Tyler Kelly (they/he) is an Assistant Professor and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow in Geometry at the University of Birmingham in the UK, researching higher-dimensional geometry using algebraic methods. They serve on the London Mathematical Society’s Women and Diversity in Mathematics Committee and the LGBTQ+ STEM Project’s Steering Committee, after organizing the LGBTQ STEMinar 2020 at the University of Birmingham with 250 attendees.

How did you first get interested in mathematics?
I really enjoyed mathematics throughout being a student. I liked finding my own understanding of the formulas and understanding the concepts and internalizing them—often to the chagrin of a few teachers who wanted me to memorize in order to be faster! Through finding my own explanations, I adopted a bit of a distaste for how certain textbooks were written by age 15, and decided I wanted to write mathematics, which has led me on this career path!

What other experiences led you to where you are today?
In university, I double majored in mathematics and romance languages. I wanted to spend a summer abroad, but also wanted to do mathematics. My advisor ended up helping me do both, and I went to do math research in Milan for the summer. This really solidified my enjoyment of mathematical research, collaboration, and participating in the mathematical research community. I haven’t stopped since.

Allow me to plug some events! I am organizing the conference $\mathrm{Spec}(\overline{\mathbb{Q}})$—or Spec(Q-bar) for the non-LaTeX inclined—at the Fields Institute for Research in the Mathematical Sciences at the University of Toronto in 2022, with Juliette Bruce, Renzo Cavalieri, and John Voight. This will be the first conference internationally to celebrate and promote research advances of LGBT2Q mathematicians specializing in algebraic geometry, arithmetic geometry, commutative algebra, and number theory. Please come if you are in that research field! Also, please consider attending an LGBTQ STEMinar in the future—the 2022 installment will be hosted by University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.