I am currently a PhD researcher at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London, England. If you’re intrigued, take a few minutes to read about my research interests. I specialise in East Europe–China relations and authoritarian regimes.

There are two reasons why I chose to have a presence on StackOverflow (and its associated sites). The first reason is to aid in my research. I use python to conduct sentiment analysis of Russian texts—specifically political speeches.

The second reason I have a StackOverflow account is simply because I am fascinated by programming. There are so many helpful and gifted coders contributing here. I find great enjoyment in reading the often elegant solutions to both vague and specific programming issues.

For my professional activities as a translator, teacher, and academic, visit my publications, public engagement, and CV pages.

My profile picture is (supposedly) a likeness of Flavius Stilicho, a totally badass Roman general of mixed Roman-Vandal parentage who rescued the western empire multiple times in the fourth and fifth centuries (CE). Edward Gibbon (1790) refers to him as “the last of the Roman generals.” While Stilicho has zero connection to programming, I imagine if alive today, his “superior genius” (ibid.) would attract him to coding.