My name is Nicole Tomassi and I am an undergraduate student at San Diego State University studying Applied Mathematics. I am an NIH/NIGMS MARC Scholar conducting research with Dr. Toni Luque in The Luque Lab. My current project involves working with phages and how ecological forces impact the infection rate of phages upon bacteria. Phages are a promising biomedical platform and can potentially change modern medicine in the future. I have also applied mathematics to other fields in various projects such as using computational techniques to study synaptic strength and learning as well as some math education research. I hope to continue my education into a computational doctoral program. My love for learning will hopefully lead me towards a lifelong career in research through academia or industry.