Matthew Fricke

Matthew Fricke is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of New Mexico, School of Engineering. He is affiliated with the Center for Advanced Research Computing (CARC), the Moses Biological Computation Lab, and the Lab for Agnostic Biosignatures, and contributes to the Interdisciplinary Working Group on Algorithmic Justice. His work bridges computer science, biology, and environmental science through computational modeling and robotics.

His educational background includes a PhD and MS in Computer Science, a BS in Mathematics, all from the University of New Mexico, and a BA in Anthropology from Appalachian State University.

Fricke's research centers on distributed complex systems, including computational biology (e.g., T cell and ant foraging dynamics), swarm robotics for planetary exploration and volcano surveys, high-performance computing, machine learning for climate modeling, and biosignature detection. He applies principles from biological systems to design efficient algorithms for robotic swarms and supercomputing environments.

His recent publications (2020–2025) reveal a strong trend in applying machine learning and swarm robotics to Earth and space sciences, particularly in autonomous UAV-based environmental monitoring of volcanoes and climate systems. His work increasingly integrates causal discovery, field robotics, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

He has mentored multiple PhD students, including Jannatul Ferdous, John Ericksen, Jake Nichol, and Humayra Tasnim, whose dissertations reflect his research themes. He has also secured research support through student-led projects in NASA robotics challenges and HPC competitions.

Fricke teaches courses such as High Performance Computing, Swarm Robotics, and Complex Adaptive Systems, and leads workshops on SLURM, MPI, and scientific computing. He is actively involved in student mentorship and interdisciplinary research collaboration.

His research labs include the Moses Biological Computation Lab and the Lab for Agnostic Biosignatures, where teams work on bio-inspired robotics, immune modeling, and planetary exploration technologies.