Zachary Kilpatrick自2016年起担任该系助理教授. He received his B.A. in Computational and Applied Mathematics, along with a B.A. in History, from Rice University. After obtaining his B.A.他于2010年获得犹他大学数学硕士和博士学位. Dr. 基尔帕特里克专注于揭示人类认知背后的数学和计算原理. He uses techniques from nonlinear dynamics, stochastic dynamics, 以及概率推理来开发决策的计算模型, working memory, and other cognitive abilities. Dr. Kilpatrick has received over a million dollars in grant money, has published over forty journal articles, and has given over fifty invited talks around the world. 他曾教授APPM 2360:线性代数微分方程入门(以及协调该计划)。, APPM 3570: Applied Probability, APPM 4350/5350: Fourier Series and Boundary Value Problems, and APPM 5470: Partial Differential and Integral Equations.
问:你在工作中学到的最有趣或最喜欢的东西是什么?
答:当我开始解决问题时，我希望发现任何令人惊讶或意想不到的东西. In any computational model or cognitive task I am thinking about, 我希望能得出一些人们意想不到的结论. 最近的一个项目有一些令人惊讶的特征，与所谓的重复偏见有关. People do this all the time. If a decision worked yesterday, 我今天可能会做出同样的决定，即使我今天看到的证据指向我相反的方向. I was able to show, in a neural network model of decision making, 这种重复偏差可能来自于每次决策导致的网络结构的缓慢变化. 网络中的重组建立在多次试验之上，并携带着过去决策的信息. 这不仅让博彩平台推荐直观地了解为什么人们倾向于一遍又一遍地重复同样的决定, 但它表明了这些偏见如何在大脑中形成的生物学机制.
Q: What interests you about decision making?
A: I've always been interested in it. 决策在人类和其他生物的日常行为中无处不在. Basically, 博彩平台推荐在一天中做的任何事情都需要一个“我接下来要做什么”的决定? Where am I going to go eat?" to larger decisions, such as "Where am I going to live? Where am I going to work or go to school?"
问:是什么使你决定在研究生院攻读数学而不是历史?
A: My studies in history were a nice avocation. I still read history books in my spare time, and I think it is really helpful for being politically informed, but I always loved math since I was 4 or 5. 我的父母过去常常在餐桌上或浴缸里和博彩平台推荐一起玩数学游戏(“浴缸数学”)。. 我一直认为这是一件我做得很好的事情，我可以以此谋生, but I didn't just want to do math for math’s sake. 我在大学里有一位非常好的导师，他在我大二的时候让我跟着他做了一些研究. 他给了我一些书让我读博彩app推荐长期记忆的生化基础和生化基础. I was never really that big on biology, 但当我看到数学和生物之间的联系时, that excited me, and I continued working with him throughout college. 他鼓励我去看几个不同的数学生物学博士项目, and one of them ended up being the University of Utah.
问:你在世界各地和美国做了很多演讲. What has been your favorite?
A:博彩平台推荐生活在一个有许多人为国界的世界里, but science and math don't have to respect them. 去参加一个会议，遇到来自摩洛哥、越南、法国或意大利的人，博彩平台推荐读过同样的论文，对同样的话题感兴趣，这真的很好. 我可以做一个演讲，然后和来自世界各地的人进行深入的交谈. 在国外的小型研讨会是我最喜欢的会议, including ones I’ve attended in Banff, Marseille, Torino, and Göttingen.
问:博彩平台推荐的应用数学课程与其他课程相比有何突出之处?
A: Our department is growing, becoming quite large for an applied math department, while staying true to its core focus areas. 这使得博彩平台推荐在统计学和数据科学等专业方面更加多样化和深入, nonlinear dynamics, physical applied math, and math biology.
Q: What makes diversity important in mathematics?
A: When I say diversity, 我指的是智力多样性(一个人对什么研究课题感兴趣)和种族多样性, gender, and other types of diversity. We live in a diverse world, 最优秀的应用数学家可能来自任何人口统计群体. 如果博彩平台推荐没有多元化的教师队伍，博彩平台推荐就不能充分为学生服务. 每位教师都有不同的生活经历、理解和支持学生的方式. 我知道有些经历是我没有的，因为我是白人, 当我努力为每一个学生提供同情和支持时, 博彩平台推荐系拥有来自不同人口群体的教师是一个显著的优势，这样博彩平台推荐就可以充分服务于博彩平台推荐多样化的学生群体.
Q: What has been your favorite class to lecture so far?
A: I've enjoyed teaching graduate students. 我教过研究生的偏微分方程预习课, and it was wonderful to teach to students who are really excited, interested, 并且强烈地驱使他们去学习这些材料，因为他们知道他们可能会在他们的论文工作中用到这些材料. 我也很喜欢教傅里叶级数这门课因为本科生们知道这些材料对他们的工程课程很有用, 但他们也可以在学期末的实践项目中应用博彩平台推荐学到的东西.
Q: What is your favorite part of Boulder?
A: Well, of course the outdoors. 户外活动的可达性——这可能是每个人都说的陈词滥调，但这是真的. And though I often wish for the trails to not be crowded, it's nice to go out and see that there are so many people, adults and children, 在外面享受好天气和博彩平台推荐住的好地方.
Q: What advice do you have to a student in the department?
A:应用数学学位有很多种使用方法. You don't just have to go to graduate school right away; you don't have to go into some STEM related industry; there are many disciplines that need good applied mathematicians. Find what you're passionate about, and if you're good at doing math, 在某个地方，有人愿意付钱让你帮他们解决问题!