About Me
I am currently a fifth-year Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado - Boulder, advised by Liz Bradley. My research is focused on the spatial analysis of topological signatures in complex dynamical systems. After completing my Ph.D., I hope to stay on in academia as a professor.
When I'm not working on research, you can usually find me reading a good book, trying out a new baking recipe, or hanging upside down from a lyra, silks, or other aerial apparatus.
Select Publications and Presentations
Journal Articles
- Gharooni-Fard*, G., Byers, M.*, Deshmukh, V.* et al. A computational topology-based spatiotemporal analysis technique for honeybee aggregation. npj Complex 1, 3 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44260-024-00003-1
*co-first authors - Byers, M., Trahan, M., Nason, E., Eigege, C., Moore, N., Washburn, M., & Metsis, V. (2023). Detecting Intensity of Anxiety in Language of Student Veterans with Social Anxiety Using Text Analysis. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 41(2), 125–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/15228835.2022.2163452
Conference Papers
- Byers, M., Hinkle, L.B., Metsis, V. (2022). Topological Data Analysis of Time-Series as an Input Embedding for Deep Learning Models. In: Maglogiannis, I., Iliadis, L., Macintyre, J., Cortez, P. (eds) Artificial Intelligence Applications and Innovations. AIAI 2022. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 647. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08337-2_33
- Byers, M., & Metsis, V. (2021). Text Analysis for Understanding Symptoms of Social Anxiety in Student Veterans. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 35(18), 15958-15959. https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v35i18.17975
Conference Presentations
- Byers, M.Garling, E. Bradley, E. Gibbs, K. A. Meiss, J. D. "A Multi-Scale Spatial Analysis of
Proteus mirabilis Swarm Dynamics" in Dynamics Days 2026, Tucson, AZ, 2026 - Byers, M., Garling, E. Bradley, E. Gibbs, K. A. Meiss, J. D. "The Spatial Dynamics of
Proteus mirabilis Swarming" in SIAM Conference on Applications of Dynamical Systems (DS25), Denver, CO, 2025 - Byers, M., Chittidi, J. Bradley, E. MacGregor, M. Meiss, J. D. "Computational Topology Techniques for Detecting Exoplanet Signatures" in Dynamics Days 2025, Denver, CO, 2025.
- Byers, M., Garling, E. Bradley, E. Gibbs, K. A. Meiss, J. D. "The Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Proteus Mirabilis Swarming" in Dynamics Days 2025, Denver, CO, 2025.
- Byers, M., Kirkpatrick, B., Skillin, N., Bradley, E. "Topological Data Analysis of Myoblast Self-Assembly." Contributed Talk. SIAM Conference on Applications of Dynamical Systems (DS23). May 2023 (Portland, OR).
- Byers, M., Kirkpatrick, B., Skillin, N., Bradley, E. "Topological Data Analysis of Myoblast Self-Assembly." Poster. Dynamics Days. Jan. 2023 (virtual).
Current Projects
- Computational topology and geometry for understanding the spatio-temporal dynamics of P. mirabilis swarming. (Webpage overview with some fun pictures)
- Computational topology techniques for detecting exoplanet signatures in circumstellar disks.
Past Projects
- A computational topology-based spatiotemporal analysis technique for honeybee aggregation. (Paper) (GitHub)
- Topological data analysis as a word embedding technique for anxiety detection in text. (Undergraduate Honors Thesis)
Teaching
- CSCI 2270: Data Structures. Instructor of Record (3 semesters), Co-lecturer (1 semester), TA (2 semesters)
- CSCI 5446: Chaotic Dynamics. Grader (1 semester)
- CSCI 2275: Programming & Data Structures. TA (1 semester)
- CSCI 1300: Starting Computing. TA (3 semesters)
Service
- Pedagogy Committee Student Representative (2025 - ongoing)
- Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Lead TA (2024 - 2025)