James Russell
Education
- Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University
- B.A., College of the Holy Cross
Teaching Interests
I teach several of the statistics courses that the math department offers at Muhlenberg. In teaching statistics, I believe it is important to focus on both the mathematical foundations of statistical theory and the real-world applicability of statistical analysis. In my classes, I work to incorporate real-world examples, to expose students to real data sets through hands-on experience using technology and modern statistical software and to collaborate with others on analytical projects.
Research and Scholarship
I enjoy working on any project that involves developing novel statistical tools to model complex real-world systems. I am particularly interested in Bayesian modeling and spatial statistics. Most of my work focuses on modeling animal movement. This work is useful for understanding how animals interact with each other and the environment and can help prevent the spread of disease. Other recent work includes predicting voter turnout, using tools from spatial statistics to measure gerrymandering, predicting outcomes for fourth-down decisions in football, assessing technology use in the classroom, determining the relationship between legislation and employment for individuals with disabilities, studying tick-borne pathogens in the Lehigh Valley and understanding radon awareness in local communities.
I’m always happy to collaborate on interesting projects, so please reach out to me if you want to talk about research projects using statistics!
- Mathematical Statistics
- Probability
- Statistical Analysis
- Iyengar, E. V., Hoffman, A. R., & Russell, J. C. (2024). Benthic pond macroinvertebrates coexist with nearby potentially predatory fish. The Biological Bulletin, 246(1), 11-21.
- Russell, J., & Lieberman, B. (2023). Gauging gerrymandering in Pennsylvania: a Monte Carlo approach using methods from spatial statistics. Commonwealth, 22(1).
- Cronin, C., Trush, M., Bellamy, W., Russell, J., & Locke, P. (2020). An examination of radon awareness, risk communication, and radon risk reduction in a Hispanic community. International Journal of Radiation Biology, 96(6), 803-813.
- Edwards, M. J., Russell, J. C., Davidson, E. N., Yanushefski, T. J., Fleischman, B. L., Heist, R. O., ... and Suppan, L. M. (2019). A 4-Yr Survey of the Range of Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens in the Lehigh Valley Region of Eastern Pennsylvania. Journal of Medical Entomology, 56(4), 1122-1134.
- Russell, J. C., Hanks, E. M., Haran, M., and Hughes, D. (2018). A spatially varying stochastic differential equation model for animal movement. The Annals of Applied Statistics, 12(2), 1312-1331.
- Russell, J. C., Hanks, E. M., Modlmeier, A. P., and Hughes, D. P. (2017). Modeling collective animal movement through interactions in behavioral states. Journal of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Statistics, 22(3), 313-334.
- Russell, J. C., Hanks, E. M., and Haran, M. (2016). Dynamic models of animal movement with spatial point process interactions. Journal of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Statistics, 21(1), 22-40.
Mathematics, Computer Science & Statistics
Contact: jamesrussell@muhlenberg.edu