"Data Ethics and Mathematicians"

Here is a new short article called "Data Ethics and Mathematicians"

(I wrote it for SIAM News only about 3.5 years after I promised them that I would write this article. 🤷🏻‍♂️)

An American Mathematician (and Physicist) in Stockholm

Tomorrow I will be flying directly from WorldCon to Stockholm for my next adventure on the faculty of Nordita (the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics) and the Department of Mathematics at Stockholm University. In the latter, my title is Professor in Complex Systems.

I hardly ever write long blog posts these days, but the title of this post is an homage to my post from when I moved to Oxford in 2007.

A new adventure awaits!

What Happens at WorldCon Stays at WorldCon (2026 Edition)

I am heading to Anaheim for the 2026 WorldCon, where I will be on various panels and otherwise geek out to science fiction and related things.

What Happens in Boston Stays in Boston

I am off to Boston to speak in the satellite conference on Physical Networks at the 2026 NetSci conference. (It's my triumphant return to NetSci!) As usual, I also helped organize the satellite conference on Network Science in Education (NetSciEd 2026).

What Happens in Oxford Stays in Oxford

I'm off to visit Oxford (i.e., my old place) for a few days. It's always nice to come back and visit!

What Happens in the Twin Cities Stays in the Twin Cities

I am taking my first trip to Minnesota, where I'll be going to the Twin Cities to give a mathematics colloquium at University of Minnesota.

What Happens in Stockholm Stays in Stockholm (2025 Edition)

I am off to Stockholm to give a talk and visit Nordita!

What Happens in Tempe Stays in Tempe (2025 Edition)

I am heading to Arizona State University to visit its mathematics department, give a talk, chat with junior mathematicians, and do other valuable things.

What Happens in Santa Fe Stays in Santa Fe (2025 Edition)

I am off to Santa Fe to visit the Santa Fe Institute!

"Oscillatory and Excitable Dynamics in an Opinion Model with Group Opinions"

The published version of one of my papers just came out today. Here are some details.

Title: Oscillatory and Excitable Dynamics in an Opinion Model with Group Opinions

Authors: Corbit R. Sampson, Juan G. Restrepo, and Mason A. Porter

Abstract:

What Happens in Montreal Stays in Montreal (2025 Edition)

I am heading to Montreal for the first time in several years to attend the 2025 SIAM Annual Meeting, which is being held jointly with the CAIMS Annual Meeting.

"Competition Between Group Interactions and Nonlinearity in Voter Dynamics on Hypergraphs"

One of my papers just came out in final form. Here are some details.

Title: Competition Between Group Interactions and Nonlinearity in Voter Dynamics on Hypergraphs

Authors: Jihye Kim, Deok-Sun Lee, Byungjoon Min, Mason A. Porter, Maxi San Miguel, and Kwang-Il Goh

What Happens in "Snowbird" Stays in "Snowbird" (2025 Edition)

I'm off to the 2025 "Snowbird" SIAM dynamical-systems conference. I love this biennial migration to my favorite conference series!

"A Non-Expert’s Introduction to Data Ethics for Mathematicians"

My chapter in our new book is also out. Here are some details about it.

Title: A Non-Expert’s Introduction to Data Ethics for Mathematicians

Author: Mason A. Porter

Abstract: I give a short introduction to data ethics. I begin with some background information and societal context for data ethics. I then discuss data ethics in mathematical-science education and indicate some available course material. I briefly highlight a few efforts—at my home institution and elsewhere—on data ethics, society, and social good. I then discuss open data in research, research replicability and some other ethical issues in research, the tension between privacy and open data and code, and a few controversial studies and reactions to studies. I also discuss ethical principles, institutional review boards, and a few other considerations in the scientific use of human data. I then briefly survey a variety of research and lay articles that are relevant to data ethics and data privacy. I conclude with a brief summary and some closing remarks.

My focal audience is mathematicians, but I hope that this chapter will also be useful to others. I am not an expert about data ethics, and this chapter provides only a starting point on this wide-ranging topic. I encourage you to examine the resources that I discuss and to reflect carefully on data ethics, its role in mathematics education, and the societal implications of data and data analysis. As data and technology continue to evolve, I hope that such careful reflection will continue throughout your life.

"Mathematical and Computational Methods for Complex Social Systems"

Our edited book is out! You can find it on this website. Here are some details.

Title: Mathematical and Computational Methods for Complex Social Systems

Authors: Heather Z. Brooks, Michelle Feng, Mason A. Porter, and Alexandria Volkening

What Happens in the Research Triangle Stays in the Research Triangle (2025 Edition)

I am flying over to the Research Triangle in North Carolina to give talks at NC State and UNC Chapel Hill and also to talk shop with some of my collaborators.

What Happens in San Juan Capistrano Stays in San Juan Capistrano (Wildfire Edition)

UCLA is officially still online on Monday, so I am heading over to visit friends in San Juan Capistrano for an unplanned visit. If we are teaching in person on Wednesday, I will return on Tuesday. Otherwise, I will return at some later time.

Additionally, as in games like Pandemic, the regions of 'evacuation warning' (in this case) are also getting closer to my home region, so it's good to get out of town when it's prudent.

Update (maybe 20 minutes after I wrote the text above, with a scheduled posting for tomorrow afternoon): Then again, it looks like the Pacific Palisades wildfire has taken a hard east (though somewhat north of me) with some regions going from nothing to warning to GTFO very quickly. My region doesn't yet have even a warning, but the prudect act is to GTFO tonight and go to my friends already.

What Happens in Vancouver Stays in Vancouver (2024 Edition)

I'm going to Vancouver to visit friends!

What Happens in Cambridge (Massachusetts) Stays in Cambridge (Massachusetts)

I am flying out to Boston to give a System Dynamics seminar at MIT.

What Happens in Seoul Stays in Seoul (2024 Edition)

I am off to Seoul to speak in a workshop on Theoretical Challenges in Network Science! I really enjoy visiting Seoul, and I am very happy to have another chance to visit.