Congratulations to Samantha Mackley, an economics and statistics major, for recently being accepted for a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) and for receiving the MizzouForward Undergraduate Research Training Grant.

The REU, funded by NSF, is at Embry Riddle University in Daytona, Florida and is titled “Research in Data-Enabled Industrial Mathematics”. Samantha will participate in research projects in data-enabled industrial mathematics in which she will address problems posed by business, industry, or government in a team environment. The ultimate idea of the program is to model the real-world industrial research experience, focusing on student growth and getting the students to interact with material at a level that goes beyond the regular classroom. Samantha will work collaboratively on a project titled “Flexjet Demand Event Characterization” over the summer.

During the 2023-2024 academic year, Samantha will work on an independent research project of her choosing under the guidance of Dr. Brittany Street in the Economics Department and funded by MizzouForward. The purpose of these fellowships is to financially support undergraduate students who are serious about pursuing graduate education in STEM, in order to enhance their opportunity to be admitted into the Graduate School of their choice. Samantha’s project will combine modern econometric techniques and data to analyze the effects of a policy change in Missouri. The project is titled “What role do food assistance programs in public schools play in educational outcomes for children in Missouri?"