Rigorous quantitative and qualitative research is an important component of academic learning in Scientific Inquiry. Research opportunities allow science students to work on specific projects associated with faculty members’ expertise. Students typically begin by working in an apprenticeship model with faculty or laboratory staff and gradually take on more independent projects within the context of the specific research program as they gain experience. Students can develop vital skills in research design, data acquisition and interpretation, modeling and theoretical analysis, written and oral communication, collaboration and critical thinking. These are valuable skills for students pursuing a graduate degree or entering the job market.

Neal Nelson (computer science) is interested in working with advanced computer topics and current problems in the application of computing to the sciences. His areas of interest include simulations of advanced architectures for distributed computing, advanced programming languages and compilers, programming languages for concurrent and parallel computing and hardware modeling languages.