Math major Omar Dominguez and faculty Drs. Jason Callahan, Kaitlyn Phillipson, and Michael Saclolo attended the Geometry of Redistricting Workshop at The University of Texas-Austin February 3-4.
This was a regional workshop of the Metric Geometry and Gerrymandering Group, a Boston-based team of mathematicians launched by Dr. Moon Duchin of Tufts University, whose mission is to study applications of geometry and computing to U.S. redistricting under the belief that gerrymandering of all kinds is a fundamental threat to our democracy.
In our MATH 4157 (Research) seminar on February 9, Omar, under the mentorship of Dr. Callahan, then presented a recent paper entitled “A Formula Goes to Court: Partisan Gerrymandering and the Efficiency Gap” by Dr. Duchin on the efficiency gap as a measure that has successfully been used in court to show gerrymandering in Wisconsin and is now headed to the Supreme Court.
Omar plans to continue research on this topic with Dr. Callahan over the next two years, and Dr. Duchin is now helping redraw gerrymandered voting districts in Pennsylvania, making this a timely and important research topic.