Research

My earlier research concentrated on nonlinear optimization, where I developed methods to efficiently solve large-scale optimization problems and explored the intersection of optimization and machine learning.

Midway through my PhD, I became more concerned with AI’s impact on society. As such, I shifted focus to align my work with environmental applications and began developing optimization frameworks to aid conservationists. In particular, my work leverages computational methods (AI, optimization, etc) to support planning and decision-making for biodiversity conservation.

Current Projects

Exploring Innovation in Biodiversity Conservation Decision-Making Through Open Science and Generative AI

Cassidy K. Buhler and Carl Boettiger

Poster Abstract Tool Code

Biodiversity Conservation LLMs

Maka Sitomniya: Preserving Mother Earth by Asserting Lakota Sovereignty in Earth Data Science (ESIIL Working Group #16)

Website

Tribal Engagement Environmental Data Science Climate Resilience

California Biodiversity Network: 30x30 Biodiversity Assessment (Working Group)

Website

Biodiversity Conservation Environmental Data Science Climate Resilience

Publications

Regularized Step Directions in Nonlinear Conjugate Gradient Methods

Cassidy K. Buhler, Hande Y. Benson, David F. Shanno

Article Preprint Code

Buhler, C.K., Benson, H.Y. & Shanno, D.F. Regularized step directions in nonlinear conjugate gradient methods. Mathematical Programming Computation. 16, 629–664 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12532-024-00265-9

Nonlinear Optimization Operations Research

Decision-Making for Land Conservation: A Derivative-Free Optimization Framework with Nonlinear Inputs

Cassidy K. Buhler and Hande Y. Benson

Paper Preprint Code Poster

Buhler, C. K. & Benson, H. Y. (2024). Decision-Making for Land Conservation: A Derivative-Free Optimization Framework with Nonlinear Inputs. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 38(20), 21932-21939. https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v38i20.30195

Biodiversity Conservation Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming AI Operations Research

Optimal Land Conservation Decisions for Multiple Species

Cassidy K. Buhler and Hande Y. Benson

Paper Preprint

Buhler, C. K., & Benson, H. Y. (2023). Optimal Land Conservation Decisions for Multiple Species. Proceedings of the 52nd Northeast Decision Science Institute Annual Conference (Vol. 52, pp. 808-816).

Biodiversity Conservation Integer Linear Programming Operations Research

Do Mechanisms Matter? Comparing Cancer Treatment Strategies Across Mathematical Models and Outcome Objectives

Cassidy K. Buhler, Rebecca S. Terry, Kathryn G. Link, Frederick R. Adler

Article

Cassidy K. Buhler, Rebecca S. Terry, Kathryn G. Link, Frederick R. Adler. Do mechanisms matter? Comparing cancer treatment strategies across mathematical models and outcome objectives[J]. Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, 2021, 18(5): 6305-6327. doi: 10.3934/mbe.2021315

Mathematical Modeling Math Biology

Preprints/Misc

Efficient Solution of Portfolio Optimization Problems via Dimension Reduction and Sparsification

Cassidy K. Buhler and Hande Y. Benson

Preprint Code

Nonlinear Optimization Machine Learning Operations Research

Regularized Nonlinear Conjugate Gradient Methods for Machine Learning

Cassidy K. Buhler and Hande Y. Benson

Code

Nonlinear Optimization Machine Learning Operations Research