Cindy Merrick
Doctoral Candidate
cmerrick@gmu.edu
Planetary Hall, Room 234

Ph.D., 2013 (expected), George Mason University, Mathematics
M.A., 2008, George Washington University, Mathematics
M.S., 2006, George Mason University, Mathematics
B.A., 1990, The American University, International Relations

Research: My chief area of interest is Combinatorial Geometry. Much of my research, guided by my adviser Jim Lawrence, makes use of theories all over pure mathematics, including matroids and oriented matroids, convex polytopes, homology, graph theory, and linear algebra. I also spent time pursuing ideas in representation theory, Lie groups and Lie algebras, while writing my master's thesis under adviser Rebecca Goldin, and studied computability theory with Valentina Harizanov at George Washington University.

Intern Writing for STATS: Since September, 2010, I have been a science writer for Statistical Assessment Service, a non-partisan resource on the use and abuse of science and statistics in the media.
My most recent pieces for STATS are:
Cacao or Caca? How the media bit into chocolate Nobel prize link
Neuroscience or Neurobabble? (with Rebecca Goldin)
Your Life on Coffee (with Rebecca Goldin)
Getting Science Right: A Response to The Atlantic Monthly

Teaching:
Fall 2012 - Linear Modeling, Math 111
Summer 2012 - Quantitative Analysis, Math 106 in C Session
Spring 2012 - Discrete Math 112

Activities, etc:
I will be attending the CIRM conference on Combinatorial Geometries in Marseille, France in April, 2013.

I participated in an AMS Mathematics Research Community in Snowbird, Utah. This June, I was invited to participate in the MRC on Discrete and Computational Geometry.

I was a career panelist at GMU's Sonia Kovalevsky Day on May 11, 2012.

I worked in the the Association for Women in Mathematics booth at the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, DC, April 2012.