Applied Mathematics Commons^™

Access To Higher Education: Do Schools “Grant” Success?, Nathaniel Jones

Symposium of Student Scholars

University education can lead to upward income mobility for low-income students. Being exposed to other student’s life experiences that are different from their own may highlight activities and actions that they may want to consider aiding their success. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median weekly earnings in 2019 for all workers in the U.S. was $969. Of those, U.S. workers who held bachelor’s degrees earned $1,248. In 2016, the Brookings Institute found that Pell Grant recipients and first-generation student loan borrowers attended universities that had lower graduation rates and higher loan default rates in comparison to …

Environmental Impact On Competition In Ecological Communities, Isabel Ouko

Symposium of Student Scholars

We study the effects of environmental feedback on the ecological competition by analyzing the classic Lotka-Volterra model coupled with a simple model of the environment. In particular, we look for ways in which feedback between competing populations and the environment stabilizes or destabilizes coexistence between the species. To do so, we use a combination of mathematical analysis and computer software such as Matlab.

KEYWORDS; mathematical modeling, Lotka-Volterra, ecological competition, environmental feedback