Undergraduate Complexity Research 2020-Participants

Undergraduate Complexity Research (UCR) 2020

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Slexander Mercier

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University of South Florida - USA

Bio: Alexander is a sophomore at the University of South Florida (USF) and plans to complete concurrent degrees in both pure mathematics and microbiology, with a minor in Russian. Currently, Alexander is a member of the Kramer Ecology Lab at USF, where he performs research in the fields of quantitative biology, specifically disease ecology and network theory. His current research is in complex network sparsification. In his free time, he loves hiking, kayaking, reading, photorealism portraiture, the piano, photography, and philosophy.

Alexander Plum

University of Wisconsin - Madison - USA

Bio: Alex is a junior from Milwaukee, Wisconsin studying math, computer sciences, and engineering physics at the University of Wisconsin Madison. At the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery he researches the origins of life using both experimental and computational approaches. He has also worked as a software engineer and conducted ecological modeling research in Uruguay. In his free time he enjoys philosophy, reading, running, and hiking.

Bronwynn Woodsworth

St. Olaf College - USA

Bio: I am a junior majoring in Mathematics with concentrations in Linguistics and Race and Ethnic Studies. I grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and now attend St. Olaf College in Minnesota. I am the current president of the St. Olaf chapter of the Association for Women in Mathematics and former co-captain of the St. Olaf Quidditch Association. I have worked in libraries for the past four years and I love to read and wander outdoors.

Julia Beckwith

Scripps College - USA

Bio: Hello! My name is Julia and I'm a rising senior studying Computer Science and Environmental Analysis. In my free time, I love cloud-spotting, hiking, farming, photography, and reading/writing poetry. I'm super excited to meet everyone in June!

Katja Della Libera

Minerva Schools at KGI - USA

Bio: Katja is an adventurous international student originally from Germany. She went to a United World College for secondary school and moved on to Minerva Schools at KGI, where she is currently finishing her junior year while traveling across the world. She fell in love with computer programming at university and worked for Wolfram Research. Her second passion is in ecology, especially computational ecology and modeling of ecosystem phenomena. She loves spending time outdoors, especially birdwatching or hiking.

Marina Zafiris

University of Houston- Downtown - USA

Bio: Marina is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science at the University of Houston- Downtown. She is majoring in Data Science with a domain focus in computational sustainability, along with a double minor in Mathematics and Statistics. Her current research focuses on the construction and solution discovery of partial differential equations utilizing neural networks for nuclear reactor fluid flow.

Her career and academic ambitions include discovering new and exciting ways to process mass information and utilize data as an indispensable tool to better the conditions of our society and the environment.

Maxwell Flanagan

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Arizona State University - USA

Bio: I am from Chicago, and now attend Arizona State University studying math, economics, and science and technology policy. My research at ASU has spanned a computer science lab developing consensus algorithms for Muli-Agent drone systems, applying statistical learning methods to EEG data in a Neuroscience lab, and now I'm working out of the Global Bio-social Complexity Initiative, hoping to engage in research relating narratives, political polarization, and belief dynamics.

Miguel Velez

Harvey Mudd College - USA

Bio: Miguel is a student at Harvey Mudd College studying physics and applied mathematics. His favorite academic activities include consuming literature, popular books, and lectures on complex systems of all kinds. He also enjoys participating in research on swarming dynamics during the school year. His hobbies include reading, intense discussions with friends, and listening to podcasts. His ultimate interest resides in understanding the intelligence of systems in particular, the intelligence of societies. This stems from a deep concern that global civilization is developing great technological power without developing a comparably effective sense-making and choice-making capacity.

Victor Odouard

Cornell University - USA

Bio: Hello! I am a junior at Cornell. I study math and currently I am working on a research project on the evolution of conscience. I'm interested in applying math in a creative way to help understand social complexity and potentially conceive of new ways that people could structure society. I'm particularly fascinated by the idea of anarchy. That said, I don't confine my interest in complex systems to social ones, on the contrary, I love thinking about parallels between complex systems across domains.

I love world-building (making up imaginary worlds), drawing, playing music (piano and singing), and reading all kinds of books.

Participant 10

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University/College - Country

Bio: