Research in Mathematics and Statistics

Research Opportunities at Grinnell

Current Grinnell College students will find a list of research opportunities on the Science Division GrinnellShare site (login required). You will find descriptions for research projects with professors on campus, as well as a number of off-campus opportunities.

Faculty Research Areas

  • Jeffrey Blanchard: Applied Mathematics, Applied and Computational Harmonic Analysis, Wavelets, Compressed Sensing.

  • Marc Chamberland : Experimental Mathematics, Classical Analysis, Number Theory, Dynamical Systems, Differential Equations.

  • Pam Fellers: Value-added methodology, mixed-models, and the teaching and learning of statistics.

  • Christopher French: Algebraic Combinatorics; theory of association schemes.

  • Jeff Jonkman: Meta-analysis, inference for nonlinear models, analysis of observational studies, composite sampling.

  • Shonda Kuiper: experimental design, statistics education, statistical consulting.

  • Joseph Mileti: Computability theory, reverse mathematics, set theory, Ramsey theory, and the interaction of mathematical logic with algebra and combinatorics. 

  • Marcos Ortiz: Contact topology, combinatorial topology, experimental mathematics.

  • Jennifer Paulhus: algebraic number theory, arithmetic geometry, elliptic and hyperelliptic curves, representation theory, Jacobian varieties.

  • Karen Shuman : Analysis, Harmonic Analysis, Iterated Function Systems.

  • Royce Wolf: Algebraic Topology, Combinatorial Group Theory, Knot Theory, Spherical Virtual Knot Theory, Quandles.

Faculty Presentations

Our faculty give talks all over the world.

2017

  • Marc Chamberland
    • Combinatorial Identities via Matrix Factorization, Joint Meetings of the Mathematical Association of America and the American Mathematical Society, Atlanta, Georgia.
    • The Life and Legacy of Graham Gladwell, 9th International Conference on Inverse Problems in Engineering, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
  • Shonda Kuiper
    • Modules for Infusing Data Science into the Statistics Curriculum, United States Conference on Teaching Statistics, State College, PA.
    • Data Science Tutorials, Joint Statistics Meetings, Chicago, IL.

2016

  • Marc Chamberland
    • When Choice is an Illusion, Iowa Mathematical Association of America, section meeting, Des Moines, IA.
    • Combinatorial Identities via Matrix Factorization, 17th International Conference on Fibonacci Numbers and Their Applications, Caen, France.
    • A Course in Experimental Mathematics, Computationally Assisted Mathematical Discovery and Experimental Mathematics, London, Ontario, Canada.
  • Pamela Fellers
    • Beyond the SRS: A Weighted Survey Data Example, Electronic Conference on Teaching Statistics.
  • Christopher French
    • Noncommutative association schemes of rank 6 with affine subschemes, AMS Sectional meeting, Denver, CO.
  • Shonda Kuiper
    • Visualizations Designed to Engage Student Learning, Electronic Conference On Teaching Statistics.
    • Finding and Structuring Quantitative Data; Data Visualizations. Digital Bridges for Humanistic Inquiry Summer Institute, Grinnell, IA.
    • Teaching Students to Work with Big Data through Visualizations, Joint Statistics Meetings, Chicago, IL.
  • Joseph Mileti
    • A Rainbow Analogue to Rado's Homogeneous Equation Theorem, Association for Symbolic Logic Annual Meeting, Storrs, CT.
    • Reflections on Carl as a Researcher, Teacher, and Adviser, Midwest Computability Theory Seminar, Chicago, IL.
  • Jennifer Paulhus
    • Completely Decomposable Jacobian Varieties, Canadian Number Theory Meeting XIV, Calgary, Canada.

2015

  • Jeffrey Blanchard

    • “Conjugate Gradient Iterative Hard Thresholding” International Symposium on Mathematical Programming, Pittsburgh, PA.

    • “Conjugate Gradient Iterative Hard Thresholding” 8th International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Beijing, China.

  • Marc Chamberland

    • Popularizing Mathematics with YouTube, Iowa Mathematical Association of America section meeting, Lamoni, Iowa

  • Pamela Fellers

    • “Statistical Consulting: Making Connections Across the Curriculum” United States Conference on Teaching Statistics, State College, PA.

    • “Using Value-Added Models to Assess Teacher Professional Development Programs” National Council on Measurement in Education, Chicago, IL.

  • Christopher French

    • “Schemes for extending the theory of extensions of schemes” 8th Slovenian Conference on Graph Theory, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

  • Shonda Kuiper

    • "Making Statistics Relevant in a Data-Rich Society" United States Conference on Teaching Statistics, State College, PA.

    • "Engaging students with data" United States Conference on Teaching Statistics, State College, PA.

    • "Using Games in an Introductory Statistics Course" Joint Mathematical Meetings, San Antonio, TX.

2014

  • Jeffrey Blanchard

    • “Selecting Multiple Order Statistics with Graphics Processing Unit” 16th SIAM Conference on Parallel Processing for Scientific Computing, Portland, OR.

    • “Composite Dilation Wavelets” Numerical Analysis Seminar, Mathematics Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.

    • “Conjugate Gradient Iterative Hard Thresholding” International Symposium on Information Theory, Honolulu, HI.

    • “Conjugate Gradient Iterative Hard Thresholding” SIAM Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.

  • Marc Chamberland

    • “Averaging Structure in the 3x+1 Problem” Joint Meetings of the Mathematical Association of America and the American Mathematical Society, Baltimore, MD.

    • "Lorenz Attractor in Flow" Juried exhibition of mathematical art, Bridges conference at Joint Mathematics Meetings, Baltimore, MD.

  • Christopher French

    • “Noncommutative imprimitive association schemes of rank 6” AMS Sectional Meeting, Knoxville, TN.

  • Jeff Jonkman

    • “More Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics: A Quick Tour of Meta-Analysis” Central Illinois Statistical Association, Peoria, IL.

    • “Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics: A Brief Overview of Meta-Analysis” Department of Mathematics, Bradley University, Peoria, IL.

  • Shonda Kuiper

    • “Using Technology to Teach Quantitative Research Skills” ACM FaCE3 Conference on Technology-Enabled Learning, Chicago, IL.

    • (and Rodney Sturdivant) “Games as a locus of self-empowered collaborative learning” International Conference on Teaching Statistics, Flagstaff, AZ.

    • “Teaching Quantitative Research Skills Within an On-line Course” ACM Online Teaching Workshop, Associated Colleges of the Midwest, Chicago, IL.

    • “Using Games and Case Studies to Engage Students in the Introductory Class” Joint Statistics Meeting, Boston, MA.

    • “Using Games to teach Design of Experiments” Joint Statistics Meeting, Boston, MA.

    • "Designing Simulated Experiments in the Introductory Statistics Course" Joint Statistics Meeting, Baltimore, MD.

    • "Playing Games with a Purpose: A New Approach to Teaching and Learning Statistics" Joint Mathematics Meetings, Baltimore, MD.

  • Joseph Mileti

    • “Irreducibles and Primes in Computable Rings” International Congress of Mathematicians, Seoul, South Korea.

    • “Irreducibles and Primes in Computable Rings” Association for Symbolic Logic Annual Meeting, Boulder, CO.

  • Jennifer Paulhus

    • “Jacobian Varieties of Hurwitz Curves” Algorithmic Number Theory Symposium – XI, Gyeongnju, Republic of Korea.

    • “Decomposing Jacobian varieties” ICM 2014-International Congress of Mathematicians, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

    • “Decomposing Jacobian varieties” Group Actions in Algebra and Geometry session at the Applications of Computer Algebra conference, Fordham University.

    • “Decomposing Jacobian varieties” AMS Sectional Meeting, Eau Claire, WI.

    • “What the heck is Math Research?” Grinnell College Faculty Colloquium.

    • “The abc-Conjecture: A Snapshot of the World of Pure Mathematic” Grinnell College Math Department Seminar.

2013

  • Jeffrey Blanchard

    • “Greedy Algorithms for Joint Sparse Recovery” CIMPA New Trends in Applied Harmonic Analysis, Mar del Plata, Argentina.

  • Marc Chamberland

    • “Averaging Structure in the 3x+1 Problem” Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, Bonn, Germany.

    • "The Computer's Role in Mathematical Discovery" West Chester University.

    • "Complex Numbers and Geometry" Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Diego.

    • "Inner Square" Juried exhibition of mathematical art, Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Diego.

    • "Borromean Five" Juried exhibition of mathematical art, Bridges conference, Enschede, Netherlands.

    • "A Feast of Experimental Mathematics" Experimental Mathematical Seminar, Rutgers University Mathematics Colloquium.

    • "The 3x+1 Problem" Rutgers University Mathematics Colloquium.

  • Pamela Fellers

    • “Investigation of the Impact of Non-randomization and Ceiling Effects on Estimates of Program Effects from Value-Added Models" Joint Statistical Meetings, Montreal, Canada-Quebec.

  • Christopher French

    • "Functors from Association Schemes" American Mathematical Society Spring Sectional Meeting, Ames, IA.

    • "Association Schemes of Rank 6" University of Texas Brownsville, Colloquium.

  • Shonda Kuiper

    • “A Slightly Inverted Classroom” Iowa Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (IMATYC) fall conference, Mason City, IA.

    • “Playing Web-Based Games with a Purpose: A New Approach to Teaching and Learning Statistics” Kansas City Math and Technology Exposition, Kansas City, MO.

    • “Hybrid or Online Teaching and Quantitative Reasoning” Joint Statistical Meetings, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

    • “Playing Games with a Purpose: A New Approach to Teaching and Learning Statistics” Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Diego, CA.

    • “Playing Games with a Purpose: A New Approach to Teaching and Learning Statistics” Joint Statistics Meeting, Raleigh Durham, NC.

    • “Igniting a Passion for Change in Teaching Statistics” United States Conference On Teaching Statistics (USCOTS), Raleigh Durham, NC.

    • “Nurturing a Passion for Statistics by Finding Stories in Data” United States Conference On Teaching Statistics (USCOTS), Raleigh Durham, NC.

    • “Flipping the Classroom: Changing the Classroom Model to Enhance Student-centered Learning and Optimize Use of Time” United States Conference On Teaching Statistics (USCOTS), Raleigh Durham, NC.

  • Joseph Mileti

    • "Primes in Computable UFDs" Computability, Complexity, and Randomness Seminar, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

    • "Uniform Computable Reductions Between Mathematical Theorems" American Mathematical Society (AMS) Spring Sectional Meeting, Iowa State University.

    • "Computable Reductions Between Mathematical Theorems" Mathematics Colloquium, Western Illinois University.

    • "(Non)computable Algebra" Mathematics Colloquium, Iowa State University.

  • Jennifer Paulhus

    • “Computing branching data and decomposing Jacobian varieties” American Mathematical Society (AMS) Spring Sectional Meeting, Iowa State University.

    •  “Using Algebra to Study Curves” Mathematics Colloquium, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.

Faculty Awards and Grants

  • Shonda Kuiper. The 2012 MERLOT Classics Award in Statistics. This award is given once a year for the best  peer reviewed online resources designed to enhance teaching and learning.

  • Shonda Kuiper. Playing Games with a Purpose: A New Approach to Teaching and Learning Statistics.  National Science Foundation Transforming Undergraduate Education in Statistics 
    May 2011-May 2014.

  • Jeffrey Blanchard. Large-scale Algorithm Analysis and GPU Implementations for Compressed Sensing and Matrix Completion. ‪National Science Foundation, Research in Undergraduate Institutions, August 2011 - July 2014.