Nate Osgood's Personal Homepage

Welcome to my personal homepage. Please excuse its informality and embryonic form.

People wishing to find out about me may be interested in different aspects of my situation.

• I count myself privileged to serve as an Associate Professor at the University of Saskatchewan in the Department of Computer Science. I am grateful to my colleagues and students, who make it a terrific place to work.
• My wife and I find Saskatoon (a mid-western Canadian city) a wonderful place to live.
• My professional research work centers on Computational Epidemiology and Public Health Informatics. You can find my professional webpage and added information here.
• I teach in the areas of Software Engineering and computational modeling, which are each fascinating topics in their own right, but also exhibit significant overlap in issues of concern.
• I am a year-round bicycle commuter, a mode of transport I enjoy for health, environmental and aesthetic reasons.
• I have a strong and growing interest in horticulture here in Saskatatchewan, as well as Fungi of Saskatchewan and building construction.
• I have a long and enduring interest in topics in history and prehistory. A small number of related links are provided here.
• I maintain a small page of general Photosynth panoramas, and separate pages for my photosynths of ancient Indian Sites and artwork.
• Over the years, I've had many people have asked how I maintain a sunny smile despite an exceptionally busy schedule, bring so much energy and endurance to aspects of my work, or how I weather the ups and downs on an even keel. I would ascribe this to be my decision to religious practice. While I have some comments on this practice online, I am aware that they may not appeal to everyone. While I share them here, I first like to establish some common understanding.
• For around 15 years, I was an undergraduate student, doctoral student, senior lecturer, and research staff member at MIT. From my perspective, MIT has many virtues to recommend it -- including a culture of respect for hard work and dedication (where "nerd" is not a term of shame, and can be a badge of pride), a predominant unpretentiousness that focuses on substance and function rather than packaging, image, flash or glamour, and placing much value on straightforward interpersponal interactions rather than personal sophistication or sophistry -- but also some shortcomings (including pockets of arrogance, "not invented here" syndromes, and some habitual prejuding). I continue to enjoy spending time at MIT and discussions and collaborations with colleagues there.
• My wife and I maintain a vegetarian diet, which we find conducive to health, good conscience, and principles of sense restraint.
• I am indebted to those who have helped share their professional knowledge, wisdom and skills with me.

Click here to go to my homepage.