This page describes some of my past and current research interests.  Much of my work after my Ph.D. arose from interdisciplinary collaborations with life scientists and in service of undergraduates seeking high quality, faculty mentored research experiences.

Independent Research course (Spring 2026)

In Spring 2026, I am offering a section of Independent Research (MATH 494) to give students a chance ot work on a couple projects with me. Here I describe the projects I have in mind.

Collecting Remote Sensor Data

In summer 2025, I worked with some amateur radio students on building LoRa radio transeivers to transmit and receive sensor data. This 2026 project builds on that experience by changing the focus from building transcievers to deploying

Student Research

For more information about my amateur radio project for Spring 2026, [click here].

For more information about my bioacoustics project for Spring 2026, [click here].

Current Research

Research topics currently of interest to me are:

  • Relative Critical Sets in Rn
  • Inferring geometric structures of functions from their ridge-valley-connector set
  • Whitney stratification of the space of real symmetric matrices
  • Using characteristics of their search-phase echolocation call to automatically identify free-flying bats to species

These topics may lend themselves for excellent undergraduate research projects or master theses.  Please talk with me if you are interested.

I am open to other collaborations in the mathematical sciences or with faculty from other disciplines.

Past Research

Below is a list of past research topics.  I will try to link them to rich descriptions of the topic and of the work.

  • Describing the shape of human nasal passages using the Blum Medial Axis
  • Describing leaf morphology using the Blum Medial Axis
  • Promoting success in STEM through early-career student research projects
  • Mentoring undergraduates in research at the intersection of the life and mathematical sciences
  • Successful practices in STEM transfer from 2-year to 4-year colleges