PhD Candidate at the University of Illinois Chicago
Email: 5christN@uic.edu (swap the "5" and the "N")
Office: SEO 724
CV
Fall 2025: Visiting Lecturer
Current Office Hours: Math 180 11-1 T at MSLC Stat 101 11-1 T, but also R and F by appt.
My research interests are encompassed by the areas of Probability, Combinatorics, Statistical Physics, and Theoretical Computer Science. Below are any papers I've worked on.
2. Realizability of hypergraphs and high-dimensional contingency tables with random degrees and marginals
Revisions submitted to IMRN.
with Marcus Michelen
1. The set of ratios of derangements to permutations in digraphs is dense in [0,1/2].
The Electronic Journal of Combinatorics (2022)
with Bethany Austhof and Patrick Bennett
IDEAL Get Ready for Research Workshop on June 2-4 2023 at UIC.
IDEAL High School Teacher Workshop on May 6, 2023 at UIC.
RS&A 2025 (Random Structures & Algorithms 2025) on August 4-8th, 2025 at TU Wien.
GSCC 2025 (Graduate Student Combinatorics Conference) on March 15-17th, 2025 at USC.
(Possibly a hotdog.) A sixth year PhD candidate at UIC whose research interests include a choice from (Probability, Combinatorics, Statistical Physics).
I completeted my master's degree -along the way of my PhD- in mathematical computer science at UIC in 2022 and my bachelor's degree in mathematics with a minor in philosophy at Western Michigan University in 2019.
I am currently being advised by Marcus Michelen (UIC).
I am currently one of the co-organizers of the 2026 GSCC (Graduate Student Combinatorics Conference).
Since its inception I have been a (Lead) Graduate Instructor at YSP at UIC. This is a high school math camp meant "to introduce a diverse group of high schoolers from all over Chicago to exciting topics in mathematics.."
I am one of the co-founders and co-organizers for DRP at UIC which started in Fall 2023 and was modeled after the Directed Reading Program at UT-Austin . This reading program has the expressed goal of supporting students of all backgrounds develop skills useful to learn math independently and pair undergraduates with a graduate mentor to assist with that goal. More info about DRPs can be found here.
In Fall 2025, I served as a department organizer for a new undergraduate mentoring program to help foster academic and social interation and a sense of belonging among the UIC MSCS undergraduates.
On November 10, 2024 I was a graduate helper for Sonia Kovalevsky Math Day which is meant to encourage young girls and boys to continue their study of mathematics.
On June 24, 2024 I was a graduate helper for a Math & Physics in Chicago day where students from the Cayman Islands learned a bit of math, physics, and did some hands on activities.
I have been both a member and mentor for Symbols of Inclusion.
During F23-S24 I was the MSCS department representative to the UIC Graduate Student Council .
In Fall 2023, 2024 I was a judge for QED , a middle, high school math fair, ran by Math Circles of Chicago.
In Fall 2023, I was an instructor for Math Circles of Chicago at Gads Hill Center.
In Spring 2022, I was the organizer for the UIC MSCS Graduate Student Colloquium. You can find the schedule of talks here .
I served as (F21-S22) co-president of UIC's Math Graduate Student Association and currently maintain its webpage, store, and run its Ping Pong League.
Here is an incomplete list of conferences I've attended. (In case you are wondering if we've met before.)
Pictured here: Me (ignore bad boardwork), The Bean, a good goose, Jules, Casimir, Me with Bernie Sanders for an event I organized at UIC in Spring 2023. (This image carousel is a work in progress, one day it will get better and keep going.)