NASA

During the 2023-2024 academic year, my second year as chair, I focused on getting the new degree requirements approved and on adapting the Group to the new budgetary challenges that the University is facing. 

After earning her B.S. in Mathematics in 1966,  Joan Marie Peters Ogden was a GS-7 mathematician in the Ships' Engineering section in the U.S. Navy in 1966 and 1967. While there, she helped NASA with mathematic modeling for naval ships, modeling ships motions to drive the hydraulics necesary for keeping the communication dish steady, to keep the dishes trained correctly during the Apollo Program.

I spent 10 wonderful years at Davis, completing both my B.S. and Ph.D. in the Department. During my final year of grad school, I interned as a Pathways intern at NASA’s Ames Research Center, and after completing my Ph.D. in 2021, joined NASA as a full time research scientist. 

After graduating with my Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics in 2020, I started working full-time as a Systems Engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA. I had previously interned at JPL during my undergraduate and graduate years, making the transition to a permanent position relatively smooth. As a mathematician in the engineering department at JPL, I tackled a variety of modeling tasks related to both project planning and operations.