Natalie Cartwright

Cartwright was a postdoctoral associate in the University of Vermont’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department before accepting a Mathematics Department position at the State University of New York, New Paltz. She became associate professor in 2014, spent a yearlong sabbatical at Colorado State University, and chaired SUNY New Paltz’s Mathematics Department for two years before coming to Norwich University.

She is an applied mathematician, although she enjoys thinking about and discussing all types of mathematics. She enjoys teaching a wide range of courses, although Calculus II, Complex Analysis, and Applied Linear Algebra are perhaps her favorites. Mathematics is beautiful in its patterns and logic, and she enjoys helping students see that beauty.

PhD University of Vermont, Mathematics

MS University of Vermont, Mathematics

 BS University of Vermont, Business Administration

In 2021 and 2022, Cartwright received Vermont Biomedical Research Network Pilot Awards to fund research using machine learning and study youth firearm violence.

Before coming to Norwich University, my research work was predominantly in the area of electromagnetic pulse propagation through dispersive material. My work was funded for more than 10 years by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research as analytic understanding of electromagnetic signals through dispersive material is highly relevant to radar applications.

I switched my research area to applications of machine learning before arriving at Norwich in Fall 2019.  Currently, I study health outcomes using machine learning. An important component of creating machine learning models in healthcare is to analyze the fairness of models and to incorporate stakeholders in the process of model development and analysis.  I am currently the principal investigator on a 2-year $1.26 million NIH Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD) Consortium Development Project.  Our project - AA-CONVENE (Aim Ahead - impaCt Of guN Violence Exposure oN hEalth) - is using electronic health records to study health outcomes after primary and secondary exposure to gun violence.

My recent work is in the area of optical trapping in which birefringent crystals are spatially manipulated by laser light. She presents her work at both national and international conferences and publishes in peer-reviewed journals.

I work with many undergraduate students on independent research projects.  These research projects typically result in a presentation (oral or poster) at a regional conference or at the Norwich University Celebration of Excellence. Motivated students are encouraged to reach out to me.

MA 122 Calculus II
MA 224 Differential Equations
MA 405 Complex Analysis

Expanding Study of Firearm Injury: Early Results of an Initiative to Assess Exposure to Firearm Violence in Ambulatory Care, submitted to Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) Public Health and Surveillance (2023).

Precursors for synthetic aperture radar, with K. Muller, Inverse Problems, 39, no. 6 (2023) 064003, doi: 0.1088/1361-6420/accc50.

Determining elliptical polarization of light from rotation of calcite crystals, with C.A. Herne and M. T. Cattani, Optics Express, 25, no. 9 (2017) 10044 – 10050

Carwright has taught a wide range of mathematics courses, including special topics courses in dynamical systems, fractals and linear algebra, and enjoys working with students both within and outside of the classroom. She has mentored student chapters of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and the Association for Women in Mathematics and has worked with undergraduate students on both independent studies and research projects.

She encourages students in mathematics, engineering, physics, computer science and all sciences to contact her about potential projects.