Abstract: What are flattened partitions? What are parking functions? And what do these things have to do with natural languages? In this talk, I will answer these questions and more! Come to hear about the math and stay for the stories and advice about academic life and journey to becoming a professional.

About the Speaker: Dr. Pamela E. Harris is a Mexican-American mathematician and serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She received her B.S. from Marquette University, and M.S. and Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Dr. Pamela E. Harris's research is in algebraic combinatorics and she is the author / coauthor of over 100 peer-reviewed research articles in internationally recognized journals. She is a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society and of the Association for Women in Mathematics. She is also the President and co-founder of Lathisms: Latinxs and Hispanics in the Mathematical Sciences.

Abstract: Transitions in our professional lives are inevitable. Switching academic institutions, fields of research, or even entire career paths! I will talk about my own circuitous career path and share best practices for staying sane and playing the changes.

About the Speaker: Omayra Ortega is an Associate Professor of Mathematics & Statistics at Sonoma State University in Sonoma County, California.  She earned her Ph.D. (2008) and an M.S. (2005) in Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences from the University of Iowa, where she also earned her Masters of Public Health (2005).  She double majored in music and in “pure” mathematics at Pomona College (2001). Dr. Ortega has directed the Mathematical Epidemiology Research Group (MERG), an undergraduate research group, since 2007. Her scholarly interests reflect her expertise in mathematics: mathematical and computational biology, mathematical epidemiology in developing countries, infectious disease epidemiology, data science, and the participation of women and minorities in sciences. Dr. Ortega has served on the boards of the National Association of Mathematicians and the Association for Women in Mathematics.

Abstract: Combinatorics is the technical name for the art of counting. It's the math underpinning probability: if you want to know how likely your desired outcome is, you have to be able to count how many outcomes there are in your space. My journey to really falling in love with combinatorics happened in slow-motion, spread out from 2012 to 2022. In this crash course, I'll show you examples of the types of problems I encountered on this journey, from hands on problems from math classes I took, to actual research problems solved by undergraduate students I worked with. 

About the Speaker: Jennifer Elder is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Missouri Western State University, which is about 45 minutes north of Kansas City, MO. She earned her PhD in Mathematics at Arizona State University in 2021, after earning undergraduate and master’s degrees at Fresno State in 2014 and 2016 respectively. She took postdoc positions at Rockhurst University (2 year teaching position) and ICERM at Brown University (Summer@ICERM 2022 TA) before her current position. She has acted as a research mentor for three summer REUs, the Graduate Research Workshop in Combinatorics (GRWC), as well as independent study courses and semester research opportunities. Her main job focuses are teaching lower division mathematics courses, and maintaining an active portfolio of combinatorics research. Outside of work, she also tries to read at least 50 books a year.

Abstract: For more than 20 years, I taught an undergraduate seminar called “Introduction to Mathematical Research”, in which students chose a problem to work on and reported on their progress at the end of the semester. This talk will illustrate some of the successful methods which worked. Here is the assignment I gave them at the beginning (this was well-publicized): 1. Present your favorite theorem and proof or problem and solution. 2. Change your favorite in some way, and prove or solve it again. 3. Change your favorite in another way, so that you no longer know how to prove or solve it.

About the Speaker: Bruce Reznick was a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign from 1979 until his retirement in 2023. His degrees are from Caltech (BS, 73) and Stanford (PhD, 76). His research has been in the the delightful valley bounded by number theory, algebraic geometry and analysis, under a strongly combinatorial breeze. Polynomials and sequences keep showing up. He was a Sloan Fellow in the 80s and is now a Fellow of the AMS. He received the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2009. He has had the pleasure of advising an extremely diverse set of sixteen PhD students, and is working with a few more. He has believed, since his undergraduate days, that math is groovy. 

Abstract: Number theory, an area of mathematics dating back to 300 BC, is largely motivated by questions related to integers, prime numbers, sequences, and solutions to polynomial equations. For instance, Pythagoras’ Theorem relates the lengths of the sides of a right triangle via the equation a^2+b^2=c^2. Integer solutions to this equation, such as (3,4,5) or (5,12,13), are famously known as Pythagorean triples.  

A natural generalization of Pythagoras’ Theorem asks for integer solutions to equations of the same shape but in which the squares have been replaced with a higher power, for example, a^3+b^3=c^3. For centuries, the existence of non-trivial integer solutions to such equations plagued mathematicians—most famously Pierre de Fermat—until Andrew Wiles concluded no such solutions exist in his celebrated proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. Wiles’ proof leverages a surprising connection between vastly different mathematical structures, namely, elliptic curves (geometric objects) and modular forms (analytic objects). This type of connection, often referred to as a modularity theorem, has become a central topic in modern number theory. In this crash course, we’ll introduce some of these mathematical objects, and time-permitting, discuss their relation to my current research. 

About the Speaker: Cathy Hsu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Swarthmore College. Her mathematical interests began as a penchant for logic puzzles and problem solving and grew into a love of abstract algebra and Galois theory while she was an undergraduate student at Rice University. Her research is now primarily in algebraic number theory, including projects related to modular forms and Apollonian circle packings. 

Abstract: Mirror symmetry is a string-theory inspired duality between geometric spaces: given a space X, what is its mirror Y? The aim of the conjectured algebraic version is to leverage this duality between two branches of geometry, one dealing with areas and one dealing with complex numbers. (These are known as symplectic geometry and complex geometry.) This exploration depends on the curvature of the space, which significantly impacts the mirror. The mirror to a space of negative curvature has been less explored and includes new features from many previously considered cases. My research yields new results in algebraic mirror symmetry in this case, with implications for mathematical physics through an under-utilized concept generalizing the electromagnetic field. I will introduce these foundations with examples and then present joint work, as well as past and potential student projects. Knowledge of geometry and topology is not required for this talk.

About the Speaker: Dr. Cannizzo is a National Science Foundation MPS-Ascend Postdoctoral Scholar. Her research focuses on symplectic geometry and homological mirror symmetry. Previously, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of California, Riverside and a Research Assistant Professor at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics at Stony Brook University. She received her PhD in 2019 from UC Berkeley under Professor Denis Auroux and a BA and Master of Mathematics from the University of Cambridge.

Her work also aims to broaden participation among underrepresented minority groups in mathematics and engage the general public. On a personal note, she enjoys ballet and is part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Abstract: Arithmetic geometers define and study spaces over exotic number systems with highly counterintuitive properties, and yet, very concrete geometric ideas and intuition can inspire results and proofs of wide-ranging results. In this crash course, we introduce some of these systems and the tools used to study geometry over number-theoretic fields.

About the Speaker: Dr. Renee Bell is an assistant professor in mathematics at Lehman College whose research is in arithmetic geometry. She obtained a BA in mathematics from UC Berkeley in 2013, a Ph.D. from MIT in 2018, and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania and Université Paris-Sud 2018-2022. She is passionate about expanding math research and advanced mathematics to traditionally underrepresented groups, and fighting for a world in which the atrocities things like genocide, scholasticide, deportation, and precarity and exploitation no longer threaten our communities, so all are free to learn and thrive.

Abstract: In this workshop we will explore our collective understanding of allyship, who can be an ally, and what the essential characteristics of allies are.  We will consider some specific examples to focus our discussion, and make connections between our conclusions and some of the extant literature on allyship.  Finally, we will explore how this informs the development of allies.  We will focus primarily on racial allyship, with the goal of thinking about how that generalizes to allyship with others.

About the Speaker: Gavin LaRose is a continuing non-tenure track faculty member in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Michigan.  He completed his undergraduate degree at Grinnell College, and Ph.D. in applied mathematics at Northwestern University, where he determined that his professional career needs to include teaching.  Gavin taught at Nebraska Wesleyan University for six years before moving to the University of Michigan.  He teaches courses from calculus to nonlinear differential equations, is involved with the administration and direction of the introductory course sequence, and manages instructional technology in the Department.

Abstract: Each university has its own unique communities, contexts, challenges, and equity gaps. In this workshop, we'll discuss ways to get started with using institutional data to understand deficits and successes in our own schools, and how to use this data for activism and advocacy within a university. 

About the Speaker: Rosemarie Bongers is an assistant teaching professor at the University of California, Merced. Her mathematical research focuses on fractal geometry and complex analysis, She also does computational work with education-related data sets, with a focus on using data for social justice. She is also a trans woman; in her spare time, she loves visiting queer book stores, baking bread, playing music, and has hiked to the highest points of 25 US states. Photo is attached.

About the Speaker: Kimoi Kemboi is currently a postdoctoral researcher in mathematics working in algebraic geometry.

About the Speaker: Oscar Fernandez is a professor of mathematics at Wellesley College and the author of Everyday Calculus, The Calculus of Happiness, Calculus Simplified, and Calculus 2 Simplified, all published by Princeton University Press. His research interests include mathematical physics and mathematical demography. He is a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. 

About the Speaker: Álvaro Lozano-Robledo is a professor of mathematics at the University of Connecticut. He received his PhD from Boston University in 2004. After temporary positions at Colby College and Cornell University, Álvaro has worked at UConn since 2008. His research interests are in the area of arithmetic geometry (the crossroads of number theory and algebraic geometry). He has published two books, "Elliptic Curves, Modular Forms, and their L-Functions", and "Number Theory and Geometry." Álvaro's blog, A Field Guide to Mathematics, contains other short stories and also other pieces of interest to mathematicians. In his spare time, he makes videos on social media (@mathandcobb on TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram) with mathematical content and some comedy bits.

About the Speaker: Paige Bright (she/her) is a first year Ph.D student studying mathematics at MIT. She is particularly interested in harmonic analysis and geometric measure theory, as well as mathematical education and pedagogy. In her free time, she enjoys writing and spending way too much time at coffee shops. 

About the Speaker: Adriana Salerno is a Venezuelan-American mathematician who got her Ph.D. at The University of Texas at Austin in 2009. Her research interests include arithmetic geometry and arithmetic dynamics in number theory. She is also a mathematics blogger, the co-founder of the American Mathematical Society blogs "Ph.D. plus epsilon" and "inclusion/exclusion". Adriana now works as a Program Officer at the National Science Foundation.  

About the Speaker: Carolyn Otto is a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.  She is passionate about sharing math with all who are interested. She aims to inspire others to seek out more opportunities to learn about creative uses of mathematics and emphasizes having fun while learning new things!

About the Speaker: Yvonne Lai is an expert in the field of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching. Her current research program seeks to improve the education of secondary mathematics teachers and early mathematics majors by bridging disciplinary perspectives from mathematics and education. Yvonne is a member of the National Academies Mathematical Sciences Education Board, a Steering Committee member of the CBMS Mathematical Education of Teachers, III, a member at large on the Council of the AMS, and Vice President-elect of the MAA (term beginning July 2026). She received the 2025 AMS Award for Impact on the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics and the 2025 MAA Haimo Award. Yvonne is proudly identifies as a mathematics education researchers whose academic home is a mathematics department, and wouldn't have it any other way.

About the Speaker: Dr. Alvina J. Atkinson is a mathematics professor and dedicated advocate for equity and access in mathematics education. She has extensive experience teaching and mentoring students and leading initiatives that support the success of underrepresented groups in the mathematical sciences. Through her work with organizations such as the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC), the American Mathematical Society Inclusive Graduate Education Network-Mathematics Initiative, and in her current role with the National Association of Mathematicians, Dr. Atkinson promotes pathways that connect college students to advanced study and careers in mathematics.

About the Speaker: Dewey Taylor is a Professor of Mathematics in the College of Humanities and Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University. She received her B.S. in mathematics from Virginia Commonwealth University and her M.S. and Ph.D. from North Carolina State University. She enjoys teaching and working with students and is an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion. She has led NSA and NSF-funded REU programs for five years and led MAA funded NREUP and CURM research experiences.  She has mentored over 100 undergraduate students.

About the Speaker: Julianna has been at Smith College since 2012 and has been codirecting the postbaccalaureate program at Smith College since 2016. Her research is between algebraic geometry, combinatorics, and representation theory. She has too many cats.

About the Speaker: Sam studied applied math. I have mostly worked in tech and finance. Currently I am a machine learning engineer at Amazon working on ad personalization.  

About the Speaker: Zichao (Wendy) Di is a computational mathematician at Argonne National Lab with a joint appointment between Mathematics and Computer Science Division and X-ray Science Division. Wendy’s research focus is on generalization of multilevel methods for solving optimization problems ranging from vector quantization, optimal control to inverse problems, as well as information integration and multimodal data analysis especially from x-ray data sources.

Brief Description of Argonne National Laboratory: It is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory near Chicago that conducts mission-driven research spanning energy, materials science, chemistry, physics, climate, biology, and advanced computing. It is home to world-class user facilities, including the Advanced Photon Source and leadership-scale supercomputing resources, and plays a central role in translating fundamental science into national-impact technologies. My division (the Mathematics and Computer Science Division) focuses on the mathematical foundations, algorithms, and software that enable scientific discovery at scale.

About the Speaker: Sara Billey is a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle.   Her research is in algebraic combinatorics, representation theory, and algebraic geometry.   She takes an experimental/computational approach to research and has lately been dabbling in machine learning and AI applications in pure mathematics.  She has served as chair of the admissions committee for the graduate program at UW in the past and is currently the chair of the Career Development Committee for the UW Math Department.  She got her undergrad degree at MIT, PhD from UCSD, returned to MIT for postdoc and was promoted to assistant/associate professor at MIT before moving to the University of Washington.  The road from math undergrad to full professor was interesting and bumpy, but there are ways to overcome obstacles with creativity, perseverance, and a bit of luck. 

About the Speaker: Vanessa Sun is a 2nd year PhD student in Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Utah. Broadly, her research focuses on improving air quality and air quality modeling. She graduated with her bachelor's in Mathematics and Studio Art from City University of New York (CUNY) Hunter College/Macaulay Honors College in 2021 and her master's in Earth and Planetary Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2024. During her undergraduate years, her college did not have math seminars/clubs so she traveled to other schools and volunteered at the National Museum of Mathematics in order to see math talks. Despite not having math research opportunities at her institution and a mediocre academic record in which she had to take Calc 3 four times and retake Intro to Proofs and Intro to Statistics twice each, she was determined to try out math research. She was blessed to be able to attend the MSRI-UP research experience for undergraduates in 2020 (virtually), then participated in a few informal research experiences with professors she met online/at conferences. Through one of these applied math informal experiences, Vanessa became interested in the geosciences and decided to pivot in that direction. After graduating undergrad, she began her transition into the geosciences by completing internships where she conducted research with applied mathematicians at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, then atmospheric scientists at National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Other formative experiences include a teaching assistantship at the NY Math Circle, participating in the L'SPACE Academy NASA Proposal Writing and Evaluation Experience, and founding the OURFA²M² Conference. She also benefited from various programs such as the Math Alliance and the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) Mentor Network.

About the Speaker: Juliana Cimino is the Content Planning Coordinator at New England Sports Network (NESN), where she blends communications expertise with statistical analysis, utilizing linear ratings and social media metrics to inform strategic content decisions. She graduated from Emmanuel College in December 2023 with a double major in Communication & Media Studies and Mathematics (Statistics) and a minor in Digital Media Production. During her time at Emmanuel, she completed a year-long Distinction in the Field of Mathematics project analyzing WNBA statistics to identify the strongest predictors of game outcomes. She served on the executive board of Emmanuel's Math Club and kept statistics for Emmanuel Athletics games. Her current role at NESN allows her to apply both her analytical skills and communications background to the sports media industry.

About the Speaker: Darsh is a first-gen college student and first-year PhD student at the University of Maryland, College Park. His research is broadly in mathematical biology and numerical analysis. In 2025, he completed his undergraduate degree in math with a biology minor at the University of Texas at Arlington. At UTA, he organized the Mathposium conference, led the MAA and Pi Mu Epsilon student clubs, started the mathematical biology seminar series, and helped restart the AWM student chapter. During undergrad, he was also involved with an RTG program at UTA, did a summer REU at NC State, and attended multiple local and national conferences and workshops. Throughout all of these experiences, he has gotten to work with, learn from, and mentor students from different backgrounds and he hopes to continue collaborating with others on making the math space more accessible and equitable for all!

About the Speaker: Alia is a 2nd year PhD student at the Center for Applied Mathematics (CAM) at Cornell University. Her research lies at the intersection of Control Theory, Dynamical Systems, and Biology. Ask her about ants! She completed her undergraduate degree in physics and mathematics at Michigan State University, during which she also participated in an REU at Carnegie Mellon.

About the Speaker: Britney Lourng is a Mechanical Engineering graduate of Temple University College of Engineering and Delaware County Community College.  She participated in the virtual Virginia Commonwealth University Math REU 2023 on Tropical Disease Modeling. Currently, she is finishing an internship as a Quality Engineer at the US Mint and mentors for a FIRST Robotics Competition team.

About the Speaker: I am a mathematician working in applied geometry, applied topology, and applied combinatorics. Currently, I am a PhD Candidate at the University of Minnesota School of Mathematics, working alongside Profs. Jeff Calder & Gregg Musiker. My thesis research focuses on tropical geometry and its application to machine learning theory. On the side, I also work as a Research Assistant at the UMN Carlson School of Management, working with Prof. Russell Funk on problems pertaining to applied sheaf theory and topological data analysis. Prior to arriving at UMN, I earned my B.A. in Mathematics at The Ohio State University. At OSU, I completed a senior thesis under the tutelage of Profs. Jim Fowler & Matthew Kahle in the areas of stochastic topology and probabilistic combinatorics. As you can see, my research interests are often interdisciplinary in nature and I love working at the intersection of "pure math" and "applied math." (In fact, I don't believe such a dichotomy even exists!)

In addition to my research activities, I also serve as President of the UMN chapter of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), where we engage in outreach activities within both the UMN and greater Big Ten university communities. I've also taught a number of courses at UMN, ranging from Calculus 1 to Applied Linear Algebra. When I'm not busy with work (which isn't often these days), I like to read books on history & law, listen to jazz & classical music, and attend the occasional football or hockey game.