This project will make possible the participation of ten students and twenty junior faculty and postdoctoral researchers at the annual conference of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) that will take place on October 15 - 18, 2014 in Los Angeles, CA. The postdoctoral researchers and faculty participants will play two roles: they will be speakers in scientific sessions during the conference and they will be active mentors to undergraduate and graduate students attending the conference. The SACNAS conference attracts well over 3,000 scientists and students, mostly from underrepresented groups, to experience scientific symposia, student presentations, and a comprehensive collection of mentoring and professional development sessions. The mission of SACNAS is to foster the success of Chicano/Latino and Native American scientists to attain advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership in science. The mathematics presence at SACNAS is about 300 strong, making it one of the largest gatherings of minority mathematics students and professionals in the country. This annual conference inspires minority students to go on to graduate school and eventually become influential mathematicians and scientists.
The titles of the sessions to be supported include Mathematical Applications in Physiology, Combinatorial Algebraic Geometry, The Discrete Side of Mathematics, Problems in Algebra and Diophantine Equations, Advancing the Next Generation Towards Full Representation in STEM, Current Research Trends in Mathematics Education, Young Latinas in Math and Computer Science, Beauty and the Beast---Our Real Life Relationship with Mathematics, New Discoveries in Public Health and Life Sciences through Statistics, and Applications of Mathematics in Biology. While the presentations will be accessible to students, they focus on recent findings in these areas including publications co-authored by undergraduate students. The goals of the talks are to present current research by active investigators that can serve as dissertation topics, to promote research in the mathematical sciences among groups traditionally underrepresented in mathematics, and to expand the network of mentors in mathematics.
