TEACHING

 

  1. •Although I spend most of my time doing research, I like teaching also. I taught a course at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, titled “Searching for Life in the Universe”, in Fall 2007.


  1. •I briefly taught part of an introductory Astronomy class at DePaul University, Chicago, Fall 2008.


  1. •At U Chicago, in Feb 2009  I taught a 4-lecture mini-course to graduate students on “The Interaction of Massive Stars with the Interstellar Medium”.


  1. •I have also delivered lectures for Al Harper and Andrey Kravtsov classes at U Chicago.


  1. •I enjoy giving lectures to the general public and to undergraduate students. I have given several public-level talks, including at the Chicago Astronomical Society (twice), the Ryerson Astronomical Society, Marquette University in Wisconsin (Simulcast to Creighton University), and Joliet Junior College, IL.


  1. •Approximately once a month I deliver a talk at the Adler Planetarium, as part of the Astro Conversations Series. This is held at the Science Visualization Lab at Adler, with its tiled wall and Geo-wall, which affords visitors a unique 3D experience. The talks discuss various aspects of Astronomy, and change all the time depending on the level and interest of visitors.


  1. •As part of a  NASA Education/Public Outreach grant, I taught a group of Chicago high school teachers about X-ray Astronomy. It was meant to be a 1.5 hour talk, but there were so many questions and so much interest that we went on for nearly 4 hours. It was great fun though, and allowed me to learn a lot myself regarding the history and development of X-ray Astronomy.

STUDENTS

Saffia Hossainzadeh - University of Chicago, (2007). Worked with me towards the end of her First Year, learning about Planetary Nebulae

Rebecca Nussbaum - Carnegie Mellon Computer Science (2007). Worked with me during the summer after her First year. Wrote a VPython program to display  position and characteristics of astronomical objects on a 3D plot.

Athena Frost - University of Chicago. REU (2008). Worked with me the summer after her second year, computing mass-loss rates from Type IIn SNe.


Presented her work at:

1.  19th Argonne Symposium for Undergraduates, 2008

2.   MidStates Consortium for Math and Sciences - 2008 Undergraduate Research Symposia in Physical Sciences

Joyce Laine - NYU (2009). REU Student. Entering 3rd year. Worked on Computing X-ray emission from hydrodynamical simulations of SNe.

Anibal Medina - University of Chicago Graduate Student. Co-supervised Graduate Project with advisor Prof Jim Truran. Presented at AAS:


On the Formation of Globular Clusters

I have had the pleasure to be advisor or co-advisor, formally or informally, to several students.


GRADUATE STUDENTS:


Vivienne Wheaton - University of Sydney:

Involved in co-supervision of Master’s thesis titled: Hydrodynamical models and an investigation into radio emission from SN 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud




                                   




UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS:


At University of Chicago, I have had at least one undergraduate student working with me every year for the last 4 years. I think its important to encourage undergraduate students to join and learn Astronomy.

Julieta Gruszko - University of Rochester (2010). REU Student. Entering 3rd year. Worked on X-ray lightcurves of SNe.

Arindrima Datta - U Chicago 1st year student, Class of 2014. Worked briefly on radio lightcurves of SNe.