About Me

Education

Ph.D., The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Mathematics, 2013)
M.S., The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Mathematics, 2009)
B.S., The University of South Dakota (Mathematics/Physics, 2007)

Areas of Interest

Commutative algebra, algebraic geometry, discrete mathematics, inquiry-based learning, mastery grading

Recent Publications and Preprints

• Comparing Powers of Edge Ideals (submitted Fall 2017), https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.08701 (with T. Kamp, J. Vander Woude)
• Mastery-Based Testing in Undergraduate Mathematics Courses, To appear in PRIMUS. (With J.B. Collins et al.)
• The Waldschmidt Constant for Squarefree Monomial Ideals, J Algebr Comb (2016) 44: 875. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10801-016-0693-7 (with C. Bocci, S. Cooper, E. Guardo, et al.)
• On the Fattening of Lines in P³, Journal of Pure and Applied Algebra, 219(4):1055-1061, 2015, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpaa.2014.05.033
• Containment problem for points on a reducible conic in P2, Journal of Algebra, 394(0):120-138, 2013, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jalgebra.2013.06.032 (with A. Denkert)

Courses Taught

Math 149 - Explorations in Modern Mathematics
Math 152 - Calculus I
Math 153 - Calculus II
Math 203 - Linear Algebra
Math 212 - Discrete Structures
Math 291 - Problem Solving Seminar
Math 304 - Abstract Algebra I
Math 342 - Special Topics: The Joy of Numbers
Math 342 - Special Topics: Foundations of Mathematics
Math 343 - Special Topics: Computational Algebra
Math 390 - History of Math
Stat 131 - Introduction to Statistics

Current Research Interests

Broadly speaking, I am interested in studying algebraic properties of geometric and discrete objects. Recently, these geometric objects have been arrangements of points in the projective plane and arrangements of lines in three-dimensional projective space. I've also been studying the interactions of squarefree monomial ideals with graphs. In education, I am interested in the use of mastery grading and inquiry-based learning to encourage my students to develop a growth mindset toward mathematics.

A current CV can be found here. More information can be found on my website.