Brittany Gelb

I am a second-year PhD student in mathematics at Rutgers University (started August 2021), supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and a Presidential Fellowship. I am interested in topological data analysis, machine learning, and artificial intelligence alignment.

Email: brittany.gelb@rutgers.edu

Education

News

• Summer 2022: I interned at the NASA Langley Research Center, working within the Formal Methods Research Program of the Safety-Critical Avionics Systems Branch.
• Spring 2022: I participated in the Artificial General Intelligence Safety Fundamentals Program, organized by Effective Altruism Cambridge.

Research Interests

I'm currently working on topological data analysis and machine learning. I ultimately hope to work on mathematical research related to making artificial intelligence systems more interpretable, ethical, safe, and aligned with human goals.

Disclaimer: Starting in September 2022, my research is supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. DGE-1842213. Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in the material on this website are those of the authors(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Below is a selection of my previous projects from undergrad.

• Jointly with Lisa Cenek, I wrote formal computer-verified proofs using the software Lean and formalized elementary results on Pythagorean triples. Here is a link to our GitHub.
• At Muhlenberg College, I was advised by Byungchul Cha on a number theory project: I worked with Heather Chapman and Chooka Weiss on instrinsic Diophantine approximation. Our paper, Lagrange Spectrum of a Circle Over the Eisensteinian Field, was published in Monatshefte für Mathematik. It is available from the journal for view only here and also available on arXiv.
• At the DIMACS REU, I was advised by Alex Kontorovich on a number theory project: I developed a computer algorithm using Python, Sage, and Mathematica to generate circle packings from combinatorial data. Here is more about that project.
• At the Lafayette College REU, I was advised by Megan Cream on a graph theory project: I worked with Kathryn Beck and Lisa Cenek to characterize conditions that guarantee chorded cycle properties in claw-free graphs. Our paper, Chorded pancyclic properties in claw-free graphs, was published in the Australasian Journal of Combinatorics.
• At Muhlenberg College, I was advised by Erika Iyengar on an applied math project: I analyzed growth rate data for a marine snail to determine a probable lifespan.

Outreach and Teaching

Current: I am co-organizing the Rutgers Lean Seminar and the Rutgers Association for Women in Mathematics.

Fall 2022: I mentored a project on measure and integration theory for the Directed Reading Program and facilitated a cohort of the AI Alignment Reading Seminar at Princeton.

Current: I am a co-founder and three-time organizer of a conference called The Online Undergraduate Resource Fair for the Advancement and Alliance of Marginalized Mathematicians (OURFA²M²). In 2022, the conference was organized in partnership with the Mathematical Association of America, and I am a co-PI on the supporting grant, Grant No. DUE-2230388. I'm very proud to share that we grew registration from ~300 registrants in 2020 to 800+ registrants in 2022, expanded the original organizing team of five to a group of ten, and went from having no funding to being funded by the National Science Foundation.

2022: I mentored a partial-semester project on measure theory for the Directed Reading Program at Rutgers.

2018-2021: While at Muhlenberg College, I was a Writing Assistant for three courses, which is a TA position focused on writing skills. I was also a Writing Tutor and Lead Writing Tutor, which involved mentoring future tutors, creating workshops for continued-education of tutors, holding drop-in hours for students at the Writing Center, and doing research to improve the Writing Program.

2021: I contributed a chapter to Practices and Policies: Advocating for Students of Color in Mathematics with my co-authors Alvaro Carbonero, Amaury Miniño, Vanessa Sun, and Lee Trent.

2021: I gave an invited joint talk at the University of Guam CNAS STEM Conference about how students can recognize needs in their STEM communities and lead initiatives to meet them.

2021: Jointly with Linda McGuire and the officers of Muhlenberg's Chapter of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), I helped organize the AWM Salon Series at Muhlenberg College. This series featured six talks by women mathematicians.

2021: I was a reviewer and biography writer for the Notable Women in Math Playing Cards Project.

Resources for Undergraduates in Mathematics

• Rutgers Association for Women in Mathematics
• 80,000 Hours
• Some advice about applying to REU programs, written by myself and other OURFA²M² organizers
• A monthly newsletter to hear about career-building opportunities
• Some advice about doing your own organizing and DEI work in the mathematics community
• Questions to ask to identify a supportive graduate program as a woman or gender minority in math
• Feel free to contact me to ask about my experiences doing anything mentioned on this website

Caption: Participants of the 2019 Lafayette College REU. Back row (l to r): Charles Kulick, Adam Hodapp, Alvaro Carbonero, Maxwell Auerbach, Kathryn Beck. Front row: Rebecca Whitman, Brittany Gelb, Beth Anne Castellano, Lisa Cenek, Karie Schmitz. The front row is holding Iñaki Minondo.

Talks and Presentations

* Denotes invited.

# Denotes jointly given.

1. # Modal Logic Without Possible Worlds. Homotopy Type Theory Seminar at Carnegie Mellon University; 2022 November; Online.
2. Machine Learning to Write Proofs in Lean. Rutgers Lean Seminar; 2022 November, Piscataway, NJ.
3. # Developing Your Career as an Undergraduate Math Major: Advice from the Organizers of OURFA2M2. Mathematical Association of America Virtual Programming Webinar; 2022 October; Online.
4. # Modal Logic Without Possible Worlds. Pittsburgh Formal Epistemology Workshop; 2022 October; Online.
5. # Topology, Modal Logic, and Distributed Computing. NASA Langley Research Center Branch Presentation, 2022 August; Online.
6. Geometry of Neural Networks. 47th Annual New York State Regional Graduate Mathematics Conference; 2022 April; Syracuse, NY.
7. # Resource Presentation. The Online Undergraduate Resource Fair for the Advancement and Alliance of Marginalized Mathematicians; 2021 December; Online.
8. * Complex Analysis in the Service of Combinatorics. Graduate Student Intercollegiate Mathematics Seminar at Lehigh University; 2021 November; Bethlehem, PA.
9. # Interactive Theorem Proving with Lean. Rose-Hulman Institute of Mathematics Undergraduate Math Conference; 2021 April; Online.
10. # Student-Led Academic Community Organizing. Rose-Hulman Institute of Mathematics Undergraduate Math Conference; 2021 April; Online.
11. # Interactive Theorem Proving with Lean. EPaDel MAA Spring Section Meeting; 2021 April; Online.
12. # Interactive Theorem Proving with Lean. Hudson River Valley Undergraduate Math Conference; 2021 April; Online.
13. * # Student-Led Academic Community Organizing. University of Guam College of Natural and Applied Sciences STEM Conference; 2021 April; Online.
14. # Interactive Theorem Proving with Lean. Mid-Atlantic Seminar on Numbers; 2021 March; Online.
15. # Interactive Theorem Proving with Lean. Brown University’s Symposium on Undergraduate Research in the Math. Sciences; 2021 March; Online.
16. # Interactive Theorem Proving with Lean. Series on Exploring Combinatorics and Number Theory; 2021 Jan; Online.
17. Integral Polyhedral Sphere Packings. Graduate Number Theory Seminar at Rutgers University; 2020 Dec; Online.
18. Integral Polyhedral Sphere Packings. Muhlenberg Summer Research Scholars Seminar; 2020 August; Online.
19. # Chorded Pancyclic Properties in Claw-Free Graphs. Joint Math Meetings: AMS-MAA-SIAM Special Session on Research in Mathematics by Undergraduates and Students in Post-Baccalaureate Programs; 2020 Jan; Denver, CO.
20. # Chorded Pancyclic Properties in Claw-Free Graphs. Joint Math Meetings: MAA Undergraduate Poster Session; 2020 Jan; Denver, CO.
21. # The Transfer of Disciplinary Knowledge in Tutoring Sessions. International Writing Center Association; 2019 Oct; Columbus, OH.
22. Chorded Pancyclic Properties in Claw-Free Graphs. Series on Exploring Combinatorics and Number Theory; 2019 Oct; Allentown, PA.
23. Doing an REU and Chorded Pancyclic Properties in Claw-Free Graphs. Muhlenberg Mathematics Department Colloquium; 2019 Sept; Allentown, PA.
24. Chorded Pancyclic Properties in Claw-Free Graphs. Poster Session at the Celebration of Student Research and Scholarship at Muhlenberg College; 2019 Sept; Allentown, PA.
25. Extensions of Romik’s Dynamical System. Moravian College Undergraduate Mathematics Conference; 2018 Feb; Bethlehem, PA.

Panel Discussions and Q&A's

1. Math Major Q&A hosted by the Rutgers Undergraduate Mathematics Association; September, 2022.
2. Q&A on "What every math grad student should know" hosted by the Mathematics Student Liaison Committee as part of the Special Pre-enrollment Program in Mathematics at Rutgers; August, 2022.
3. Math/CS Alumni Panel hosted by the Muhlenberg Math Club; November, 2021.
4. Grad School Panel hosted by the University of Redlands Chapter of PiME; October, 2021.