Yellowstone Times

Online workshop for teachers on March 22 features Montana State mathematical modeler Bree Cummins

A workshop featuring a Montana State University mathematical modeler will be hosted online at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 22. The workshop is part of a series that connects Montana K-12 teachers to MSU resources and is offered for free as one of the MSU Science Math Resource Center’s online professional development opportunities for educators.

The presentation is part of the MSU Research in Action monthly series that highlights the work of MSU researchers so that K-12 teachers may incorporate their cutting-edge research into their classrooms.

The March 22 workshop features Bree Cummins, an assistant research professor in the MSU Department of Mathematical Sciences in the College of Letters and Science, where she conducts research in several areas of mathematical biology, which is the mathematical representation or modeling of biological processes.

Cummins grew up in Boise, Idaho, and attended Boise State University, where she double majored in biology and mathematics. Her doctorate is from MSU in mathematics, where her thesis focused on modeling the interaction between air flow and the cricket sensory system that enables fast escape response. She then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Tulane University on modeling mosquito motion in response to wind-blown plumes of carbon dioxide.

Cummins’ current research includes modeling the genetic control of cellular processes; modeling social processes related to disease spread; and using artificial intelligence to understand complex biological systems.

The workshop is most appropriate for middle and high school teachers and will emphasize the convergence of biology and mathematics.

Attendance is free, but registration is required and capped at 30 people. Office of Public Instruction renewal units are available for all participants.

Original source can be found here.