About Us

Dr. Darja Barr is a mathematics educator in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Manitoba since 2007. She has a Bsc in Mathematics and Management Sciences from the University of Manitoba, an MSc in Mathematical Biology from the University of Alberta, and a PhD in Mathematics Education from the University of Manitoba. She has organized many outreach and education projects focused on spreading the joy of mathematics and her research on students’ struggles with mathematics.

Dr. Margherita Maria Ferrari is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Manitoba since 2022. She has a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, and a Ph.D. in Mathematical Models and Methods in Engineering from Politecnico di Milano. She enjoys working with diverse teams on multi-disciplinary projects as well as organizing events to foster collaborations among mathematicians working in overlapping areas.

Hermie Monterde (she/her) a PhD student at the University of Manitoba. Her research involves applications of techniques from algebraic and spectral graph theory to problems in continuous-time quantum walks. She is passionate about SOGIESC and gender equity in STEM. She has been invited to give talks as well as serve as a panelist on discussions about the current status of women and SOGIESC-diverse people in mathematics. Currently, she serves on the CMS Women in Mathematics Committee and sits as the president of the Graduate Mathematics Society. Hermie is also active in organizing seminars and minisymposia, including the Prairie Discrete Mathematics Workshop 2022, the 05C50 Online (an online international seminar on Graphs and Linear Algebra) and the upcoming Queer in Computational Applied Mathematics Conference). Outside of math, she is active in migrant and labor rights grassroots movements in Manitoba.

Chandramali Piyasundara is a PhD student at the University of Manitoba. She has a B.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura (Sri Lanka) and an M.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of Manitoba. Her research involves space-time spectral methods for partial differential equations.