Mathematics
Experience One engages students and faculty in actively exploring the knowledge, purposes, and practices in every field of study.
Data and its analysis allow us to improve our understanding of society and the world around us while making informed decisions. A mathematics degree at the University of Montana Western is unique in that it utilizes Experience One to provide students with the hands-on skills and experience needed to accurately gather and analyze data, which is applicable to every field of study.
These are skills sought after by employers, and they translate instantly to many future careers. Our students have gone on to conduct research at NASA, formulate policy for the National Academy of Sciences, and become award-winning educators.
Our students have utilized mathematics to:
- Model the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak
- Predict Whirling Disease outbreaks in Montana grayling populations
- Understand the population dynamics of sockeye salmon in Alaska
- Model the recession of glaciers in Glacier National Park
- Determine how factors interact to produce colony collapse disorder in honeybees
Faculty Feature
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
Debbie Seacrest, Ph.D.
Debbie is interested in using projects to connect mathematics to other disciplines and using games to teach mathematical concepts. Their research background includes using games as a teaching tool to let students discover mathematical ideas organically, and they strive to use these ideas in their own classroom.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Liz Wright, M.Ed.
Liz’s research interests include studying self-efficacy, academic performance, mindset, and self-regulation in developmental mathematics students. She finds the connection between these concepts fascinating and uses her work to inform her teaching.
PROFESSOR
Eric Wright, Ph.D.
Dr. Wright’s background is in the analysis of partial differential equations that are used to model reactive transport. Some of the direct-contact projects Wright and his students participate in include modeling the formation of calcite rimstone dams and studying reactive influences upon Taylor dispersion.
What Mathematics Students Have to Say
“The faculty make you think about your goals, and blend assistance with allowing students to grow on their own.”
-Tyler Richardson, Mathematics
“At any other school, my internships with NASA just wouldn’t have been possible. Because of the block scheduling system, I’m able to make a clear path to my future goals.”
-Baleigh Doyle, Mathematics and Business
OFFICE
Mathematics
Block Hall 222