Mentoring Philosophy
Being a first-generation student myself, I leaned heavily on the mentorship and guidance of several supportive and good people throughout my academic journey. I consider myself fortunate to have reached this point in my journey, and much of that is due to the invaluable guidance from my mentors. From my experience, I recognize the significance of quality mentorship, especially for students with marginalized identities in the field of mathematics.
My mentoring philosophy is centered around cultivating meaningful relationships with my students and fostering a sense of community. Regardless of whether I serve as your instructor, research mentor, or simply someone with whom you've connected, know that I am here to mentor and support you, irrespective of your circumstances. My mentorship approach is informed by the unique backgrounds, needs, and situations of each of my mentees. Instead of dispensing unsolicited advice, first I will try to understand your aspirations, requirements, and personal context. Then, I will offer my thoughts and suggestions, always bearing in mind that our backgrounds might influence our perspectives differently. I will proactively seek out opportunities that align with your aspirations and collaborate with you to pursue them. Even if our paths take different directions, I'll continue to touch base, inquire about your ongoing journey, and explore how I might offer support.
As a mentor, I am deeply committed to support and work with students from historically excluded backgrounds in mathematical spaces.
Mentoring and Advising
Current Students
- Dalena Vien, PhD student at Bryn Mawr, Fall 2023 - present
- Marcos Cadena, math major at Bryn Mawr/Haverford, Fall 2023 - present
- Aidan Bucko, Amelia Walden, Debbie Wooton, Josie Marshall, Kayden Perez, Kiyanna Porter, and Nick Van Fleet, my Science Research Initiative Science Research Initiative students from University of Utah, Spring 2023 - present
- Beata Casiday, math major at Yale, Fall 2018-Fall 2019, Summer 2023 - present (Beata was a high school student at ASMS when we first started working together. We concluded our first research project with the "Betti numbers of weighted oriented graphs" paper. We started working again this summer.)
Past Students
- (Utah) Research mentor for Lia Smith, Fall 2022 - Spring 2023 (just graduated in the spring)
- (Utah) Directed reading on Algebraic Combinatorics with Winston Stucki, Spring 2022 (PhD student at Georgia Tech)
- (South/Utah) Co-advised Rachel Hilarides' honors thesis with Dr. Drew Lewis from South Alabama, Spring 2021-Spring 2022
- (South) Masters thesis advisor and mentor for Kayla Johnson, Spring 2019 - Fall 2020 (adjunt at Colorado School of Mines)
- (South) Faculty mentor for the AWM Student Chapter, 2017 - 2020