Mentor: David Peak (http://www.physics.usu.edu/peak/personal/Computation_in_natural.htm)
Complex systems
My interests involve modeling and analyzing “complex dynamical systems” and “complex materials.” By “complex” I mean systems consisting of many elementary pieces whose collective activity results in unexpected and surprising behavior. I am especially interested in how biological systems (plants, colonial organisms, brains) process information, store memories, allocate resources on the fly, and correct errors through complex dynamics, and whether such processes can be mimicked in nanoscale electronic circuits to help them function better than more conventional strategies.
My research is highly interdisciplinary and is partly computational, partly theoretical, and partly experimental. Students interested in working with me/us should have (a) some programming skills (C++, Python, or some dialect of Basic or Fortran) or some familiarity with Mathematica, Maple, Mathcad, or Matlab, (b) good familiarity with calculus and algebra, and/or (c) the ability to make delicate measurements without destroying stuff.
I am also interested in science education at pre-college levels and am interested in creating and testing modules that integrate learning science and mathematics with hands-on activities focusing on art and music.