Research

I am currently working with Professor Daniel B. Cooney at the Univeristy of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

I am currently exploring research questions related to Mathematical Biology. I am particularly interested in the analysis of ordinary and partial differential equation models (ODEs and PDEs) arising in biology, sociology, and economics, using methods from dynamical systems, stability theory, and bifurcation analysis.

Papers / Preprints

Zhao, Y., Zhu, K., Zhang, Y., Cooney, D. B.. Pattern Formation in a Spatial Public Goods Dilemma due to Diffusive or Directed Motion. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, accepted for publication, 2026. Preprint: arXiv:2603.21025.

Workshops and Presentations

Poster presentation, Evolutionary Games: Mathematical Theory and Biological Insights, National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB), Chicago, May 2026.