Purdue attends second annual Underrepresented Students in Topology and Algebra Research Symposium (USTARS)

06-27-2012

For the second year in a row, a sizeable group from Purdue attended the Underrepresented Students in Topology and Algebra Research Symposium (https://www.mathalliance.org/) held April 13-15, 2012 at the University of Iowa. Edray Goins, associate professor, and Alejandra Alvarado, visiting assistant professor, presented their research and drove six students from West Lafayette to Iowa City to the meeting. Undergraduates Jonathan Blair and Anika Rounds presented posters, while graduate students Jose Lugo, Kevin Mugo, and Jamie Weigandt gave talks. Graduate student Reginald McGee, whose field is mathematical biology, also attended.

USTARS is a graduate student conference that was created and organized by a group of underrepresented students in the University of Iowa mathematics department. The symposium was structured so that speakers gave 20-minute parallel research talks, with one distinguished graduate student and one invited faculty member giving 1-hour presentations on Saturday. A mentoring brunch took place on Sunday. The organizers were Candice Price, Syvillia Averett, Shannon Talbott, Erik Insko, and Garrett Jones. One of our incoming visiting assistant professors, Carlos De la Mora, was an organizer for the first USTARS.