I am a finishing year graduate student at the University of Chicago. I completed my undergraduate studies at Brown University in 2014 with a degree in Astrophysics. While at Brown, I served as the Head Photo Editor for the Brown Daily Herald and was a leader of the Brown CubeSat team. After graduating, I spent a year at NASA Goddard doing research in support of the WFIRST mission. I then spent a year in San Francisco at Planet building Earth-imaging CubeSats. Now, I turn my telescopes skyward at the University of Chicago, using data from the TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) Mission to study exoplanets and stellar activity.
My research primarily involves using data from the TESS spacecraft to study stellar activity and exoplanets. I am looking at this data to study flares and determine how this stellar activity may impact exoplanet habitability. In particular, my research is focused on M dwarfs: small, cool, red stars. These are the best stellar hosts around which to look for planets that may have signs of life given our current instruments.
While an undergradauate at Brown, I was a leader on the Brown CubeSat Team (now Brown Space Engineering). This group worked to design, build, and launch a 1-U CubeSat, EQUiSat. You can see it just after deployment from the ISS in July 2018 in the picture to the right, it's the third from the left! EQUiSat's primary mission is to make space more accessible, and you can find out more about its mission and (track it!) here. Before starting my PhD, I also spent a year at Planet working on their fleet of Earth-imaging CubeSats as a part of their imaging team.
Turns out, grad students are people too! Some of my hobbies include photography, baking, knitting, and cheering on the New York Yankees in as many MLB stadia as I can get to. Keep an eye on this page for more about my interests!
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