About Me

Education: Rochester Institute of Technology: M.S. Astrophysics (Present)

University of Pittsburgh: B.S. in Physics and Astronomy, Computer Science minor (2021-2024)

Research Interests: My research interests lie in studying the evolution of galaxies through cosmic time. I combine SPS modeling codes with photometric and spectroscopic observations to derive the star-formation histories of galaxies. Currently, I am studying galaxies in the early universe (z>5).

Other Hobbies: I love yoga, hiking , climbing, and chess!! :)

Research

--> Rochester Institute of Technology: Currently I am utlizing POPPIES (a JWST pure-parallel NIRCam WFSS survey) to study star formation in the early universe (z ~ 7-12). I combine photometric and spectroscopic observations with SPS modeling codes to derive the star formation histories (what the cartoon shows). More to come for the results of this work.... ;)

University of Pittsburgh:

Characterization of gas rich 'Buddy Galaxies' found within the SQuIGGLE survey. In this work, I detected gas-rich galaxies that neighbor PSBs in CO(2-1) measurements from ALMA. With these detections I combined photometry from the HSC and DECaLS survey with Bagpipes and Prospector to model the star formation histories of these galaxies. Additionally, I compared my findings with the UniverseMachine to see how common it is for PSBs to have a buddy. (Check out this work in the Publications tab! :^) )


STEPUP (Study of Transiting Extra-Solar Planets at the University of Pittsburgh) is a research group that takes data using the 24" and 16" Keeler telescopes at the Allegheny Observatory to collect data on known and candidate exoplanets for the TESS and ExoplanetWatch projects. I was the leader of this group which gave me the opportunity to teach undergradute students about time-domain astronomy, data reduction, and how to make sense of our findings. Additionally, as the lead, I was given the opportunity to do a lot of outreach for the Allegheny Observatory.

Publications

First Author: Meet the Neighbors: Gas Rich “Buddy Galaxies” are Common Around Recently Quenched Massive Galaxies in the SQuIGGLE Survey Res. Notes AAS 9 243

Contributing Author: SQuIGGLE: Buried star formation cannot explain the rapidly fading CO(2-1) luminosity in massive, z∼0.7 post-starburst galaxies APJ 170 6

Molecular Gas Excitation in z ∼ 0.7 Gas-Rich Post-starburst Galaxies from SQuIGGLE Submitted to APJ


Previous posters

AAS Jan 2024 Meeting Iposter

Community

Teaching: Galactic Astrophysics TA (current) College Physics 1 Lab TA (2024-2025)

Outreach:

Rochester Institute of Technology:

Imagine RIT Coordinator (Jan 20205- Current): Plan and organize exhibit for the astrophysics program at RIT. Imagine RIT is an annual and university wide public outreach event meant for all ages.

University of Pittsburgh:

STEPUP: Recruit and mentor students to join undergraduate research. Teach students how to use the telescope, collect data, process images, create light curves, make sense of their findings, and explore other areas of exoplanet research (Aug 2021- May 2024)

Astrophysicist for a Day: Taught a group of advanced high school students about eclipsing binary stars and what their light curves look like and can look like based on different stellar parameters. Spoke on a panel about the type “Day in the Life” of an Astrophysicist (11/20/23 and 3/21/24)

Allegheny Observatory: Observatory Open House: Spoke to the public about my work with the telescope and what research as an undergraduate is like (9/22/23) Observatory Haunted House: Gave a tutorial to children and parents about what the transit method is and how we can detect exoplanets by using balloons (the planet) passing over a lamp (the star). (photo above, 10/29/23)

Contact

Email: ak8532@rit.edu

Address: Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology, 84 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, USA