Academic X’cellence: Sharing stories from our inspiring StFX community
It should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with StFX that our campus is filled with highly engaged students, educators, researchers, and leaders. Academic X’cellence shines a spotlight on members of our educational community to find out more about their unique experiences—both inside and outside of the classroom. (To see the full series, please click HERE.)
Here we meet Dr. Ryan Lukeman, a StFX honours math graduate who returned to his alma mater as a mathematics professor and is now in his 16th year teaching here. Dr. Lukeman is a recipient of StFX’s Outstanding Teaching Award, and over the years, he has supervised 26 summer research students. Recently, he’s begun working with high school curriculum development in Atlantic Canada to ensure the learning pathways for students lead to a smooth transition into university mathematics. In his own research, he’s studied ocean currents, bird flocks, fish schools, human group synchrony, seaweed growth, animal navigation, and lately, opioid overdose dynamics among people who inject drugs in Toronto. In the classroom, he’s teaching students all about the usefulness and universality of mathematics.
Dr. Ryan Lukeman: Developing a mathematical lens through which we can unravel complexity in the world
Tell us about yourself.
I am a StFX graduate of 2003 (B.A. honours in mathematics). I then completed degrees at Dalhousie (MSc) and UBC (PhD) before returning to StFX in 2009. This is my 16th year at StFX. I teach a range of mathematics courses, focusing on applied mathematics. This includes first-year calculus, differential equations, partial differential equations, and mathematical modeling. I also teach matrix algebra, and elementary statistics.
What drives you in your teaching?
Fundamentally, I want to convey the usefulness and universality of mathematics. Part of what I do involves building up a knowledge base for students (the ‘how’), but I want to infuse their experience with rich examples that make it clear why they’re engaging in the challenge of learning math. We are developing a lens through which we can unravel complexity in the world around us.
What impact do you hope your teaching has?
I hope that my classroom transmits my fascination of the subject. But students have different needs and find themselves in mathematics classrooms for different reasons. For some, I hope that I provide an accessible entry point into university mathematics and allow the students to become more quantitatively able in order to pursue whatever career might demand those skills. For others, I hope I inspire them to awaken their own fascination with math, especially if it was lying dormant for some time, and give them confidence to pursue more mathematics.
Could you talk about innovations in your classrooms or research?
In my research, I tend to be motivated by the phenomena I want to understand, as opposed to the mathematical methods I employ. So, I’ve studied ocean currents, bird flocks, fish schools, human group synchrony, seaweed growth, animal navigation, and lately, opioid overdose dynamics among people who inject drugs in Toronto. Within these pursuits, I hone the mathematical modeling approach that gives us a window of understanding we previously didn’t have. This creates a research program that is rich in breadth and creates lots of opportunities for undergraduate researchers to find a project that aligns with their own interests.
In my teaching, where possible I encourage students to apply their new skills to tackle problems whose immediate benefit is clear. I have had students analyze the impact of dam construction on water flow in the Nile River in Ethiopia, compare musical instruments by mathematically decomposing the sounds they make, or understand cyclical population dynamics in spruce budworm populations in Nova Scotia forests, to name a few. Pairing mathematical discovery with tangible insights about these systems – and to occasionally inform policy – is some of the most rewarding outcomes in the classroom.
Are there awards, accomplishments or involvements to mention?
The accomplishments I’m most proud of aren’t my own. It is the students I’ve gotten to work closely with during their time at StFX, and what they later do with this training, out in the world. As one example, I’ve been fortunate to supervise 26 summer research students in my time at StFX, and they are an accomplished bunch!
I did receive an Outstanding Teaching award for StFX in 2015. It is, of course, nice to be recognized for those things you pour a lot of energy into!
Recently I’ve begun working with high school curriculum development in Atlantic Canada to ensure that the learning pathways for students lead to a smooth transition into university mathematics.
What drew you to teaching, and at the post-secondary level?
I never really knew if I had the capability and drive to teach, but as I pursued graduate studies in math, I figured I should try it out. About 15 minutes into my first lecture teaching calculus at UBC, I was hooked. Although I had a lot of work to do to hone my craft, the classroom felt like a natural environment for me, and I found it immediately rewarding to lead students through challenging ideas.
What excites you about teaching at StFX?
I appreciate the high calibre of students at StFX, who continually impress me with their engagement and dedication to learning. At StFX, I have the freedom to teach in a way that resonates with my own passion and understanding of the subject, making it a richer experience for both me and my students.
What’s something surprising about yourself?
I grew up in Antigonish, about a 15 minute walk to StFX campus We are a StFX family – my parents met while taking biology together at StFX, and me and my three older brothers have all graduated from X. I think it’s fair to say that we’ve all benefitted immensely from this institution.
I also play guitar in a rock band, and we play a few gigs a year in town. We are five dads, and we all have some connection to StFX. Although I’ve been playing guitar for over 30 years, it’s only in the last few that I’ve been able to perform shows with a band, and it’s been a really rewarding, fun experience!
