Jason A. Yoder

Associate Professor of CSSE at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Researching bio-inspired AI, neuroevolution, and evolutionary development.

Mentoring is one of the most rewarding parts of my work. Whether it’s guiding undergraduates through their first research publication, supporting a faculty colleague’s teaching development, or showing up for a young person in the community, I believe in investing deeply in the people around me.

EASY Lab Mentoring

The EASY Lab isn’t just a research group—it’s a mentoring pipeline. Students typically enter through the Genetic Algorithm Research Project (GARP) in CSSE220, where they get a taste of evolutionary computation. From there, promising students join the lab for independent study, senior projects, or multi-quarter research sequences.

Key elements of the lab’s mentoring approach:

  • Moodle onboarding site with structured introduction to lab tools and expectations
  • Weekly Fun Informal Research Meetings (FIRMs) since Spring 2020
  • Spring Research Opportunity Presentations (2021–2024) where students present to potential recruits
  • Research journal accountability system, reflective essay assessments, and learning contracts

Student Highlights

  • Jacob Ashworth – EvoDevo project, (pubished in ALIFE 2021,2022,2023)
  • Cooper Anderson – NSF-funded research, Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience publication, created a CTRNN visualizer
  • Nicklas Carpenter – Evolvable hardware, won IPROP award
  • Cullen LaKemper – attended GECCO 2022
  • Julian Fiorito – EvoDevo project, (ALIFE 2022, 2023)
  • Yingtong Zhang – ALIFE 2024 Late Breaking Abstract
  • Alexa Renner & Emile Marois – ALIFE 2024
  • Edward Kim – GARP project led to a Heron Systems internship
  • Eric Tu – Used evolutionary computation in a job interview, got an offer from Shortwave
  • Dillon Duff – Created a NEAT-CPPN art tool, published in Rose-Hulman’s INK magazine
  • Allyn Loyd – Senior Thesis published in ,

Undergraduate Research at Indiana University

Before Rose-Hulman, I mentored undergraduate researchers at IU for 6 semesters through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities in Computing Program, working with 9 students. At least 2 mentees went on to graduate school.

Big Brothers Big Sisters

From 2013 to 2019, I served as a “Big” through Big Brothers Big Sisters in Bloomington, Indiana. I was honored to receive the Indiana University Male Big of the Year Award in 2019.