Melissa Bingham

Melissa Bingham is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (UWL). She serves as Program Director for the M.S. in Applied Statistics program, advising all Applied Statistics M.S. and dual-degree B.S./M.S. students. Her research focuses on statistical techniques for analyzing three-dimensional rotation data, with applications in crystallography and directional data analysis.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Statistics, Iowa State University (2009)
• M.S. in Mathematics, University of North Dakota (2004)
• B.S. in Mathematics, University of North Dakota (2002)

Research Interests: Dr. Bingham develops novel statistical methods for analyzing three-dimensional rotation data, including permutation tests for comparing rotational symmetry and spread, bootstrap techniques for measures of center, and Bayesian inference for non-symmetric distributions. Her work bridges theoretical statistics and applied problems in materials science and crystal orientation analysis.

Professional Activities:

• Presented invited talks at international workshops, including the 2022 Advances in Directional Statistics (ADISTA) conference in Spain.
• Teaches a wide range of courses, including Elementary Statistics, Mathematical Statistics, and Statistical Methods.

Labs/Teams: Collaborates with interdisciplinary teams on crystallography and materials science projects, leveraging statistical methodologies for three-dimensional data analysis.