Welcome!

My name is Aaron Nielsen, and I'm an Associate Professor in the Department of Statistics at Colorado State University, specializing in undergraduate education and sports analytics.

I was honored with the College of Natural Sciences Faculty Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring Award in November 2025.

I completed a B.A. in Philosophy at CSU in May 2024. Here is an article about my philosophy studies.

Teaching Schedule Spring 2026

• STAT 204 (Business Statistics): Tues 11:00-12:50pm
• STAT 451 (Sports Statistics 2): Mon/Wed 2:00-3:15pm
• STAT 472 (Statistical Research Capstone): Mon/Wed 3:30-4:45pm

Profiles of Recent CSU Statistics undergraduates

• CSU Source: Q&A with Statistics Alumna Gabe Macklem and sports statistics at CSU
• CSU Source: Q&A with Statistics Alumna Ellie Martinez and her career in Data Science

Recent Mentoring Projects

• Basketball Analytics with Aaron Graff, Ivan Shokhrin, Reece Carmody, Tyler Manuello
  Collaboration with CSU Men's Basketball (in progress)


• Football Analytics with Gabe Macklem
  Collaboration with University of Nebraska Football (2024)
  Informing Tactical Periodization in Collegiate Football
  
  
• Football Analytics with Chandler Grote
  Collaboration with CSU Football (2024)
  College Football Players' Path to the Draft


• Softball Analytics with Danielle Contreras and Aidan Feeley
  Collaboration with CSU Softball (2023)
  Pitching Analytics (by Danielle Contreras)
  Hitting Analytics (by Aidan Feeley)
  We attended the Society of American Baseball Research Analytics Conference 2024


• Philosophy Statistics with Jake Shankles
  Collaboration with CSU Department of Philosophy (2023)
  A Statistical Analysis of Philosophers on Philosophy and Shiny app to visualize the 2020 PhilPapers survey.

Courses Developed

• STAT 351 / Sports Statistics and Analytics I / Fall: Syllabus
• STAT 451 / Sports Statistics and Analytics II / Spring: Syllabus

Undergraduate Certificate

I coordinated the creation of a new undergraduate certificate in Sports Statistics and Analytics that is now available.

Feel free to email me for more information about my courses, research interests, or other inquiries.