Brittany Gelb

I am a first-year PhD student in mathematics at Rutgers University, interested in topological data analysis and artificial intelligence alignment.

Email: brittany.gelb@rutgers.edu

Education

News

• Summer 2022: I will intern at the NASA Langley Research Center, working within the Formal Methods Research Program of the Safety-Critical Avionics Systems Branch.
• Spring 2022: I accepted an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
• Spring 2022: I'm participating in the Artificial General Intelligence Safety Fundamentals Program, organized by Effective Altruism Cambridge.

Research

I'm currently pivoting my research career towards topological data analysis and machine learning. I'm broadly interested in artificial intelligence (AI) alignment. Starting in September 2022, my research will be supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. DGE-1842213.

Below is a selection of my previous projects from undergrad. In the past I have worked on interactive theorem-proving, number theory, hyperbolic geometry, graph theory, and mathematical modeling.

• 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, and 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, where 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, and I worked with Kathryn Beck and Lisa Cenek to characterize conditions that guarantee chorded cycle properties in claw-free graphs. We submitted a paper to the Australasian Journal of Combinatorics, which is currently under revision. Here is a poster that we presented at JMM.
• At Muhlenberg College, I was advised by Erika Iyengar, and I analyzed growth rate data for a marine snail and determined probable lifespan and seasonal and site-specific growth patterns.

Outreach

• Current: I am a co-founder and two-time organizer of The Online Undergraduate Resource Fair for the Advancement and Alliance of Marginalized Mathematicians (OURFA²M²).
• 2022: I mentored a partial-semester project for the Directed Reading Program at Rutgers.
• 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

• 80,000 Hours is a great organization for learning about careers for positive impact.
• Here is some advice about applying to REU programs, written by myself and the other OURFA²M² organizers.
• I help write a monthly newsletter with OURFA²M². Subscribe to hear about career-building opportunities.
• Here is some advice about doing your own organizing and DEI work in the mathematics community.
• 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

The photo on the right is from talk #17 at Series on Exploring Combinatorics and Number Theory.

* Denotes invited.

1. Geometry of Neural Networks. 47th Annual New York State Regional Graduate Mathematics Conference; 2022 April; Syracuse, NY.
2. The Long Line. Five Minute Pizza Seminar Talk at Rutgers University; 2021 December; Piscataway, NJ.
3. * Complex Analysis in the Service of Combinatorics. Graduate Student Intercollegiate Mathematics Seminar at Lehigh University; 2021 November; Bethlehem, PA.
4. Interactive Theorem Proving with Lean. Rose-Hulman Institute of Mathematics Undergraduate Math Conference; 2021 April; Online.
5. Student-Led Academic Community Organizing. Rose-Hulman Institute of Mathematics Undergraduate Math Conference; 2021 April; Online.
6. Interactive Theorem Proving with Lean. EPaDel MAA Spring Section Meeting; 2021 April; Online.
7. Interactive Theorem Proving with Lean. Hudson River Valley Undergraduate Math Conference; 2021 April; Online.
8. * Student-Led Academic Community Organizing. University of Guam College of Natural and Applied Sciences STEM Conference; 2021 April; Online.
9. Interactive Theorem Proving with Lean. Mid-Atlantic Seminar on Numbers; 2021 March; Online.
10. Interactive Theorem Proving with Lean. Brown University’s Symposium on Undergraduate Research in the Math. Sciences; 2021 March; Online.
11. Interactive Theorem Proving with Lean. Series on Exploring Combinatorics and Number Theory; 2021 Jan; Online.
12. Integral Polyhedral Sphere Packings. Graduate Number Theory Seminar at Rutgers University; 2020 Dec; Online.
13. Integral Polyhedral Sphere Packings. Muhlenberg Summer Research Scholars Seminar; 2020 August; Online.
14. 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.
15. Chorded Pancyclic Properties in Claw-Free Graphs. Joint Math Meetings: MAA Undergraduate Poster Session; 2020 Jan; Denver, CO.
16. The Transfer of Disciplinary Knowledge in Tutoring Sessions. International Writing Center Association; 2019 Oct; Columbus, OH.
17. Chorded Pancyclic Properties in Claw-Free Graphs. Series on Exploring Combinatorics and Number Theory; 2019 Oct; Allentown, PA.
18. Doing an REU and Chorded Pancyclic Properties in Claw-Free Graphs. Muhlenberg Mathematics Department Colloquium; 2019 Sept; Allentown, PA.
19. Chorded Pancyclic Properties in Claw-Free Graphs. Poster Session at the Celebration of Student Research and Scholarship at Muhlenberg College; 2019 Sept; Allentown, PA.
20. Extensions of Romik’s Dynamical System. Moravian College Undergraduate Mathematics Conference; 2018 Feb; Bethlehem, PA.