The elegant swirls and arcs of solar coronal loops may enchant space fans, but the math that helps explain them is the territory of Professor Mayya Tokman. Among her many areas of interest in applied mathematics, she has worked on modeling large-scale behavior of astrophysical and laboratory plasmas, including the evolution of solar coronal loops in the solar atmosphere.
Tokman also works to develop mathematical approaches to other problems in science and engineering, including models of experimental manipulations of the biomolecular structure of living cells.
She is the UC Merced Faculty Director for the California Teach Science and Math Initiative, a UC system-wide program that aims to create a pathway for students who are passionate about math and science to become skilled teachers in the K-12 system.