Samir Canning

Email: srcannin at ucsd dot edu
Office: AP&M 5760

My name is Samir (Sam) Canning. I am a fifth year Ph.D student in the department of mathematics at the University of California San Diego. My advisor is Elham Izadi. Before moving to California, I got my B.A. in mathematics at Columbia University. I am currently on the postdoc job market. Here is my CV.

I work in algebraic geometry. Specifically, I am currently interested in intersection theory on moduli spaces, especially those related to the moduli spaces of curves, abelian varieties, and K3 surfaces. My previous work was on the dimension of the variety of lines on a Fano complete intersection.

Papers and Preprints

The Chow rings of the moduli spaces of curves of genus 7, 8, and 9, joint with Hannah Larson. Submitted. (arxiv)
Intersection theory on low-degree Hurwitz spaces, joint with Hannah Larson. Submitted. (arxiv)
On a conjecture on the variety of lines on a Fano complete intersection, Ann. Mat. Pura Appl. (journal) (arxiv)

Upcoming Talks

December 13: Intercontinental algebraic geometry and moduli zoominar.

Seminars

The webpage for the UCSD Algebraic Geometry Seminar is here.

Last year I co-organized the American Graduate Student Algebraic Geometry Seminar (AGSAGS) with Roberto Albesiano, Lena Ji, Jennifer Li and Aline Zanardini.

Some quarters, I organize a student learning algebraic geometry seminar at UCSD:

In summer 2020, the topic was geometric invariant theory.
In spring 2020, we continued studying the moduli space of curves.
In winter 2020, the topic was the moduli space of curves.
In fall 2018, the topic was abelian varieties.
In spring 2018, the topic was surfaces.
In winter 2018, the topic was dimension theory.

Teaching

I have been lead instructor for the following courses.

Summer 2021, 18 Linear Algebra (Reviews).

In 2021, I was accepted into the Summer Graduate Teaching Scholar Program.

In 2020-2021, I was one of the two Senior Teaching Assistants, and in 2019-2020 I was one of the Junior Teaching Assistants. This means that I coordinated and taught the course MATH 500, which is an introduction to teaching for graduate students, and helped handle TA related matters for the department. I was a teaching assistant for the following courses.

Academic Year 2020-2021, Senior Teaching Assistant
Academic Year 2019-2020, Junior Teaching Assistant
Fall 2018, 109 Mathematical Reasoning
Spring 2018, 20E Vector Calculus
Winter 2018, 103B Abstract Algebra II
Fall 2017, 18 Linear Algebra
Spring 2017, Representation Theory of Finite Groups (Columbia)
Fall 2016, Introduction to Modern Analysis I (Columbia)
Summer 2016, Calculus II (Columbia)
Summer 2016, Calculus III (Columbia)
Spring 2016, Introduction to Higher Mathematics (Columbia)
Fall 2015, Introduction to Modern Analysis I (Columbia)
Summer 2015, Introduction to Modern Analysis I (Columbia)

Outreach and other activities

I currently volunteer as a tutor with East Palo Alto Tennis and Tutoring.

I have served on the graduate affairs committee in the UCSD mathematics department since 2018.

I was the president of the Mathematics Graduate Student Council at UCSD from the beginning of the 2018-2019 academic year until the end of the 2019-2020 academic year.

Before the pandemic, I volunteered to tutor refugee students at a local school with San Diego Refugee Tutoring.

In spring 2018, I led five undergraduates through a course on algebraic curves as a part of UCSD's RTG in Algebra, Algebraic Geometry, and Number Theory.