Dr Leos Barajas is Chestnut’s official faculty member. She’s on hand to offer support for your academic and career goals – you’ll see her around residence and at events, but you are also welcome to reach out to her for a chat.

Dr. Vianey Leos Barajas (she/her) is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, jointly appointed between the Department of Statistical Sciences and the School of Environment. She competed her undergraduate degree in math and then decided to pursue a PhD in statistics, because she liked applying math and machine learning to real problems. She also loves learning about sharks!

The best part of her job is getting to work on exciting projects with students at U of T – because the world is a cool place and there’s lots to learn and investigate.

Dr Leos Barajas was born in Mexico and grew up in California. She’s openly part of the queer community. 

As Chestnut’s friendly faculty connection, Dr. Leos Barajas wants to chat and connect with you. 

Some things you may want to chat to her about are: 

• How to get involved in research as an undergrad 
• Her experiences of life as a student 
• How she navigated her career
• How to work through study stress 
• Applying to grad school 
• Math and statistics – and sharks!

You can reach out to her at vianey.leosbarajas@utoronto.ca. Don’t forget to say hello next time you see her around!

You can learn about PhD research by visiting Dr. Leos Barajas’ graduate student research lab and observing what research looks like at the graduate and faculty level. All disciplines are welcome!

Starting February 29th, research labs will run every Thursday from 2-3pm. 

Email Dr. Leos Barajas for more information.