{"id":3660,"date":"2020-08-12T12:00:50","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T16:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/profile\/barry-g-lawson\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T17:00:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T21:00:22","slug":"barry-g-lawson","status":"publish","type":"faculty-profile","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/profile\/barry-g-lawson\/","title":{"rendered":"Barry G. Lawson"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I am a computer scientist by training, and spent 19 years on the Computer Science (CS) faculty at the University of Richmond before joining DCS @ Bates in 2021.\u00a0 I am a first-generation college student, majoring in mathematics at UVA Wise before earning an MS and PhD in CS from William & Mary.\u00a0 I worked for the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, & Energy as an undergraduate, and in the Flight Simulation Systems Laboratory at NASA Langley<\/a> while in graduate school.\u00a0 I taught courses across the entire undergraduate CS curriculum while at Richmond, and in DCS here at Bates have taught DCS 109, 211, 229, 307, 317, 325, 374, and S33<\/a>, as well as FYS.<\/p>\n

My current research focuses on simulation and modeling, specifically using agent-based models in biological, ecological, and epidemiological contexts.\u00a0 In my most recent work, with Dr. April Horton<\/a> and Dr. Malcolm Hill<\/a> (both at Bates) and Dr. Wes Cain<\/a> (Harvard), we have designed and implemented a detailed agent-based model (in Python) of sponge:algae symbioses, with implications to immediate issues such as sponge and coral bleaching.\u00a0 I also work with Dr. Larry Leemis<\/a> (William & Mary) in advancing simulation education through workshops<\/a> and through a freely-available R package<\/a>.\u00a0 I also have prior research experience in computer security, in performance analysis of high-performance computing systems, and in collaborative work with social psychologists<\/a> using mindset research within CS education.<\/p>\n

I was a baseball player as an undergraduate, and continued playing semi-pro with the Fredericksburg (VA) Baseball Club throughout graduate school.\u00a0 Since then, I have turned my focus to music, and play mandolin-family instruments, guitar, bass, and open-back banjo.\u00a0 I have recorded, performed, and\/or toured with The Honey Dewdrops<\/a>, Kent Ippolito, Gene & Gayla Mills<\/a>, Mill Run, and Bill Evans (banjo, not piano!), and have also performed as part of several Richmond, VA based bands, including The Lesser Halves (a Wilco cover-band), The Demijohns, and Faculty Lounge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I’m also an animal lover, and enjoy outdoor activities (hiking, biking, kayaking) with my partner Dr. Crystal Hoyt<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

CV:<\/b>\u00a0BarryLawson_cv.pdf<\/a> (Jul 2025)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1302,"featured_media":7424,"template":"","class_list":["post-3660","faculty-profile","type-faculty-profile","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","expertise-computer-science-education","expertise-simulation","expertise-specific-agent-based-simulation","expertise-specific-discrete-event-simulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculty-profile\/3660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculty-profile"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/faculty-profile"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1302"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculty-profile\/3660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7893,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculty-profile\/3660\/revisions\/7893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}