While academia is definitely about publishing, collaborating, and furthering the field, that cannot be our only focus as academics. There is a major need for academics to engage in outreach and service, not only for the benefit of those we reach, but also for ourselves. Engaging in broader impacts gives more than grant money, it also re-instills the purpose of and passion in our work.

More information on this idea here

Society of Mathematical Biology: Education Subgroup

The Education Subgroup of SMB is comprised of members who desire to improve the teaching and mentoring of future scientists and world citizens, and in particular undergraduate and graduate mathematical and computational biology researchers. As new research frontiers emerge, our members seek to understand the best practices to help future researchers of biological questions be successful in this space. Content areas include, but are not limited to the teaching and learning of modeling, computing, data science, and quantitative reasoning. Challenge spaces include, but are not limited to designing learning experiences across disciplines, defining and assessing outcomes for new interdisciplinary and technological spaces, integrating data with mathematical modeling, educational outreach initiatives, and providing an inclusive and diverse environment for learning and for the profession. As the Communications Officer, I run the social media accounts, send information to subgroup members, and write reports for newsletters. See more on Twitter or on our webpage.

Engaging Knoxville in Ecology and Evolution

Engaging Knoxville in Ecology and Evolution (EKEE) is an outreach group composed of graduate students from the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department at the University of Tennessee. It was founded in 2015 by myself and a number of other graduate students with the primary mission of EKEE is to educate and inspire the Knoxville community to preserve and conserve nature. We do this through teaching lessons to students at all levels, hosting informational booths at the Farmer’s Market, and raising money for graduate activities. I served as president from 2018-2019.

Kids U

Kids U provides summer camps for Knoxville youth where they have the opportunity to learn from UT faculty, staff, and graduate students. Since 2017, I have developed the curriculum and instructed (serving as lead instructor since 2018) a course entitled Calculation and Crime: Solving Mysteries with Math. High school students spend a week learning how to solve a crime using quantitative methods, then put their skills to the test on the final day of the camp. Students generally increase their math confidence and abilities, as well as learning more about how crimes are solved. The general lesson plan is available here. If you would like more of the course materials, please feel free to e-mail me and I am happy to share!

Mentoring

I serve as a mentor for both the Society of Mathematical Biology and for the UT Mentoring Program for Undergraduates. The goal is to give students the ability to ask questions and receive feedback from older students. As a mentor, I have reviewed application materials, advised on interview techniques, and shared my own experiences in graduate school. I created a packet for incoming graduate students that gives some advice about starting a program. Some of the information is specific to the University of Tennessee, but the advice may be helpful for other students. It is available here.

Other Service and Outreach

• Reviewer: Foundations for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics: An Introduction to Undergraduate Research in Computational and Mathematical Biology: From Disease Dynamics to Big Data
• Technical session organizer: 2017 Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology: Education and Research
• Tennessee Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (TLSAMP) Poster Presentation Judge
• Darwin Day Volunteer
• Science Olympiad: Fast Facts Judge
• Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement (EUReCa) Poster Presentation Judge