For Ocheltree ’24, Boston Presentation Kicks off Another Busy Year

Joelle Ocheltree ’24 is making the most out of their Hartwick experience. The Honors student is a double major in economics and mathematics. They are also a member of the swimming/diving squad, have been named to the Empire 8 President’s List several times, and even received the Phillip S. Wilder, Jr. Award for academic distinction. Ocheltree is even a writing consultant, who meets with an assigned first-year student to help them with papers, and a note taker for students with disabilities.

 

 

In January, Ocheltree wasted no time making their mark on 2023: they presented a research poster at the undergraduate session of the Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) in Boston. Sponsored by the American Mathematical Society, the JMM is the largest mathematics meeting in the world. Ocheltree was the first-ever Hartwick student to present at the JMM.

Ocheltree presented research worked on last summer during an eight-week internship at Pomona Research in Mathematical Experience (PRiME) in Pomona, CA. There they collaborated with undergraduate students, graduate students, and professors from Washington and Lee University, Clemson University, the California Institute of Technology, and Harvey Mudd College.

The group’s final report was submitted to the National Science Foundation, a PowerPoint presentation was made to their PRiME peers. After PRiME, Ocheltree presented the group’s research at the MathFest conference hosted by the Mathematical Association America in Philadelphia.

From there, Ocheltree took it one step further and decided to approach the JMM. They were the only one from the PRiME research group to present at JMM.

Erik Wallace ’07, assistant professor of mathematics, alerted Ocheltree to last summer’s PRiME opportunity, and encouraged them to apply. 

“Joelle has both an incredible work ethic and a high level of understanding, and computational skill,” he said. “In my Linear Algebra class, each student did a project. Joelle chose one of the most ambitious topics possible and did a stellar job on it. When I first suggested PRiME, I wasn’t so sure that Joelle would want to do it because it was more about pure math, but Joelle seemed enthusiastic and determined. To see Joelle’s results at the JMM just made me so proud.”

Not surprisingly, Ocheltree is already thinking ahead, and hopes to stay busy this summer by landing an economics internship. That shouldn’t be hard for the motivated junior. “I enjoyed doing research, but now want to work in the industry,” they said. “I have found internships through Handshake and professors reaching out to me.”

February 9, 2023

Learn More About Hartwick

A Friendship Formed Almost a Decade Ago Leads to Reducing Food Waste Through Education

Hartwick graduates help college students understand the impact of food waste.

Hartwick College has announced the addition of a new sport management major

Leveraging connections in the sports industry.