Rich Ross

Whether I'm hiking on the Appalachian Trail, writing computer code, or just relaxing with my kids at home, I try to notice patterns in the world. When I teach, I aim to share this perspective with those in the classroom. Not everything fits into a pattern, but using patterns when they exist is an easy way to leverage prior knowledge into familiarity with new problems and concepts. Over the past few years, I've taught courses about how we tell stories with data; while teaching these courses, it's been remarkable to see how much we follow patterns when we tell stories, whether those stories are about autonomous cars or tracking the flow of microplastics from the northeastern United States. I'm excited to visit the idea of patterns that we can use to our advantage together, where we can both utilize patterns to our benefit, and find ways to break away from patterns that are not productive.