Shania Sanderson, M.S.

I am a Mathematical Ecologist in the Tick Lab at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, where I work under the mentorship of Dr. Holly Gaff. My research involves statistical and mathematical analysis of large ecological datasets, as well as the use of algorithms, simulations, and computational tools to build ecological models. In addition to my research, I:

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• Mentor undergraduate students and interns on research projects

• Assist with laboratory tasks such as qPCR, PCR for pathogen testing, and DNA extraction

• Participate in community outreach and public health initiatives

• Conduct monthly fieldwork to collect tick specimens at designated sites

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My academic journey began at ODU, where I earned a B.S. in Mathematics with a concentration in teacher preparation through the MonarchTeach program. As an undergraduate, I worked as a tutor in the ODU Math & Science Resource Center (now the Science Tutoring Center) and participated in the 2021 Illinois State University Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), where I conducted graph theory research and taught related topics at the ISU Math Camp. 

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I then pursued an M.S. in Computational and Applied Mathematics with a concentration in the mathematics of data science, advised by Dr. Guohui Song. For my master’s project, I applied supervised machine learning techniques to predict chlorophyll concentrations under Arctic sea ice using environmental image data. Toward the end of my master’s program, I had the opportunity to shadow in the Tick Lab, which sparked my interest in disease ecology and led me to continue in this field as a Ph.D. student.