Natashia Boland facts for kids

Natashia Lesley Boland (born in 1967) is a smart mathematician. She is a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the USA. She helps solve real-world problems using math.

Natashia earned her PhD degree from the University of Western Australia in 1992. After that, she did more research in Canada and the USA. She worked at the University of Melbourne for 13 years. Then, from 2008 to 2014, she worked at the University of Newcastle. She has helped with many things, like planning transport, designing networks, and using math to help the environment.

Early life and education

Natashia loved math from a young age. When she was a child, she enjoyed playing with construction toys. She was so good at math that she read a whole year's math lessons during a two-week break when she was sick! Two teachers also inspired her: Mrs. Martini in second grade and Janet Hunt at Churchlands High School. She even went to a special math camp in Canberra.

Natashia studied both math and computer science at the University of Western Australia. At first, she didn't like computer science much. But then she saw how math and computers work together, and she started to love it! For her special honors degree, she studied robots.

After finishing her PhD in 1992, Natashia did more research. She worked at the University of Waterloo in Canada and the Georgia Institute of Technology in the USA.

Awards

In 2013, Natashia gave the Hanna Neumann Lecture. This lecture celebrates the amazing achievements of women in mathematics.

Also in 2013, Natashia received a special medal. It was the Biennial Medal from the Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand.