Zack KilpatrickAPPLIED MATHEMATICS · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER

Zack Kilpatrick

Professor of Applied Mathematics
University of Colorado Boulder

My group studies the mathematical principles underlying cognition and collective behavior. We develop and analyze models of decision making, working memory, and foraging, with an emphasis on how individuals and groups use uncertain information in changing environments.

Our work combines Bayesian inference, stochastic processes, and nonlinear dynamics. We validate our theory with behavioral and neural data to understand the strategies used by biological systems and the mechanisms that implement them.

I received my PhD in Mathematics from the University of Utah in 2010, held an NSF Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh, and was Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Houston before joining CU Boulder in 2016.

Curriculum vitaeGoogle ScholarGitHub

Research interests

Illustration of interactions in a social network

Social decision making

Social information, individual differences, and the dynamics of collective escape and foraging decisions.

Illustrative stochastic evidence trajectories

Decision making

Bayesian inference, evidence accumulation, and adaptive decision rules in changing environments.

Illustrative activity profiles of a neural bump attractor

Neural dynamics

Persistent activity, working-memory representations, and stochastic dynamics in neural fields.

Selected publications

All publications