About Me

I was born in Rochester, MN and grew up between Duluth, MN and Rushford, MN, the latter of which being where I graduated high school.

I received my B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse with a minor in Ethnic and Racial studies.

I am currently attending Iowa State University as a Ph.D. Student in the Mathematics Department.

My path to my undergraduate degree was atypical: I spent several years in the service industry and had a two-year stint taking general education courses at Western Technical College somewhere in the middle. As a nontraditional student, the challenges of financing and support can be difficult and the imposter syndrome can set in quickly. However, being a nontraditional student has taught me that we have our own unique experiences that benefit our learning experiences, and I attribute much of what I learned outside of school to my success inside of it.

A College Guide for Non-Traditional Students - U.S. News (2023)

From a live show in 2020

One of my first loves was music. I started playing the trumpet as a child and played it through college. However, I am a self-taught guitarist and spend most of my time playing those things these days.

Before I pursued mathematics after high school, I also spent some time studying music. Afterwords, I spent several years playing guitar and bass in different bands. I currently play in a band called Anchoress.

Whether you believe that the intersection of mathematicians and musicians is large or not (I do), there is certainly math in music! Check out this link for a great selection of media about the connections between the two.

Here are some links to various musical media that have inspired me over the years:

Albums I'm currently listening to (last updated March 2025):

Magdalena Bay | Imaginal Disk
Chat Pile | Cool World
Kowloon Walled City | Container Ships
julie | my anti-aircraft friend
The Durutti Column | Vini Reilly
Lorn | The Maze to Nowhere
Joep Beving | Trilogy

Before I began my graduate career, I spent nearly 11 years (combined in some form) in the service industry as a cook and restaurant manager. Over those years, I met some wonderful people and through them gained a passion for making food. I don't claim to be a professional, but I love to cook for my friends and family and experiment with new ingredients. Some links:

Here is J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's webpage.
Matty Matheson's youtube channel.
NFMD (National Farmers Market Directory): support your local community!

A hobby of mine that has a larger intersection with mathematics is sports analytics. My interest started with fantasy football and has grown to also include sports betting over the last couple of years. Each year I try to learn a little bit more!