Mathematics students discover new career possibilities

This January, a group of Denison mathematics majors attended a conference that was built just for scholars like them. Each year, the Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics (NCUWM) gathers women at all stages of their careers in mathematics to explore academic and professional opportunities, engage in hands-on workshops, and build lasting connections. Denison sent five mathematics majors to the conference, and several presented their work.

“I heard from brilliant women in academia, but also from women in industry, and from those who are at the stage where I am,” said Fatima Abbas ’26, who presented her research, titled “Numerical Methods for Quasi-stationary Distributions,” at the conference. “I had never seen this many stories all at once. It opened my mind up to futures in mathematics that I hadn’t considered before.”

The national conference, supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency, is organized to encourage and mentor undergraduate women in mathematics, help them pursue graduate study, and achieve careers in their field. Attendees meet role models and gain insider knowledge as they present their research to a community of peers.

Sasha Gavrilova ’28 presented her research, “Mathematical Modeling of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Quorum Sensing,” which she completed this past summer at Georgia Tech.

“Presenting at NCUWM was especially beneficial for me,” she said. “I engaged with others doing similar research and received feedback on my presentation skills.”

Cayla Bovell ‘26 presented her work, “Blah Blah Blah: Understanding the Shift from Lecturing to Active Learning in Undergraduate Mathematics,” which she conducted with collaborators at Youngstown State University.

Presentations on topics such as imposter syndrome and the process of applying to graduate school made it a well-rounded experience for two other Denison attendees, Elizabeth Ham ‘26 and Celine Nguyen ‘25.

Nguyen also met an old friend, Yuhan Fu ’24, who is currently a graduate student in the math department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

“I was lucky enough to get a personalized tour of the UNL’s math department,” Nguyen said. “Later, we followed Dr. Mei’s recommendation and grabbed ice cream at Ivanna — it was such a motivating experience and a perfect way to start my last academic semester!”