Jette Petersen has a zest for life. She enjoys everything from complex math
problems to drawing cartoons. She even has her own webcomic,
"Puppets Without Pants".
She also has a passion for cooking, baking, reading, and distance running.
Jette was a summer 2008 intern at the CMMAP at Colorado State University.Jette was born in Massachusetts, moved to Japan when she was three, and moved to Austin, Texas when she began attending elementary school. Growing up, she relished almost everything in school. She loved all subjects and was always getting involved in new activities. In middle and high school Jette concentrated on literature and the arts. She enjoyed her classes, but wanted to try something new.
Jette worked on a research project with her fellow intern Alice Duvivier. They worked on a new numerical approximation for mathematical operators necessary in climate modeling. They are improving technology used in climate modeling to make it more efficient and accurate. Jette values her experience from this internship. "This internship was a great opportunity for me to explore the way math is used outside of the classroom. It was neat to put my training as a mathematician to use in one part of a climate model and learn new skills and mathematical tricks along the way."
Jette plans to pursue a career in math, but has not decided precisely which career is right for her. She hopes that her CMMAP internship and her time at Smith College will help her to narrow down her area of study in graduate school.
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In college, Jette chose to study math and science. She felt that she could
participate in humanities in her spare time, but that she would never get the
chance to appreciate math or science as hobbies. She took calculus for the
first time when she started her junior year of college and "fell in love with
it." She declared math as her major and started taking several math classes.
Jette plans to attend Smith College in Massachusetts during the fall 2008
semester. She will take three undergraduate math courses per semester as part
of a program for women interested in receiving a masters degree or PhD in math
or science. The program helps women gain preparation before attending graduate
school.