Summer 2023 High School Student Research at IMD
This summer, IMD is supervising high school students Aaron Wasielewski, Andrei Volić, Caroline Cordts, Emily Pallan, and Serena Pallan who will conduct research on the effects of court rulings on districting and competitiveness of state and congressional districts. They will also study how the geography of voting precincts and the location of polling places influences disenfranchisement and affects voting turnout.
Aaron is a rising junior at Natick High School in Massachusetts who sees math and politics as subjects that “have more significant impacts on my life than I realize.” By working with IMD, he seeks to “go in-depth about gathering more information so I can be able to grapple with how I am affected by them. Also, math can be found everywhere in daily life, and what’s better than to research a subject that I will have to use for the rest of my life?”
Andrei, a rising junior at Natick High School, decided to pursue research with IMD because he loves studying both math and government-related topics. “I thought that integrating those two disciplines would be interesting,” Andrei says. “I’m excited to create a model or system that can be applied to measure or predict some aspects of our government.”
As a rising senior at Alamo Heights High School in Texas, Caroline has had a “passion for both fields since a young age.” To complement her upcoming math classes at her local community college, she is dedicated to continuing her political advocacy. “I attend rallies with my friends and run the Young Democrats Instagram page for my school,” Caroline says.
Emily will be attending Harvard University in the fall with an intended Government or Economics major. When reflecting on her research interests with IMD, she says “in a world that’s so unpredictable, I find comfort in the finite and defined. However, that love of predictability is somewhat contrasted by my love of politics. It’s not nearly as predictable, but I find joy in canvassing, phone-banking, and analyzing past voting trends to affect elections. Thus, IMD works at the intersection of both, allowing me to apply my quantitative urges to the realm of unpredictability in politics.”
Serena is a rising sophomore at Hereford High School in Parkton, Maryland. “I think that it’s very interesting how IMD can use math as something that can aid people in developing an understanding of politics, even though the two subjects may not have a clear connection,” Serena says. “I’m excited to dive into how I can contribute to IMD’s mission of the integration of math and politics!”
IMD is excited to collaborate with these students to help them conduct meaningful research and further explore their passions through an interdisciplinary lens.
