Clarkson Mathematics Ph.D. candidates Daniel Fuller, Thevasha Sathiyakumar, and Sucharitha Dodamgodage recently presented their research at the 15th Annual Probability and Statistics Day at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Their work focuses on statistical modeling of the microbiome, communities of microscopic organisms that inhabit almost every environment on earth, including soil, water, air, and even our bodies. The research of Fuller and Sathiyakumar aims to develop new statistical tools to better understand and compare microbial composition in various environments, while Dodamgodage’s work involves the visualization and analysis of microbiome data from the local Saint Lawrence River.
Fuller and Dodamgodage were awarded second prizes for their oral presentations. The works of Fuller, Sathiyakumar, and Dodamgodage are guided by their advisors, Sumona Mondal, Professor of Mathematics and Co-Director of the MS Program in Applied Data Science at Clarkson University; Shantanu Sur, Associate Professor of Biology, Clarkson University; and Nabendu Pal, Professor of Mathematics, University of Louisiana at Lafayette.