Name: Travis Atkinson ’04
Major: Mathematics
Minor: Statistics
Hometown: Harrisville, NY
Activities: McNair Scholar, Collegiate Science and Technology Program (CSTEP) member, math/reading tutor at Canton elementary school, marathon runner

“I could explore academics with a wider range of learning opportunities,” says Travis Atkinson about why he chose St. Lawrence.

As a McNair Scholar, a program that supports the pursuit of doctoral studies by awarding research funding and assistance, Atkinson worked with Michael Schuckers, assistant professor of statistics, computer science and mathematics, on a semester-long project. He continued the research for his honors project, titled Approximate Confidence Interval Estimation for Beta-binomial Proportions of Biometric Identification Devices. “The purpose of my project was to apply a new methodology for making confidence intervals [probability] for the error rates of biometric identification devices,” says Atkinson. These devices are similar to those seen in sci-fi movies, such as The Matrix.

Atkinson says his favorite part of being a student at St. Lawrence is the “close student/faculty relationships” and the opportunity he has had to work one-on-one with faculty.

The University’s France program in the spring of 2003 is Atkinson’s most memorable St. Lawrence experience. He says, “I was in France, but also traveled to Quebec, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Senegal, Greece and Ireland. It was the best experience of my life.”

Atkinson is staying on campus in summer 2004 to conduct more research with Schuckers. In the fall he plans on graduate study in applied statistics at Colorado State University.