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Education

Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) 2017-
Ph.D Candidate in Applied Mathematics
M.S. in Applied Mathematics (May 2020)

University of Washington (Seattle, WA) 2012-2017
B.S. in Applied Math: Engineering and Physical Sciences
B.S. in Computer Science with Honors

Work Experience

Intern at MathWorks (Summer 2021) Intern at the Honda Research Institute (Summer 2020)

Research Projects

Source Separation with an Acoustic Vector-Sensor for Terrestrial Bio-Acoustics

Image Cognition Through Contour Curvature

Parsing Birdsong with Deep Audio Embeddings

Elastic Curve And Shape Analysis

Trajectory Optimization for the Harvard Robobee

Denoising Autoencoder for Bioacoustic Applications

Robust Nonconvex Trajectory Optimization Through Iterative ADMM

Structure and Properties of Adversarial Noise

Successive Convexification for Real-time Trajectory Planning for Quadrotor Drones

Machine Learning for Humpback Whale Call Classification

Classifying Behavior States from GPS Tracking Data

Statistical Analysis of Pacific Cod Size-At-Age

Publications

Classification of animal movement behavior through residence in space and time

Torres, Leigh G., Rachael A. Orben, Irina Tolkova, and David R. Thompson. "Classification of animal movement behavior through residence in space and time." PloS one 12, no. 1 (2017): e0168513..

Automatic classification of humpback whale social calls

Tolkova, Irina, Lisa Bauer, Antonella Wilby, Ryan Kastner, and Kerri Seger. "Automatic classification of humpback whale social calls." The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 141, no. 5 (2017): 3605-3605.

Spatial, interannual, and generational sources of trait variability in a marine population

Ciannelli, Lorenzo, Irina Tolkova, Robert Lauth, Patricia Puerta, Thomas Helser, Alix Gitelman, and Grant Thompson. "Spatial, interannual, and generational sources of trait variability in a marine population." Ecology (2019).

Feature Representations for Conservation Bioacoustics: Review and Discussion

Tolkova I. "Feature Representations for Conservation Bioacoustics: Review and Discussion." IJCAI 2021 Workshop on AI for Social Good (2021).

Presentations

Spatial and Temporal Variation in the Size-At-Age of Pacific Cod in the Eastern Bering Sea: Implications for Sampling Strategies

September 01, 2015

Poster Presentation at Annual Science Conference by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Copenhagen, Denmark

Automatic classification of humpback whale social calls

June 01, 2017

Oral presentation at Acoustic Society of America Annual Meeting, Boston, MA

Teaching

Teaching Fellow for CS182: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

September 01, 2018

Undergraduate course at Harvard University, Computer Science,

Head Teaching Fellow for AM22a

September 01, 2019

Undergraduate course at Harvard University, Applied Math,

Teaching Fellow for ES 159/259

January 30, 2020

Undergraduate course at Harvard University, Applied Math,

Head Teaching Fellow for AM22a

September 01, 2020

Undergraduate course at Harvard University, Applied Math,

Awards

• Quantitative Biology Fellowship (Harvard), 2021-2022
• Quantitative Biology Fellowship (Harvard), 2020-2021
• Certificate of Distinction in Teaching (Harvard), Fall 2020
• Certificate of Distinction in Teaching (Harvard), Fall 2019
• Outstanding Graduating Senior (Applied Math Department, University of Washington), 2017
• Paradise Scholarship Recipient (Robinson Center for Young Scholars), 2015
• Annual Dean’s List (University of Washington), 2012-2017

Skills

• Programming languages: Python, C++, C, MATLAB, Java, R.
• Some libraries / toolsets: PyTorch, Tensorflow, ROS, Drake, optimization solvers (CVXOPT, SNOPT, IPOPT).
• Other: CMake, Bazel, Ubuntu, Git.

Volunteering and Outreach

• Graduate mentor for unndergraduates at Harvard’s Global Alliance for Medical Innovation (GAMI), 2019-
• Tutor for Cambridge School Volunteers (weekly tutoring at a local middle school), 2018-2019.