You know what I want to do one day? I want to model. That’s right – I’m a math major, spending a few thousand dollars a year on my education, and I want to model for the rest of my life.

Okay, okay, I’m not planning to strut around in lingerie on a runway or anything… I’m interested in a different kind of modeling.

Most people haven’t heard of mathematical modeling before, and, to be honest, I hadn’t until a few months ago either. In January, I was fortunate enough to get a tour of Penn State’s Pritchard Laboratory, directed by Dr. Diane Henderson. Dr. Henderson studies oceanographic phenomena; in particular, her research concerns abnormal waves (including but not limited to tsunamis). Now, when most people think of wave properties, their first thought is physics, not math. And I have to admit: physics isn’t exactly my cup of tea, so I was a little hesitant when I first heard about Dr. Henderson’s research. But, while, fluid mechanics is an integral part of the Pritchard Lab, its primary focus is, and has always been, mathematics. That’s right – Penn State is home to one of the United States’ nine math labs. But how, exactly, does the Pritchard Lab use math to predict tsunamis?

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Well, remember trigonometry, when you learned all about the wondrous world of sine curves? Yeah, fun times… I hated trig, I really did. But then Dr. Henderson showed me her wave tank. She used a calibrated machine to generate sine and cosine curves in the water, and superimpose them on each other. The waves traveled across the 100-foot tank, and then rippled back in what was the most beautiful demonstration of math I’ve ever seen (and that says a lot). Dr. Henderson analyzes the properties of these waves, and uses the data to generate equations which model the behavior of the ocean (this is a very, very oversimplified explanation, but right now, I think concept is more important than specifics).

So there I was, awestruck, watching numbers predict the intricacies of the natural world – and I knew in that instant that I wanted to do that for the rest of my life. To you, it may seem like math is a pointless subject, the relevance of which expires outside the classroom. Dr. Henderson’s work proves this isn’t the case; she’s able to use math to figure out how our oceans work, to get ships safely across the sea, predict wave patterns, and so much more. Numbers find their way into every corner of life, and everything around us can be modeled with the right formula.

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However, I don’t envision myself working in the Pritchard Lab. Like I said, I’m not much for physics; yes, gravity is important and all, and waves are super cool – it just isn’t the field for me. Since January, though, I’ve been looking into other areas in which I could apply mathematical modeling. I’m leaning towards cognitive psychology – because who doesn’t want their brain mapped by a series of equations? In fact, there’s already a researcher at PSU who’s working on building a model to understand how our memories work (and he is most certainly not your stereotypical VS model).

Everything down to our minds, our very essence, can be mathematically modeled. And if that doesn’t make you take a step back and think math is cool… well, there’s probably an equation to help explain why that is.