Jonathan Lindbloom, a PhD student in mathematics, was one of four Guarini students who traveled to Washington, D.C. for the AAAS CASE 2025 conference, which introduces graduate students to federal policymaking and advocacy for scientific research.
What do you consider your hometown?
My hometown is Coppell, Texas (a suburb of Dallas).
Where did you earn your undergraduate degree and what did you study?
I went to Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, TX, where I earned a BS in mathematics and a BBA in finance.
What program are you in at Dartmouth, and what drew you to pursue your degree here?
I am in my fourth year of the mathematics PhD program, advised by Anne Gelb. I first heard of Dartmouth when I participated in a summer research program (remotely) during the pandemic. I came to Dartmouth for the faculty, flexibility to get started with research right away, and the opportunity to be involved in a large research group.
Tell us about your research—what are you working on and why do you enjoy it?
I study computational methods for efficiently solving high-dimensional sparsity-constrained inverse problems.
In lay terms, in many scientific applications (such as remote sensing and medical imaging) the collected data is noisy and/or incomplete – this makes it difficult to learn about the true state of the system being modeled.
I work on developing methods for accurately recovering the state, as well as performing uncertainty quantification for the obtained estimate. I particularly enjoy my work since it requires synthesizing many different ideas across mathematics, including those from optimization, numerical linear algebra & PDEs, compressive sensing, and computational statistics.
What motivated you to apply for the AAAS CASE workshop, and what did you gain from this experience?
I applied for the AAAS CASE workshop since I wanted to learn more about how science is funded in the U.S. and the role that scientists can play in developing policy. At the workshop, I learned about the history of the U.S.’s scientific enterprise, the federal budgeting process, and how to engage with senators and representatives.
The CASE workshop provided hands-on experience with policymaking in Washington, D.C. Is there a particular policy issue or area of science advocacy that you felt especially passionate about?
I am interested in learning about the funding priorities and needs of the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Energy (DoE), and National Institutes of Health (NIH). I am also interested in scientific workforce development and programs to help strengthen the relationship between academia and government research laboratories.
If you could give one piece of advice to incoming graduate students, what would it be?
Science doesn’t happen in a vacuum — pay close attention to the social, political, and economic contexts in which your research is conducted. Also, stick up for your colleagues!
What’s your favorite spot or activity in the Hanover/the Upper Valley area that helps you recharge outside of research?
It isn’t exactly in the Upper Valley, but the Brownsville Butcher & Pantry in Brownsville, VT serves the best food around and is only a half-hour drive away from campus.
