Lab Members


Dr. Joseph Nakao



B.S. Applied Mathematics, Seattle University (2018)
Ph.D. Applied Mathematics, University of Delaware (2023)

Download CV here

I am an Assistant Professor of Mathematics (tenure track) at Swarthmore College in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics. My research interests lie broadly in numerical analysis and scientific computing, with an emphasis on solving high-dimensional partial differential equations in fluid and kinetic dynamics. Recently, I have been interested in Fokker-Planck type equations that appear in plasma physics and Langevin dynamics. I strongly believe in interdisciplinary work between mathematicians, scientists and engineers, and I encourage my students to view their research through multiple perspectives.

In addition to my research, I currently serve as the Eastern Pennsylvania district liaison for the New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania Section of SIAM, and have been a conference organizer for the annual section meeting since 2024. I was on the editorial board for MAA FOCUS, the newsmagazine for the Mathematical Association of America, from 2023-2026. And I was on the board of directors for Spectra, the association for LGBTQ+ mathematicians, from 2021-2024.




Current Research Students (2026-2027 academic year)

Dylan Jacobs '27 (Jan. 2024 -- present)
  • Hometown: Portland, OR
  • Majors: Mathematics w/ Applied Emphasis, Engineering
  • Project: Adaptive and conservative low-rank solver for the hybrid ion Vlasov-Fokker-Planck and fluid electron system

Paolo Bosques-Paulet '27 (Sept. 2024 -- present)
  • Hometown: Eureka, CA
  • Majors: Mathematics w/ Applied Emphasis, Engineering
  • Project: High-order implicit integrator for four-dimensional diffusion equations in hierarchical Tucker tensor format

Brad Johnston '27 (May 2026 -- present)
  • Hometown: Newtown Square, PA
  • Majors: Engineering
  • Project: Converting a MATLAB library to Python for a high-order low-rank integrator for three-dimensional convection-diffusion equations

Max Wheeler '29 (May 2026 -- present)
  • Hometown: Madison, CT
  • Majors: Mathematics w/ Applied Emphasis, Engineering
  • Project: TBD

Kaden Cho '29 (May 2026 -- present)
  • Hometown: Palo Alto, CA
  • Majors: Mathematics w/ Applied Emphasis, Engineering
  • Project: TBD


Previous Research Students

  • Joost Almekinders '27 (June 2025 -- August 2025)
  • Zoe Tang '27 (Sept. 2024 -- May 2025)

Nakao Research Group 2025 (D. Jacobs, P. Bosques-Paulet, J. Nakao, J. Almekinders, Z. Tang)