Tony Wong Headshot

Tony Wong

Assistant Professor

School of Mathematics and Statistics
College of Science

585-475-7486
Office Hours
Fall 2024: Mon 10-11am, Thu 1-2:15pm, and by appointment
Office Location

Tony Wong

Assistant Professor

School of Mathematics and Statistics
College of Science

Bio

My research interests fall into two intersecting camps:  climate modeling and education research. The two are linked by my interest in the role of computation in STEM education.

 

Climate Modeling

Uncertainty in climate model projections, sea level rise in particular, can lead to suboptimal and ineffective policy decisions. Using the data we have available to make good decisions generally requires accounting for not only varying forms of uncertainty in model parameters and projections, but also deep uncertainties like uncertainty in model structure and forcing. Statistical calibration approaches allow us to constrain these models and characterize the uncertainties inherent in both the model and data, and are a critical part of any modeling effort.

I am particularly interested in future projections of sea-level rise and their impacts on coastal defense decision-making. This includes examining statistical model calibration techniques and extreme value statistical models.

 

Education Research

I am also interested in educational data analytics and efforts to assess, promote, and enhance computational literacy. For example, I'm interested in both leveraging educational data in new and interesting ways to assess outcomes like student learning, retention, and persistence, as well as using new and interesting educational data to assess these outcomes. 

These data scientific projects often involve a heavy dose of computation, which ties into my interest in computational literacy. Broadly speaking, this can describe how we use computation as a way to approach and solve problems, as well as communicate scientific/scholarly information within and across disciplines. I am interested in research questions such as How do the computational tools that we use in math and stats courses influence students' perception of computation and its usefulness? and How do students develop their computational literacy over the course of an undergraduate mathematics degree program?

585-475-7486

Areas of Expertise

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Published Conference Proceedings
Foster, Michael, et al. "Toward an Assessment of Students’ (Social) Computational Literacy." Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning - CSCL 2024. Ed. J. Clarke-Midura, et al. Buffalo, NY: International Society of the Learning Sciences, 2024. Web.
Journal Paper
Childs, Meghan Rowan and Tony E Wong. "Assessing parameter sensitivity in a university campus COVID-19 model with vaccinations." Infectious Disease Modelling 8. 2 (2023): 374-389. Web.
Tedeschi, Mason N., et al. "Improving models for student retention and graduation using Markov chains." PLoS ONE 18. 6 (2023): 1-14. Web.
Wong, Tony E., et al. "Evidence for Increasing Frequency of Extreme Coastal Sea Levels." Frontiers in Climate. (2022): 1-12. Web.
Hough, Alana and Tony E Wong. "Analysis of the Evolution of Parametric Drivers of High-End Sea-Level Hazards." Advances in Statistical Climatology, Meteorology and Oceanography. (2022): 117–134. Web.
Wong, Tony E., et al. "MimiBRICK.jl: A Julia package for the BRICK model for sea-level change in the Mimi integrated modeling framework." Journal of Open Source Software 7. 76 (2022): 4556. Web.
Srikrishnan, Vivek, et al. "Uncertainty analysis in multi-sector systems: Considerations for risk analysis, projection, and planning for complex systems." Earth’s Future 10. (2022): 15. Web.
Rennert, Kevin, et al. "Comprehensive Evidence Implies a Higher Social Cost of CO2." Nature. (2022): 1-42. Web.
Wong, Tony E., et al. "Sea Level and Socioeconomic Uncertainty Drives High-End Coastal Adaptation Costs." Earth's Future 10. (2022): e2022EF003061. Web.
Wong, Tony E, et al. "Evaluating the Sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Rates on College Campuses to Wastewater Surveillance." Infectious Disease Modelling 6. (2021): 1144-1158. Web.
Wong, Tony E, et al. "A Tighter Constraint on Earth-System Sensitivity from Long-Term Temperature and Carbon-Cycle Observations." Nature Communications 12. (2021): 1-8. Web.
Vega‐Westhoff, Ben, et al. "Impacts of Observational Constraints Related to Sea Level on Estimates of Climate Sensitivity." Earth's Future 7. 6 (2019): 677-690. Web.
Brady, E., et al. "The Connected Isotopic Water Cycle in the Community Earth System Model Version 1." Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 11. 8 (2019): 2547-2566. Web.
Invited Article/Publication
Wong, Tony E. "If Everyone on Earth Sat in the Ocean at Once, How Much Would Sea Level Rise?" The Conversation. (2021). Web.
Wong, Tony E. "Lasting Coastal Hazards from Past Greenhouse Gas Emissions." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (2019). Web.

Currently Teaching

MATH-181
4 Credits
This is the first in a two-course sequence intended for students majoring in mathematics, science, or engineering. It emphasizes the understanding of concepts, and using them to solve physical problems. The course covers functions, limits, continuity, the derivative, rules of differentiation, applications of the derivative, Riemann sums, definite integrals, and indefinite integrals.
MATH-495
1 - 3 Credits
This course is a faculty-directed project that could be considered original in nature. The level of work is appropriate for students in their final two years of undergraduate study.
MATH-505
3 Credits
This course explores Poisson processes and Markov chains with an emphasis on applications. Extensive use is made of conditional probability and conditional expectation. Further topics, such as renewal processes, Brownian motion, queuing models and reliability are discussed as time allows.
MATH-605
3 Credits
This course is an introduction to stochastic processes and their various applications. It covers the development of basic properties and applications of Poisson processes and Markov chains in discrete and continuous time. Extensive use is made of conditional probability and conditional expectation. Further topics such as renewal processes, reliability and Brownian motion may be discussed as time allows.
MATH-790
0 - 9 Credits
Masters-level research by the candidate on an appropriate topic as arranged between the candidate and the research advisor.