People often ask Mia Jackson what exactly applied mathematics is.
But in some ways, she says, it’s pretty straightforward. It’s the field of study that has allowed her, as a Yale College student, to take “math-ish” courses offered by schools and departments across campus — biology, economics, public health — and apply some math-related skills to challenges in those domains.
Once she began incorporating her growing interest in computer science, her area of academic concentration, Jackson, a Jonathan Edwards resident and Fulbright recipient, started seeing the opportunity to really make a difference.
Take, for instance, her experience in the course “Sickness and Health in African American History.” In the class, offered through the History of Science and Medicine program, she learned about disparities in maternal health in communities of color and how the pernicious effects of past inequities persist today.
Struck by these lessons, she and two other students created a prototype for a mobile app that provides women of color with perinatal resources. In early 2020, the concept won a second-place prize in a “health hackathon” hosted by Yale’s Center for Biomedical Innovation and Technology.
“I didn’t have any computer science background before coming to Yale,” says Jackson, a native of Virginia. “But I started seeing programming as this blank canvas. You have all these numbers and symbols and you’re able to produce something that works. A piece of code that people can interact with and use. This creative process really excited me.”
She increasingly found herself looking for ways to use data and technology to help address disparities in healthcare, education, and other parts of society. Over the past year Jackson has taught computer science and offered career training to formerly incarcerated people through Columbia University’s Justice through Code program. Earlier, she spent three years as a teaching assistant with SheCode, a project that introduces middle- and high school girls to basic computer skills.
As an intern with Yale’s Tobin Center for Economic Policy, she participated in research that generated a visualization of how COVID-19 was being transmitted in nursing homes in Connecticut and Ohio. Her visualizations were shared with policymakers.
In September, Jackson will begin pursuing a master’s degree in urban planning at University College London on a Fulbright scholarship. Using GIS analysis and other data skills, she will examine how urban design affects health and educational outcomes in areas with high poverty.
“I tried out a lot of different things at Yale – different clubs and classes — to see what stuck,” she said. “Where I’m at now, really, I’m just embracing all those little things that stuck.”
