{"530431":{"#nid":"530431","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Get to Know the School of Math Prof: Christine Heitsch","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is your research about?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI work at the interface of discrete mathematics and molecular biology. For instance, most viruses code their genomes in RNA rather than DNA, which is then packaged into a protein capsid. Understanding how this happens is a fundamental biomedical problem with important therapeutic applications. The \u201cbranching\u201d of these large RNA molecules (much like a tree in nature) is a critical characteristic that I\u0027ve studied using techniques from analytic, geometric, and probabilistic combinatorics.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat has been the most exciting time so far in your research life?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe most recent breakthrough always seems the most exciting.\u0026nbsp; As one of my undergraduate researchers, who is now a PhD student in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/courses\/course_menu\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and works at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E, said: \u201cIt\u2019s hard but rewarding. Half the time it feels like you are banging your head against the wall, but every now and then you get something to work, and it\u2019s such a rush.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did you find your way to mathematics research?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMy father is also a mathematician, so by becoming an academic I was just going into the family business. However, I majored in both biology and physics before settling on mathematics as the common denominator among all my interests.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat advice would you give to a college freshman who wants to be a mathematician?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA degree in mathematics can be the gateway to any number of great career options \u2013 basically anything that values problem-solving and analytical skills including medicine, law, and business, as well as statistics, actuarial science, and computing. And of course, teaching, industrial research, or academia.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIf you could not be a mathematician, in what line of work would you be now?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecently, I\u2019ve become interested in architecture, urban planning, and the physical environment\u0027s effect on our psyches. It\u2019s fascinating to be in downtown Atlanta and realize that it\u2019s more obvious how to enter a building from a vehicle than on foot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is the most exciting thing about being a part of Georgia Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe School of Math is on an amazing trajectory; the list of top math departments has been relatively static for decades, but we\u2019re one of the few newcomers. That\u0027s a testament to the value of investing in mathematics at one of the premier engineering schools in the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are you most surprised about in your encounters with Georgia Tech students?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe students here are very smart and highly motivated, yet retain a sense of humor about the campus culture that resonates with my own geekiness.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHow many official bookstores sell the equivalent of our \u201cNorth Avenue Trade School\u201d T-shirts?\u0026nbsp; I gave my father one a couple of years ago, and he\u2019s worn it so much that I had to buy a replacement.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat unusual skill, talent, or quality do you have that is not obvious to your colleagues?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs an undergraduate in Urbana, I took the opportunity to study Japanese tea ceremony.\u0026nbsp; Setting aside time each week to focus on the ritual of preparing and serving a bowl of matcha tea was a wonderful way to clear my mind.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is your ideal way of relaxing? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince I have two young children, I\u2019m quite fuzzy on the concept of \u201cleisure.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; However, it\u2019s great fun to do simple things with them, like going for a walk to see the outdoor sculptures around Midtown.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat three destinations are still in your travel to-do list?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMy husband is from Australia, and we travel there to visit his family, but I have yet to see notable places like the Great Barrier Reef or Uluru\/Ayers Rock. Conversely, he\u2019s seen relatively little of the United States, and there are so many natural wonders closer to home. This just means that we\u2019re really looking forward to exploring the world with our daughters as they grow up.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIf you won $10 Million in a lottery, what would you do with it?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat I really need is more hours in the day, but that\u2019s not something you can buy.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Part of a Series of Q\u0026A Miniprofiles for Math Awareness Month"}],"field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"School of Mathematics faculty explain their research, recall highlights of their careers, and share personal insights."}],"uid":"30678","created_gmt":"2016-04-27 14:38:19","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:32","author":"A. Maureen Rouhi","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-04-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-04-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"530541":{"id":"530541","type":"image","title":"Christine Heitsch","body":null,"created":"1461963600","gmt_created":"2016-04-29 21:00:00","changed":"1475895310","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:10","alt":"Christine Heitsch","file":{"fid":"214746","name":"christine.heitsch.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/christine.heitsch_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/christine.heitsch_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2244372,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/christine.heitsch_0.jpg?itok=7mGOacfN"}}},"media_ids":["530541"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"170195","name":"Christine Heitsch"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"168854","name":"School of Mathematics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA. Maureen Rouhi (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Communications, College of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404.385.5207\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}