Denison Scientific Association

The Denison Scientific Association is an ongoing lecture series that allows science faculty from around campus to share their ongoing work outside of their respective departments.

DSA Series Organizers:
Michael Chavrimootoo
Zhe Wang

DSA meetings are held monthly, on Wednesdays from 4:30-5:30 p.m., in Olin Hall 114.

About Denison Scientific Association

The Denison Scientific Association is an ongoing lecture series that brings science faculty from across campus together to share their current research with the broader Denison community. Designed to spark curiosity and foster interdisciplinary conversation, the DSA talks are open and accessible to a general audience — no scientific background is required to attend. By stepping outside their home departments, faculty offer engaging glimpses into the questions that drive their work, connecting students, colleagues, and staff through a shared appreciation for scientific inquiry.

Associate Professor Sarah Wolff presented research to the DSA in a past presentation: 'A random walk through algebra'.
Associate Professor Sarah Wolff presented research to the DSA in a past presentation: 'A random walk through algebra'.

Denison Scientific Association
Archives

2025 - 2026

Dr. Kristina Slagle
Denison Scientific Association: Assessing Sustainability Knowledge, Behaviors, and Skills in Higher Education

The Denison Scientific Association presents: Dr. Kristina Slagle of Sustainability & Environmental Studies.

Denison Scientific Association: Seeing with Spectra: What the Eigenvalue Problem is Telling Us

Robert Viator traces eigenvalue problems from 2×2 matrices to differential equations, with applications in acoustics and materials science.

Denison Scientific Association: Dowsing the shear zone: Deciphering patterns of fluid flow in fault zones

Tyler Grambling presents isotope data from the Peruvian Andes to decode how fluids move through crystal-plastic fault zones deep in Earth's crust.

Denison Scientific Association: Whatcha lookin’ at?: Using eye-tracking to assess attention to the attributes of items used in goal-directed tasks

Seth Chin-Parker uses eye tracking to examine how selective visual attention shapes—but does not fully determine—goal-directed concept acquisition.

Denison Scientific Association: Practical Visualization and Interpretation of Generalized Linear Mixed-Effects Models in Linguistic Research

Zhe Wang demonstrates how to visualize and interpret interaction effects in GLMMs using a study of Puerto Rican Spanish pronunciation.

Denison Scientific Association: Learning To Detect Patterns in 2x2 Graphs

Nestor Matthews investigates what novices miss in 2×2 factorial graphs and offers strategies for better statistics and visualization teaching.

Denison Scientific Association: How to Evaluate Programs that Don't Terminate

David Kahn introduces big-stop semantics, extending big-step semantics to enable resource analysis for non-terminating programs.

2024 - 2025

Denison Scientific Association: Stable Isotopic Insights to Ancient Environmental Changes from the Huangling Anticline, South China to Petrified Forest, Arizona

Morrison Nolan uses stable isotopes to probe ancient ocean oxygen levels and the trophic structure of Late Triassic ecosystems.

Denison Scientific Association: Electoral control attacks: their interrelations and complexities

Michael Chavrimootoo explores the computational complexity of electoral control attacks such as gerrymandering and voter suppression.

Denison Scientific Association: Stochastic Dynamical Systems: Rare Events and Machine Learning for Nonlinear Dynamics

Adam Waterbury presents work on rare event probabilities in self-interacting systems and machine learning for nonlinear time series.

Denison Scientific Association: Mathematical modeling in the social sciences

Sara Clifton applies simple dynamical models to social phenomena including e-cigarette public health tradeoffs, gender equity in careers, and bystander effects.

Denison Scientific Association: What’s the best way to feed hungry monarchs?

Andy McCall shares three years of field research on whether locally sourced milkweed seeds produce healthier plants for monarch butterfly recovery.

Denison Scientific Association: The Social Function of Vicarious Memories in Older Adults

Kristina Steiner examines how older adults use second-hand memories for social bonding and how this differs from college-age behavior.

Denison Scientific Association: How to Analyze Time Series Data

David White explores statistical models for time series data, with real-world applications in policing, protests, and opioid trends in Ohio.

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