcolm and Carol Renfrew Scholarship Recipients: Tiana Black, Mitchell Dyer, Samantha Salinas Open to all mathematics students in the department.

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Newman and Neah Fisher Mathematics Scholarship Recipient: Tyler Clemens Open to full-time students (undergraduate or graduate level) majoring in mathematics. Preference is given to students preparing for a career teaching math at the secondary or community college level.

Clancy and Barbara Potratz Math Education Scholarship Recipients: Amanda Johnson, Danika Moore Available to full time sophomore, junior, or senior students majoring in mathematics.

Preference is given to students preparing for a career teaching mathematics at the middle through high school levels.

Boisen Mathematics Graduate Scholarship Recipients: Amanda Aydelotte, Austin Cramer, Garrett Huff, Annelise Nielsen, Joshua Parker Awarded to full-time mathematics graduate students.

Arnold Misterek Family Scholarship Recipients: Jordan Hardy, Arthur Huey, Yakov Sapozhnikov Awarded to graduate students majoring in mathematics.

Leo F. Boron Memorial Fellowship Recipient: Jiayu Yang Awarded to international students in their first year in the United States.

Mathematics Graduate Student Scholarship Recipient: Joshua Parker Supported by annual contributions of friends of the department and is awarded to mathematics graduate students at the discretion of the department.

The Dr. Thomas and Mrs. Linda McMillan Scholarship was established in 2021 by Thomas and Linda McMillan. During his education at the University of Idaho, Dr. McMillan was the beneficiary of financial help from family and endowed scholarships. It is in appreciation for that help that Dr. and Mrs. McMillan chose to endow and support a scholarship for mathematics students.

Dr. McMillan earned a B.S. in mathematics (summa cum laude) from the University of Idaho, M.A. and Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Utah, and M.S. in computer science and applications from Virginia Tech.

He spent his career in academia and is professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Arkansas Little Rock. Mrs. McMillan attended the University of Idaho. She spent much of her career with the Presbyterian Church, serving as an administrator for the Presbytery of Arkansas.

The scholarship will be awarded, based on merit, to mathematics students, with preference given to firstgeneration students.

The first Dr. Thomas and Mrs. Linda McMillan Scholarship will be awarded in 20212022.

Dale Everson Statistics Scholarship Recipients: Xihua Chen, Jarred Kvamme Awarded to students in statistics.

Dr. Thomas McMillan and Mrs. Linda McMillan

Spring 2021

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Zoom Watch Parties In 2020, Dr. Somantika Datta organized several informal Zoom gettogethers where participants watched videos related to the amazing things that can be done with mathematics and how one uses mathematics in daily life. The Zoom Watch Parties were open to all and no mathematics knowledge was required. We hope to hold more of these Zoom get-togethers in the future.

Watch this webpage for more information, or to view some of the videos from our previous gettogethers: https:// www.webpages.uidaho.edu /sdatta/ ZoomPartyVideos.html

Jon A. Wellner Lecture The Jon A. Wellner Lecture was established by Jon and Vera Wellner to provide educational experiences outside the classroom for students and faculty and to help raise the profile of the University of Idaho by bringing wellknown experts in the fields of Statistics and Probability to Moscow.

Due to the pandemic, we chose to postpone the 2020 and 2021 Jon A. Wellner Lectures. Watch for more information about the Jon A. Wellner Lecture in 2022!

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Student Clubs

Pi Mu Epsilon

The Department of Mathematics and Statistical Science is home to several student clubs, including: Math Club Machine Learning Group Python for Data Science Club Stat Club

These clubs are open to everyone for participation. Grab a friend and join the fun!

Email mathstat@uidaho.edu for more information!

Polya Help Hours The Polya Lab is closed for Spring 2021, except for Math 144 testing. However, through Zoom we are still offering Homework Help, Tutoring, and Instructor Chats.

Detailed schedule information and accompanying Zoom links are available on the Polya Hours webpage: https://www.uidaho.edu/sci/mathstat/ polya/hours

The Idaho Alpha Chapter of the Pi Mu Epsilon Mathematical Honor Society inducted new members in Spring 2020: Gauri Gaur, Tyler Clemens, Gregory Gravelle, Karissa Dautenhahn, Madeline Breyfogle, Bandita Karki.

The current chapter officers are: Greg Gravelle, President Gauri Gaur, Vice President Madeline Breyfogle, Secretary/Treasurer Alex Woo, Chapter Advisor Mark Nielsen, Faculty Correspondent Students must meet certain minimum requirements to qualify for membership.

Qualifying students are contacted in the spring.

Statistical Consulting Center (SCC) Statistical Assistance Center (SAC) The SAC provides drop-in assistance to students enrolled in Statistics 251, 301, and 431 at the University of Idaho. We can assist with lecture material, homework, quiz/exam preparation, and coding in SAS or R.

The SCC helps with statistical design and analysis so researchers can produce highquality, reproducible research. We provide assistance in the design of experiments and sample surveys, advice on statistical analyses, and expertise on recent developments in statistical research. Faculty members, staff, and graduate students from any discipline are welcome.

The SAC is temporarily closed for walk-in hours, but we are offering Virtual SAC Tutoring via Zoom. The schedule is posted on the SAC webpage: https://www.uidaho.edu/sci/stat/about/ sac/tutoring-schedule.

The SCC is temporarily closed for walk-in hours, but consultants are available via email and Zoom. More information is posted on the SCC webpage: https://www.uidaho.edu/sci/stat/about/ scc/schedule.

Questions? Email stats-sac@uidaho.edu

Questions? Email stats-scc@uidaho.edu

Spring 2021

Mathematics and Statistical Science

Student Award Winners Several of our outstanding students received recognition for their achievements during the May 2020 virtual commencement celebration.

Outstanding Seniors Awarded to graduating seniors who have shown exceptional mathematical or statistical talent.

Kirk Bonney, mathematics Beth Tuschhoff, mathematics Brett Benson, statistical science

Congratulations to Doug Decock (mathematics) and Gavin Whitesitt (statistical science) on receiving the Dean’s Graduate Award for 2020.

This award is given to the outstanding graduating graduate student in each department, based on academic achievement and service.

Congratulations, Doug and Gavin!!

Chair’s Award for Excellence Awarded to graduating seniors in recognition of excellent academic performance.

Samuel Myers, mathematics Tristie Stucker, mathematics Samuel Johnson, mathematics Matthew Young, mathematics McKenna Painter, statistical science

Excellence in Teaching Awarded to graduate students who demonstrate excellence in teaching.

Daniel Furman Annelise Nielsen Garrett Huff Jordan Hardy Joshua Parker

Putnam Award Awarded to a Putnam participant who has shown exceptional mathematical talent on this notoriously difficult exam.

Kirk Bonney

Undergraduate mathematics major Avery Pierce-Garnett placed first in the Young Artist Woodwind category of the Idaho Music Teachers National Association competition in November 2020. In addition to mathematics, Avery is a saxophone student pursuing a degree in music performance.

Congratulations, Avery!

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Congratulations to our 66th and 67th Mathematics Ph.D. graduates: Doug Decock and Kevin Meek!

Congratulations to Brett Benson (statistical science), Kirk Bonney (mathematics), and Sam Myers (physics and mathematics) on each receiving a College of Science Dean’s Award in May 2020.

This award is given to the outstanding graduating senior in each department.

Congratulations, Brett, Kirk, and Sam!

Doug’s doctoral dissertation was titled “Vertex-Disjoint Large Cycles” and his major professor was Hong Wang.

Kevin’s doctoral dissertation was titled “Schubert Varieties in the Flag Variety of Hilbert-Samuel Multiplicity Two” and his major professor was Alex Woo. Congratulations, Dr. Decock and Dr. Meek!

Hill Undergraduate Research Fellowships

Congratulations to Sam Myers (mathematics and physics) on receiving the Thanks to the generosity of Brian and Gayle John B. George Award in Hill, the College of Science awarded 5 Hill May 2020.

Undergraduate Research Fellowships for 2020. Two of these recipients were mathe- One Dean’s Award winner matics students: is selected as the recipient of the John B. George Andy Johnson, for the project "Solving fluid Award. The award is based flow problems using complex analysis" (Dr. on academic achievement Somantika Datta, mentor). and service to the university community.

Mete Yuksel, for the project "Epidemiological dynamics of pathogen diCongratulations, Sam! versity in the wake of gene drive releases" (Dr. Christopher Remien, mentor).

Congratulations, Andy & Mete!

Spring 2021

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Faculty Updates Ann Abbott was named Acting Director of the Polya Center in December 2020. She teaches courses in Mathematics, Statistics, and Forest Biometrics. She is an active SBOE commitThe department welcomed tee member on the General Education Task several new graduate stu- Force, Math Transitions Network, and Math Pathways. She is part of the Polya Team TIP dents in the Fall of 2020: (Teaching Innovations Program) grant project: Engaging Students through Applications, CoAustin Cramer horts, and Communication.

New Graduate Students

Ph.D. student Mathematics Arthur Huey Ph.D. student Mathematics

Jazmine Juarez M.S. student Mathematics Matthew Mills M.S. student Mathematics Tristan Moxley M.S. student Statistical Science Logan Wendling M.S. student Statistical Science Ana Wilson M.S. student Statistical Science Yunfei Zhou M.S. student Statistical Science

Theresa Allen teaches mathematics courses through the Polya Center. She oversees Dual Credit courses and the Gateway to Calculus program. She is a member of the CDAR Advisory Board. She is part of the Polya Team TIP (Teaching Innovations Program) grant project: Engaging Students through Applications, Cohorts, and Communication.

Lyudmyla Barannyk was on sabbatical at the University of Michigan for the 2019-2020 academic year. She submitted a paper for journal publication. She continues working with J. Crepeau on the moving interface problems, and with D. Papageorgiou and R. Krasny on electrified vortex sheets and vortex methods for variable density flows. She worked with an REU undergraduate student at the University of Michigan.

During his sabbatical, Erkan Buzbas has been focusing on developing a mathematical and statistical theory of Reproducibility of Scientific Results. In October 2020, some part of this work was invited to the Zangwill Club Lecture Series in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. In March 2021, with colleagues, he published an article titled The case for formal methodology in scientific reform in Royal Society Open Science.

Somantika Datta received a Simons Foundation Collaboration grant. She advised two undergraduate students, one of whom (Andy Johnson) is a recipient of the 2020 Hill Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

Rob Ely continued working as Co-PI on the LLAMA grant. He gave two presentations: one at WSU AMS Mathematics Colloquium and the other at the Fall Central Sectional Meeting of the AMS. He is a co-editor of a special issue of International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. Rob is also the faculty mentor for the Math Club.

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Spring 2021

Audrey Fu had two publications in 2020. She was involved in two continuing grants, the NIH/NIGMS COBRE grant and another NIH grant. She had one PhD student completing his PhD program. She gave two invited talks: (1) Seminar in Precision Medicine, School of Biomedical Informatics, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston; and (2) Center for Statistical Genetics and Genomics, Duke University.

Audrey co-organized the Python for Data Science Club and the Machine Learning Working Group, as well as the UI Data Science Competition.

Frank Gao was on sabbatical for the 2020-2021 academic year. He received an NSF EPSCoR grant on big data, in which he is an investigator and a group leader. He gave an invited presentation at an Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence conference.

Paul Hohenlohe edited the book Population Genomics: Wildlife and had 17 publications in 2020. He mentored 2 post-doctoral fellows, advised 8 graduate students, was on 15 graduate student committees (3 of which graduated in 2020), mentored one undergraduate student in his research lab, and advised undergraduate students. He continued his work on seven active grants, was on the Graduate Affairs Committee in the Department of Biological Sciences, and served as Associate Editor for Molecular Ecology and Molecular Ecology Resources.

Tim Johnson published two papers in 2020. He advises undergraduate and graduate students. He is involved with curriculum, petitions, and Stat 251 committees in the department, and curriculum and awards committees for the college.

Jennifer Johnson-Leung received the NIH COBRE supplement for Modeling COVID 19 for Understanding and Forecasting, in which she is Co-Project Director. She gave a presentation at an NIH IDeA Program Meeting. She was also a speaker of the Renfrew Interdisciplinary Colloquium.

Steve Krone mentored UI undergraduate student Bandita Karki in a research project on mathematical modeling of gene drives to suppress pathogen spread (along with UI faculty Jim Bull and Chris Remien, and undergraduate Mete Yuksel). The result of the project was summarized in a paper, which has been accepted for publication. Steve also gave a presentation of this work at the CIRM Mathematical Models in Evolutionary Biology conference.

Mathematics and Statistical Science

Faculty Updates Stephen Lee continued work on the Data Science course, Stat 517. He is involved with undergraduate and graduate student advising.

Linh Nguyen co-organized CAAM 2020, Conference on Analysis and Applied Mathematics. He is an admin of a forum on data science and artificial intelligence, which organizes an online Math & AI seminar series.

Mark Nielsen is Associate Dean for the College of Science. He advises undergraduate and MAT students and serves as the Calculus Committee Chair. He is a member of University Curriculum Committee and the University Committee on General Education.

Cynthia Piez participated in a research project “A Hypothetical Learning Trajectory for Conceptualizing Distances on Calculus Graphs,” collaborating with R. Ely and E. Parr (Tennessee STEM Education Center). Cynthia prepares students for teaching elementary mathematics.

Chris Remien worked on an NIH grant focused on modeling the epidemiology and evolution of transmissible vaccines, a DARPA funded project studying novel measures to control Lassa virus in West Africa, and an IMCI NIH COBRE project modeling the population dynamics of microbiomes.

He had five publications in 2020. He is the undergraduate advisor for Mathematical Biology majors. He is the major professor for three graduate students and he mentors four postdocs.

Ben Ridenhour gave invited presentations on COVID modeling projects at, among other places, the annual Society of Actuaries meeting and for the Intercollegiate Biomathematics Alliance. (As well as at the prestigious University of Idaho Physics Symposium!). One of Ben's postdoc's (Dr. Elham Bayat-Mohktari) took a position in the summer of 2020 at NIH; Ben continues to act as mentor to Dr. Tyler Meadows who has been involved in various modeling projects for both COVID and microbiome dynamics. He (along with Jennifer Johnson-Leung) received an NIH COBRE Supplement grant to fund the COVID modeling efforts and an NIH R01 for modeling the effects of fecal microbiome transplants on health.

Brooks Roberts worked on a research monograph that considers the local and global theory of Siegel modular forms defined with respect to the stable Klingen congruence subgroups. This work is joint with Ralf Schmidt of the University of North Texas and Jennifer Johnson-Leung.

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Renae Shrum teaches several undergraduate statistics courses. She is the Coordinator for the SAC. She is the undergraduate advisor for Actuarial Science and Finance majors and for Statistics minors. She also coordinates Dual Enrollment for statistics.

During 2020, Dr. Stefan Tohaneanu hosted Dr. Ricardo Burity, who was a visiting scholar from Brazil. Together the two completed three projects (one, joint work with Dr. Aron Simis, and another, joint work with Dr. Yu Xie) that focus on the interaction between commutative algebra, combinatorics, and linear algebra. Also, in 2020, Dr. Tohaneanu had a paper (joint work with Dr. Yu Xie) accepted for publication in Transactions of the American Mathematical Society.

Manuel Welhan mentored an undergraduate student research project with Trevor Griffin. He is a member of the department calculus committee and 176/215 supervisory committee. He advises many undergraduate students. Manuel revamped large lecture classes (Calculus and Discrete Math) to use a flipped classroom approach, with online discussion groups and some class time dedicated to group work. Exams were replaced by weekly online quizzes plus a comprehensive online final. The student response was very positive.

Berna Devezer, Business Raymond Dezzani, Earth and Spatial Sciences Luke Harmon, Biological Sciences Scott Nuismer, Biological Sciences William Price, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences

Andrew Basinski Tyler Meadows Boyu Zhang

Chris Williams was dual department chair from January to August. He had three publications in 2020. He advises graduate students and also is the Statistics graduate internship advisor. He is working with physicians in Boise to compare diagnostic tests for COVID. Alex Woo had four publications in 2020. He continued work through the 5-year Simons Collaboration Grant. He mentored an undergraduate research project on permutations whose depth is the average of their length and reflection length. He was major professor for a PhD student who graduated in Summer 2020.

David Yopp had two publications in the Journal of Mathematical Behavior in 2020. He continued his work as PI on the LLAMA NSF grant. He is major professor for 2 Ph.D. students.

Alumni, we would like to hear from you! Send us an email with news and information about yourself or comments and corrections for the newsletter.

You can reach us at: mathstat@uidaho.edu.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Spring 2021

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Recent Grant Activity Ben Ridenhour (PI, UI Subaward): NIH - R24: Research to improve and standardize marmoset nutrition and dietary husbandry, $179,759, 2021-2025.

Ben Ridenhour (Collaborator): IMCI Internal Pilot Grant - Using Wastewater to Predict COVID-19 Outbreaks in Rural Communities, $118,000, 2021.

Ben Ridenhour (PI, UI Subaward): Microbiome-mediated therapies for aging and healthspan in marmosets, $431,630, 2020-2025.

Chris Remien (Project Director) and Ben Ridenhour (Collaborator): NIH NIGMS, COBRE Phase II – Institute for Modeling Collaboration and Innovation, Population Dynamic Models of Microbial Interactions (with PI Holly Wichman), $10,999,566, 2020-2025.

Somantika Datta (PI): Simons Foundation (Mathematics and Physical Science – Collaboration Grants for Mathematicians) - Frame theory in approximation and signal processing, $42,000, 2020-2025.

Frank Gao (Investigator and Group Leader): NSF EPSCoR - Leveraging Big Data to Improve Prediction of TickBorne Disease Patterns and Dynamics (with PI Xiaogang Ma), $5,830,709, 2020-2024.

Audrey Fu (Sub-Project PI/Project Leader): NIH NIGMS, COBRE Phase II - A causal network approach to understanding transcription and methylation in breast cancer (with PI Holly Wichman), $450,000, 2020-2023.

Chris Remien (Key Personnel): DARPA - Prediction of Spillover Potential and Interventional En Masse Animal Vaccination to Prevent Emerging Pathogen Threats in Current and Future Zones of US Military Operation (with Co-PIs: Peter Barry, UC Davis; Brian Bird, UC Davis; Michael Jarvis, The Vaccine Group (UK); Scott Nuismer, UI), $1,730,879 to UI, 2018-2022.

Audrey Fu (Sub-Project PI/Project Leader): NIH/ NIGMS, COBRE Grant, Phase I - A causal network approach to understanding transcription and methylation in breast cancer (with PI Holly Wichman), $199,000, 2018-2021.

Paul Hohenlohe (Co-PI): NWF Evolutionary Biology Collaborative Research: Testing mechanisms of microgeographic adaptation (with PI CK Ghalambor, WC Funk, TB Ryder, TS Stillett), $1,053,606, 2018-2021.

Ben Ridenhour (Co-PI): USDA/NIFA - Tracking the spread of antibiotic resistance genes and plasmids in agricultural soils (with PI Eva Top and Co-PI Thibault Stalder), $500,000, 2018-2021.

Paul Hohenlohe (Co-PI): U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 2018 Recovery Challenge: Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit recovery (with PI LP Waits, and Co-PI JLW Rachlow), $66,270, 2018-2021.

Chris Remien (Project Director): NIH NIGMS, COBRE Phase I - Bridging Mathematical and Statistical Models of Microbial Populations, $272,639, 2018-2020.

Ben Ridenhour (Project Director) and Jennifer Johnson -Leung (Co-Project Director): NIH NIGMS, COBRE Phase II - Supplement for Modeling COVID-19 in rural communities (with PI Holly Wichman), $492,598, 2020-2021.

Paul Hohenlohe (PI) and Erkan Buzbas (Co-PI): NSF Evolutionary Biology – Using Experimental Population Genomics to Test Hypotheses and Develop Novel Analytical Tools, $700,000, 2017-2021.

Chris Remien (Co-PI): NSF - EAGER: Evaluating the feasibility of a transmissible vaccine within bat populations (with PI Scott Nuismer and Co-PI JJ Bull), $56,420, 20202021.

Paul Hohenlohe (Co-PI): NIH NIGMS - Evolution of transmission in Tasmanian devils and their infectious cancer (with PI AT Storfer, Co-PI ME Jones, and Co-PI H McCallum), $2,324,299, 2017-2021.

Paul Hohenlohe (Co-PI): U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit genetic monitoring for recovery (with PI LP Waits and Co-PI J Rachlow), $287,590 ($248,149 direct), 2019-2024.

Paul Hohenlohe (Co-PI): USDA NIFA - The role of ecoevolutionary dynamics in an expanding biocontrol agent (with PI R Hufbauer, Co-Pi E Bitume, and Co-PI D Bean), $474, 884, 2017-2020.

Frank Gao (PI): NSF Ideas Labs - Collaborative Research: Integrating Physics and Generative Machine Learning Models for Inverse Materials Design, $312,016, 20192021.

David Yopp (PI) and Rob Ely (Co-PI): NSF Longitudinal Learning of Viable Argument in Mathematics for Adolescents (with Co-PI Anne Adams, Co-PI Chandra Lewis, and Co-PI Xin Wang), $2,999,640, 2016-2020.

Paul Hohenlohe (Co-PI): NSF Beacon - Who adapts faster: genomic and phenotypic change of males and females evolving under strong sexual selection (with PI K Fritzsche, PI M Alund, and Co-PI A Jones), $91,905, 20192020.

Chris Remien (Co-PI): NSF - Collaborative Research: A Mathematical Theory of Transmissible Vaccines (with PI Scott Nuismer and Co-PI James Bull), $1,009,921, 20162021.

Michelle Wiest (Biostatistician): NIH (Renewal) IDeA Clinical and Translational Research - Infrastructure Network (CTR-IN) (with PI Parvesh), $20,300,000, 20182023.

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Spring 2021

Alex Woo (PI): Simons Foundation - Collaborations around Schubert Geometry, $35,000, 2015-2020.

Steve Krone: NIH NIGMS, COBRE Phase I - Center for Modeling Complex Interactions (with PI Holly Wichman, et al.), $10,000,000, 2015-2020.

Mathematics and Statistical Science