End of Year Function - University of Canterbury
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Newsletter 2020 Summer | Raumati Edition
School of Mathematics and Statistics | Te Kura
May 2017 Newsletter
Pāngarau
Mathematics and Statistics
End of Year Function
The School had a Christmas function on 3rd December to cel-
ebrate the end of the year. I hope you all have a relaxing summer
and a well desrved break. See you in the new year!
Head of School Reflections
Bubbles. Alert levels. Social distancing. Lockdown. This year we
introduced new words into our daily life, terms which have become
so commonplace they often mask the massive upheaval we are
experiencing in the current global pandemic. We also acquired
some new ones here in our university environment: zoom, digital
transformation, online testing, e-conferences, to name a few.
Indeed, earlier this year, we transitioned all our courses to online
platforms, some of them within days. School meetings went online,
as did tutorials, marking, assignments, tests, PG supervisions, even
our School morning tea! While we can reflect on the enormous
amount we achieved, in many ways online modes of interaction
reinforced in students and staff alike the value of face-to-face
interaction and the power of in person learning.
This newsletter showcases some of the exciting initiatives and
research that flourished despite the global pandemic as well as the
definitive contributions that researchers in our School made towards
New Zealand’s covid-19 response. As we reflect on 2020, a year
like no other, we are reminded of the impact that the mathematical
sciences can make on communities facing adversity and the
importance of research informed decision making.
Stay safe and stay connected.
- Clemency Montelle
Our Research
Covid-19 New Book
Professor Michael Plank collaborates with Andrew Clemency Montelle along with Anuj Misra and Kim Plofker have
Sporle, Kate Hannah and Nicholas Styen (Univer- published a book titled: The Sanskrit Astronomical Table Text
sity of Auckland), Melissa McLeod (University of Brahmatulyasarai: Numerical Tables in Textual Scholarship
Otago) on research that shows if Covid-19 were
allowed to become more widespread in Aotearoa A timely exploration of the numerical tables genre in pre-modern
New Zealand, it would have a devasting impact on science, focusing on the previously unpublished 17th-century
Māori and Pasific communities. Indian astronomical table text Brahmatulyasāraṇī. Includes criti-
cal edition, English translation, and thorough technical/ historical
Read the article on The Conversation. commentary analysing the content and background of the work.
Online Learning
Basics of Statistical Inference and Modelling Using R
Elena Moltchanova has developed and is currently running one
of UC’s 10 MOOC courses on edX. Well done Elena on getting
this course up and running.
Course description:
This course is directed at people with limited statistical back-
ground and no practical experience, who have to do data analy-
sis, as well as those who are “out of practice”. While very practice
oriented, it aims to give the students the understanding of why
the method works (theory), how to implement it (programming
using R) and when to apply it (and where to look if the particular
method is not applicable in the specific situation).
PhD Students
School Thesis in Three PhD Graduands – 2020
Naeimeh Abi with her baby boy
Fareeda Begum, Mathematics
Congratulaions Giorgia Vattiato (PhD), Sahana Cidambi
Michael Hackney, Mathematics
(PhD), and Marina Chen (MSc) for placing in the School’s
Rodelyn Jaksons, Statistics
Thesis inThree competion.
Louis Warren, Mathematics
Highly Commended CoE Thesis in Three Jack Simpson, Mathematics (December 2019)
Result Naeimeh Abi, Statistics – also congratulations on the birth
Sahana Cidambi (PhD), was highly commended for her of her baby boy born on 15 August 2020.
talk; Out of the shadows (and into the spotlight!). This talk
can been seen in the link here
New PhD Students
Peak Hill Walk
We welcome to the School:
Kelly Yao Lu who will be supervised by Elena along with
Christoph Bartneck (HiT Lab), Simon Kingham (GRI),
and Mehdi Keyvan-Ekbatani (Civil) working on a project
funded by the Geographic Research Institute here at UC
entitled Analysis of spatio-temporal trends in New Zealand
Traffic in 1998-2018 and implications for benchmarking
and implementation of autonomous self-driving vehicles.
Gerry Toft who will be supervised by Charles
Ding Ning who will be supervised by Varvara Vetrova with
a thesis title of Towards Algorithms for Automated Detec-
tion of Extreme Climate Events
Zac Todd who will be supervised by Thomas Li
Left to right: Dibayayoti Jena, Stephen Merry, Duttatrey Srivastava,
Andrew Heaslip, Robert Findlay, Liz McGeorge, Gerry Toft, and Sahana
Cidambi
Rick Beatson Retirement
Rick’s connection with mathematics at the University of
Canterbury first begun in 1970 when he commenced his
undergraduate studies, one of 24 bright eyed students
signed up for the Maths honours programme. He con-
tinued on to complete a Master’s and PhD under the su-
pervision of Allan McInnes before taking up positions in
Austin and Connecticut. Family eventually pulled him
back to New Zealand where he was hired here, his first
day being 3rd September 1985.
Winner of the UC Innovation Medal in 2015, Rick has
had a distinguished research career with a singular tal-
ent for advancing deep theoretical insights in the field of
numerical analysis as well as applying these in a very me, as I, a brand new lecturer, was about to enter a rowdy,
practical way to develop tools to solve a variety of real jampacked, 12noon first-year calculus stream: “Give it to
world problems in science and engineering. He is also them straight, Clemency, they like it straight” he said with
well respected for his immense skill in the smooth run- that characteristic flash of a grin. I know Rick to be dedi-
ning of large courses, his character and distinctive charm cated and generous, and a friend to many in our School.
in teaching, and his wisdom in passing on his craft. I per-
sonally will never forget the teaching gem he once told
Recent Achievements
Distributed Leadership in Teaching Programme
Congratulations to Rosie who has officially been appointed as a Scholar in the Distributed Leadership in Teaching Pro-
gramme, a new initiative coming from the DVC-Academic’s office. Rosie will be one of five throughout the university
on this programme for developing their teaching practices and integrating disciplinary responsive pedagogies within
peer-led professional learning teams. Her project is to redesign and reimagine MATH101 to meet the diverse learning
needs of incoming university students.
UC’s Distributed Leadership in Teaching Development Programme offers prestigious scholarships that will reward
recipients with sufficient time to explore their curiosity while enabling time and funds to engage in the scholarship of
teaching and learning.
NZMS Awards and Recognition
In order of their presentation at the ceremony, join me in celebrating the following:
Congratulations to new NZMS fellows Douglas Bridges, Jeanette McLeod, and Phil Wilson.
Fellowship of the NZ Mathematical Society is awarded to members of the NZMS in recognition of their contribu-
tions to mathematics and their professional standing in the NZ Mathematics community.
Congratulations to Geertrui Van De Voorde who has been awarded an Early Career Research award.
The Early Career Research Award recognises excellent research carried out by early-career New Zealand-
based mathematicians and is based on three published research outputs.
Congratulations to Liz Ackerley who has been awarded the Gillian Thornley award.
This award is for an outstanding contribution to the cause or profession of mathematics, and is made for the
first time this year.
-Clemency Montelle
Out of Office
Paparoa Track
Leigh and Jennifer walked the Paparoa Track earlier in November. Wonderful views out to the sea, and
sunsets from the Paparoa tops.
Weightifting
Jennifer has been winning gold at NZ weightlifting competitions, including the NZ Masters. The 2020 and
2021 World Masters Weightlifting competitions which she qualified for, have both been cancelled so it’s NZ
competitions only for another year.
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