Kaitlyn Martinez ’15, who graduated from Colorado College cum laude with a degree in mathematics, has received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to support her graduate work at the Colorado School of Mines, where she is a Ph.D. candidate in Computational and Applied Mathematics.

Martinez, of Lakewood, Colorado, was one of only one of 12 math biologists to receive the fellowship this year.

Her thesis work is on mathematical models for epidemiology, specifically developing new models and analysis methods for the spread of infectious diseases. “Currently I am working on a partial differential equation model for the spread of Ebola,” Martinez says. “I am developing methods for incorporating stochastic (random) behavior into the models and analysis techniques for the spatial models necessary to properly characterize the disease.”

At Colorado College, Martinez’s senior thesis was on modeling the spread of bullying in children, which she worked on with Associate Professor of Mathematics Andrea Bruder.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions. It is a five-year program that includes three years of a $34,000 stipend for research as well as tuition coverage. During the 2017 awards cycle, the NSF received more than 13,000 applications and granted 2,000 fellowships.