Like data science, Andisheh Dadashi and Derek Martinez share combined academic backgrounds in mathematics, statistics, computer science, biology, chemistry, engineering, cognitive science and public health.
The two also just happen to be married and teach at The University of New Mexico.
Recently, the couple participated in the 2019 Data Science Training and Collaboration. The two-day workshop held in Seattle, Wash., aims to help “STEM faculty at Hispanic-serving institutions of higher education in the West region of the U.S. who would like to incorporate data science into their curriculum.”
A total of six people from New Mexico attended the workshop.
Between prepping for class and helping students with career development, Dadashi and Martinez are continuously finding new ways to improve their professional skills. That’s why Martinez deemed the workshop, the perfect opportunity.
“When we got the news that we would be traveling to Seattle for a data science workshop, we were ecstatic,” Martinez said.
Martinez, a biomedical engineering graduate, is also a teaching assistant in the Chemistry Department. Dadashi is an assistant professor of math at UNM-Valencia, while pursuing a Ph.D. in computer science.
“Teaching computer programming to my stats students, over the summer, was a great experience but it was individualized instruction, so I was eager to learn how to integrate data science into my general math and stats classes," Dadashi said.
The couple met at UNM. They married in 2016 and for the last four years they’ve dedicated a lot of time to keeping their education and the education of others, a priority.
“This seemed like a good way for us to go out of town together and make up for sacrificing our anniversary plans.” Martinez said. “But it didn’t quite work out that way. It was just another ‘work-a-versary,’ but as far as being productive and learning new things, it was great.”