past research

I started by studying the polarization of the cosmic microwave background radiation, developed noise mitigation algorithms using IBM's quantum computers, and spent a bit of time improving velocity despersions of galaxies to improve the mass-velocity dispersion relation. After that, things got a little unhinged as I started my research in applied math, first improving percolation threshold bounds for multiple lattices and then finishing by creating a reinforcement learning model to optimize initial COVID-19 treatment plans with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

other things i do

volunteering

At Hopkins I spent decent amount of my time volunteering, but unfortunately that's slowed down since starting my PhD at UCLA. Previously I volunteered at food banks, participated in beautification efforts around Baltimore, and helped underrepresented highschool students polish their college applications with the College Prep Program at APL.

Since arriving in LA my service efforts have shifted focus more towards outreach, but I have also been helping manage the Angeles National Forest.

outreach

My outreach started with the Johns Hopkins Physics Fair, where our department would invite elementary to middle school students to visit the department. For these two days, the JHU students and professors would put on a show of more than 200 physics demonstrations. A lot of the schools around Baltimore don't have the best funding, so almost all of these experiements were completely new to the children. You can imagine the faces of shock, exitement, and (most importantly) curiosity that we got to see -- the same emotions that drive most of us to do research.

Since then, I've done other outreach programs with the National Society of Black Physicists, Society of Physics Students, and the UCLA Planetarium.

hobbies

In the unlikely event that I have spare time on my hands I spend most of it doing absolutely nothing. But when I'm not doing nothing, I enjoy surfing (though I'm not sure I'd really call it that) with the departments surprisingly large number of hobby sufers. An ideal weekend includes a surf trip to Malibu, but we typically settle for the more "flavorful" Santa Monica water. When I can't go surfing, longboarding or inline-skating down the Santa Monica boardwalk normally scratches that itch. Camping/backpacking are probably my favorite hobbies in combination with photography, the results of which you can see on my photography page!

I also enjoy thrifting around LA, trying to find the sweet spot of bougie clothes with non-bougie prices. Oftentimes the best clothes don't fit how I want so I also do a bit of sewing when needed, though I don't enjoy enjoy it enough to feel comfortable calling it a hobby.