I earned my MMath in Combinatorics and Optimization from UWaterloo in 2024, supervised by Oliver Pechenik and Logan Crew. My thesis was called On K-theoretic polynomials and the chromatic symmetric function. I was a finalist for the Alumni Gold Medal. I also have a BA in Math (2021) and Master's in Education (2022) from Harvard. Here's my CV and my LinkedIn. Currently I live in Chicago, teach math, and do independent math research.

Research

Most of my research has been in algebraic combinatorics. My work at UWaterloo involved the Kromatic symmetric function, a K-theoretic analogue of the chromatic symmetric function (with a punny name!) that was invented by Oliver Pechenik, Logan Crew, and Sophie Spirkl. It encodes ways to assign a nonempty set of colors to each vertex of a graph so that adjacent vertices get nonoverlapping color sets. (So basically, I use algebra to count ways to color things.) I've also written papers related to the Tutte polynomial, symmetric group representations, and other polynomials arising from combinatorial K-theory. Here is a list of my papers:

  1. Power sum expansions for the Kromatic symmetric function using Lyndon heaps (2025).
  2. On the chromatic symmetric homology for star graphs (2024).
  3.  A power sum expansion for the Kromatic symmetric function (2024).
  4. Proof of a K-theoretic polynomial conjecture of Monical, Pechenik, and Searles (2024).
  5. Counting induced subgraphs with the Kromatic symmetric function (2024).
  6. On the compatible sets expansion of the Tutte polynomial. Annals of Combinatorics (2024).
  7. Positivity of permutation pattern character polynomials (with Christian Gaetz). Advances in Applied Math (2023).
  8. Balanced configurations of points in the plane (with Julian Wellman, 2021).
  9. Signatures of stable multiplicity spaces in restrictions of representations of symmetric groups (PRIMES-USA project, 2017).

Teaching

I love sharing my passion for math with eager students! I've taught math to students of all ages from elementary school through college. I've worked as a private tutor, a TA (at UWaterloo and Harvard), and a teacher at various math enrichment programs, including Art of Problem Solving, the Cambridge, Berkeley, and Stanford Math Circles, Girls' Angle, Bridge to Enter Advanced Math (BEAM), Canada/USA Mathcamp, and Firecracker Math. I also worked as a Math Curriculum Intern at Art of Problem Solving (summer 2022). These are the classes I've been a TA for:

  • UWaterloo: Introduction to Optimization (CO 250),  Calculus II (Math 118), Introduction to Combinatorics (Math 239)
  • Harvard: Linear Algebra (Math 21b), Theory of Computer Science (CS 121), Sets, Groups, and Topology (Math 101), Making Math Material (Math 168)

Fun things

Outside math, I enjoy social dance (squares, contra, ballroom, swing, and Latin), drawing, reading, drinking lots of coffee, going for walks, playing board games, and solving logic puzzles.

My art website

Some silly math fonts I designed