Meet the Students

Sarah is a PhD student and teaching assistant in the Department of Statistics. Originally from Papillion, NE, she earned her BS in Civil Engineering at UNL. She received her Master’s in Public Health Biostatistics from UNMC. Sarah studied trends in inflammatory breast cancer through UNMC’s Cancer Epidemiology and Education in Special Populations (CEESP) program. She currently works with Creighton University’s School of Medicine and hopes to continue working with medical students, residents, fellows, and faculty after graduation. Sarah and her husband Scott have four kids.

Aleena is currently a First year Masters student at the Department of Statistics and she would love to pursue her PhD degree from UNL. Aleena is originally from India. She completed her undergraduate from St. Xavier's College Kolkata in 2016 and Masters from University of Calcutta in Statistics in 2018. Aleena was also a visiting scholar in Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata for a few months after Graduation. She is currently on a Teaching Assistantship. After graduation, Aleena would like to work in Industry or in a Government firm.

James is a PhD student from Irvine, California. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at Doane University in Crete, NE. James has previously had a research internship at West Coast Analytics, and he currently has a teaching assistantship. In his free time, he enjoys going out to eat and playing video games.

Kalani is a PhD student and teaching assistant in the Department of Statistics. Originally from Sri Lanka, she earned her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Sri Jayawardenepura in Sri Lanka. She received her Master’s degree in Statistics at UNL. Her research interests include genetics. Kalani plans teach at a university upon graduation. In her spare time, she enjoys playing badminton.

Dean is second-year master’s student and a teaching assistant in the Department of Statistics, and he plans to continue on towards a PhD afterwards. Dean grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire and attended Plymouth State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. During his undergraduate degree, he conducted research in Combinatorial Number Theory, which inspired him to want to continue onto graduate school and do more research. Ideally, Dean would like to do research that can actually be applied, while still using high-level mathematics.

Enakshy is a graduate student and a teaching assistant at the Department of Statistics. Originally, from Kolkata, India, she received her MS in Statistics and Informatics from IIT Kharagpur, India. She had worked in the marketing analytics domain for insurance, telecommunications, and loyalty industries. Her research interests include statistical modeling, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. In her spare time, she loves traveling, pottery and gardening.

Miguel is a PhD student and a research assistant in the Department of Statistics. Originally from the Phillipines, he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Physics from the University of the Phillipines. His research interests include statistics in sports and computational statistics. After graduation, Miguel plans to work in academia or as a statistical consultant for sports statistics. In his spare time, he enjoys playing soccer and basketball and trying out different coffee drinks.

Jessica is a PhD student and teaching assistant in the Department of Statistics. Originally from Andover, Kansas, she earned her Bachelor’s degree at Kansas Wesleyan University and received her MS in Statistics from UNL. Jessica’s research interests include text mining and classification. After graduation, she plans to teach statistics at a university.

Kelsey is a PhD student and research assistant in the Department of Statistics. Originally from Omaha, NE, she earned her Bachelor’s degree and MS in Statistics at UNL. Kelsey has worked as a Teaching Assistant for STAT 218 and currently works as a research assistant/statistical collaborator at the Statistical Cross-disciplinary Collaboration and Consulting Laboratory in the department. Her research interests include statistical consulting. Kelsey plans to work in statistical consulting, either in academia or industry, upon graduation.

Alison is a PhD  student and teaching assistant in the Department of Statistics. Originally from Papillion, NE, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, MO. Alison worked for two years as an actuarial intern at Lockton Companies in Kansas City. Her current research interests include econometrics. In her spare time, she enjoys watching Kansas City Royals baseball games and going for walks.

Vamsi is a graduate student at the Department of Statistics. While currently a Master's student, he hopes to pursue a PhD in statistics. Originally from Chennai, India, he graduated with a Master's degree in Mathematical Sciences, majoring in statistics from the University of Hyderabad, India. His research interests involve the combined application of statistics, mathematics and computer science to solving problems in life sciences. Presently, Vamsi is a Graduate Teaching Assistant and has taught STAT 380 and STAT 218.

I am from Lincoln, NE, and graduated from Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD with Mathematics major and Physics and Biology minors. I am interested in sports and environmental applications of statistics. In my free time, I enjoy indoor rock climbing, running and reading.

Zeinab is a PhD student and teaching assistant in the Department of Statistics. Originally from Egypt, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from the College of Economics and Political Sciences at Cairo University. She received her Master’s degrees from Kuwait University and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Her research interests include mathematical modeling in epidemiology and data analysis. After graduation, Zeinab plans to teach and work in data analysis. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family.

Ved is a PhD student in statistics hailing from New Delhi, India. He did his masters in statistics from the University of Minnesota and his bachelors in statistics from the University of Delhi, India. He has worked as a data scientist Intern with Seagate Technology and as an analytics intern with Travelers Insurance and Hennepin County, Minnesota. His research interests are in the field of recommendation systems. Ved aspires to become a professor in statistics and pursue his zeal for research and teaching.

Sayli is a PhD student and research assistant in the department of Statistics. Originally from Mumbai, India, she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Statistics from University of Mumbai. Sayli has worked as a teaching assistant for STAT 218 and as a statistical collaborator for the SC3L Desk in the department.  In summer of 2019, she interned at Zoetis in the Biometrics department. Her current research interests include predictive modelling, machine learning and spatial statistics. Sayli is a foodie and enjoys exploring new places to eat. 

Emily is a Ph.D. student and statistical consultant in the Department of Statistics. She earned her bachelors in Statistics and Secondary Math Education from Winona State University in 2017. Her research is driven by the importance of effectively communicating data and scientific information to the public. Emily engages in research involving data visualization, experimental design, and statistical consulting. She is passionate about teaching, mentoring, and collaboration. After graduation, she plans to teach statistics at a university.

Rachel is a Ph.D. student and consultant in the Department of Statistics. She is originally from Missouri, and she earned Bachelor's degrees from the University of Chicago in Statistics and Anthropology. She is interested in applying statistics to problems found in the social sciences. In her free time, she enjoys reading and traveling. 

Fei is a PhD student and teaching assistant in the Department of Statistics. He is originally from China and earned his Bachelor’s degree from Renmin University of China. He received his Master’s degree from the University of Connecticut. After graduation, Fei plans to teaching at a university. In his spare time, he enjoys basketball and soccer.

Anita is a PhD student and a research assistant at the Department of Statistics. Originally, from Kathmandu, Nepal, she earned a Master’s degree in Statistics from Sam Houston State University in Texas. She has also worked as a teaching assistant for Stat 218 in the department. Her research interests include Computational Statistics, Statistical Modeling and Machine learning. After graduation, Anita plans to teach at a university but is open to industries as well. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family, travelling, and watching movies.

Jayden is a second-year master's student and a teaching/research assistant in the Department of Statistics. Originally from Chadron, Nebraska, he attended Hastings College where he earned his bachelor's degree in Mathematics. He also played baseball there. Jayden's research resides in forensic science and is working on a project involving feature recognition of shoe soles. His goal is to pursue a career in sports in either marketing or operations. In his spare time, he enjoys golfing, cheering on the Chicago Cubs, and staying active. 

Oliver is a second-year master’s student and teaching assistant in the Department of Statistics. He is originally from Massachusetts where he attended Fitchburg State University and earned his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Economics. Oliver worked as a peer tutor for math and statistics classes during his time at Fitchburg State, and did a summer research project that involved modeling contaminants in the Nashua River. These experiences inspired him to go to graduate school.