Project Background
As the life sciences become increasingly quantitative, it becomes increasingly important that our scientific workforce can effectively wielding the tools of applied mathematics and computational science. Responding to this need for a more mathematically and computationally literate workforce, I have partnered, since January 2013, with the Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction (CMOP) at Oregon Health and Science University to develop a unique interdisciplinary learning opportunities for Pacific University undergraduates, called Biomathematics Workshops.
Objectives
The objectives of this interdisciplinary project are to:
- Provide Pacific undergraduate students with real-world problem solving skills, applied mathematical and computational training, collaborative learning opportunities and research experience,
- Identify mathematically fluent students who are interested in academic or career paths that lead them to the intersection of mathematics, computer science, the physical sciences, and the life sciences, and to encourage those students to pursue internship or graduate school opportunities at centers such as CMOP, and
- Strengthen the ties between faculty at the two partner institutions and foster inter-institution, collaborative research activity.
Workshop Structure
The first Biomathematics Workshop was delivered as a two-credit Winter-term course during January 2014. While nevertheless successful, evaluations of this first workshop suggested that a longer time frame would provide even greater dividends to the students. The second Biomathematics Workshop was delivered as a five-week undergraduate research experience in May/June 2015.
The Biomathematics Workshops expose students to a variety of topics related to:
- Mathematical modeling
- Computational science
- Data management and analysis
- Biochemistry and geophysics of the Columbia River estuary
Workshop days are spent in a combination of intensive lectures, hands-on group activities, and reviews of relevant literature. I deliver much of the content related to mathematical modeling and computational science, while content experts from Purdue University and CMOP cover topics in statistical analysis and estuary science, respectively.
The culmination of the Workshop is a team-based project in which students develop mathematical models to lend insight into the biogeochemical mechanisms underpinning the Columbia River estuary’s annual red algae bloom. Students write up their process and results in the form of a formal scientific paper. These final reports are then reviewed by content experts from Pacific University and CMOP.
Evaluation
In conjunction with this project, I am conducting a formal (IRB-exempted) study of the efficacy of the Biomathematics Workshop. During both workshops, students were given the opportunity to take part in pre- and post-surveys assessing their academic interests, their perceptions of knowledge gained in the workshops, and their plans for future work/graduate studies in the sciences. The response to the Biomathematics Workshops are overwhelmingly positive, and my collaborators and I are currently working on a paper reporting the results of the study and offering the Biomathematics Workshops as a unique, and effective, model for applied mathematics training and inter-institutional collaboration. Our hope is that this program can sustained, and perhaps expanded, in the future by successful bids for external grant support.