Research

An extended list of past projects can be found on my projects page.

Interests

My research interests are primarily in “weird” stars and stellar systems. This includes (but is far from limited to) complex orbital physics, system (planetary and/or multistellar) co-evolution, variable stars, very metal poor stars, late-stage evolutionary phases, stars in dense environments etc. For this, I am most drawn to the particular types of analyses that can be conducted on large stellar populations, as opposed to individual stars.

I am interested in combining observational astronomy with computational applications. This includes using new algorithmic methods to better analyze observational data, modeling systems for comparison with observations, etc. I think advanced computational methods are key to managing the enormous data sets that have defined and will continue to define astrophysics in the twenty-first century. I am very interested in incorporating machine learning techniques into my work, and am a staunch advocate for open-source research software, as well as responsible software development and testing within scientific communities.

Pre-Thesis Ph.D. Research

My current research project–co-advised by Evan Skillman at UMN and Dan Weisz at UC Berkeley–analyzes resolved metal-poor stellar populations in nearby dwarf galaxies using both HST and JWST observations. In particular, I am working to create catalogs of RR Lyrae variable stars. These populations are used to obtain a variety of astrophysical information, from Gaia-consistent distance measurements to star formation histories. Additionally, overlapping observations in HST and JWST allow us to directly compare what a given source looks like in both, allowing us to establish guidelines for future JWST studies of stellar populations in galaxies that have not previously been resolvable by HST.

Master’s Thesis Research

My Master’s thesis was being conducted under the supervision of Prof. Matthew Kenworthy at Sterrewacht Leiden, where I used computational and modeling methods to recreate an observed lightcurve around ASASSN-21qj, believed to be the result of a planetesimal collision. This project comes in two main parts. First, using keplerian orbital mechanics, I created a simulation of a spherical planetesimal “explosion,” and an associated light curve from the resulting cloud. This light curve is a linear combination of a set of basically orthogonal light curves, where each sub-curve is associated with the material of a given initial velocity kick. The second part of the project focuses on taking the real ASASSN-21qj data, and fitting the set of model light sub-curves to it in a linear combination. In this case, the combination constant for each light curve represents the relative amount of mass which was blown out at the given sub-curve’s associated velocity in the explosion.

First-Year Master’s Research

My first-year research project for my Master’s was conducted under the guidance of Prof. Xander Tielens and Dr. Cornelia Pabst at Sterrewacht Leiden. Inspired by the work of Dr. Bob O’Dell (O’Dell et al. 2017), I studied velocity structures and bubbles in the Greater Orion Nebula Region. I used SOFIA and Herschel data and a radiation field simulation code developed by Ramsey Karim at the University of Maryland to develop a new method for identifying regions of interest in the search for such velocity structures. By removing Theta 1 Ori C, the brightest star in the Trapezium cluster, from the simulated radiation field map and comparing to the complete map, I identified regions where local radiation dominated. I was able to conclude that this method was sucessful in identifying regions where these bubble structures exist. I found further evidence for the existence of a secondary bubble surrounding Theta 2 Ori A in the Veil region, as well as identifying a previously undiscussed fossil bubble structure around HD37150 in OMC A.

Culminating Undergraduate Research

At Dartmouth, my culminating undergraduate reserach project was advised by Prof. Brian Chaboyer. The Chaboyer Group at Dartmouth College focuses on research in stellar evolution. In particular, the group helps maintain and calibrate DSED evolution models, and uses the database to study stellar population formation of the Milky Way, satellite galaxies, globular clusters, etc.

The purpose of my project was to use isocrone fitting to estimate the ages of several globular clusters in the Milky Way. These clusters contain the oldest stars in the galaxy, and determining the age of them provides a strict lower limit on the overall age of the universe, a useful point of reference for use in dissecting the Hubble Tension. I implemented a standard Monte-Carlo Main Sequence Fitting method using DSED models and Gaia parallax data. The error in the age estimate was further reduced by analyzing the number density of stars at and just beyond the main sequence turnoff, because evolution occurs much more quickly starting at this point.