About Me
Currently:
I'm a 3rd year PhD student in Astrophysical Sciences and Technology at
Rochester Institute of Technology
Education
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Rochester Institute of Technology
PhD in Astrophysics
(Aug 2026 – Present)
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Rochester Institute of Technology
MS in Astrophysics
(Aug 2024 – July 2026)
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University of Pittsburgh
BS in Physics and Astronomy, minor in Computer Science
(Jan 2021 – Apr 2024)
What I Study
I'm interested in understanding how galaxies form and evolve
throughout the history of the universe. I combine photometric
and spectroscopic observations with stellar population synthesis
(SPS) modeling to uncover the star formation histories of galaxies.
I am extremley interested in galaxies in the early universe
(z > 5) and how their star formation is highly stochastic.
Outside of School
When I'm not thinking about galaxies, I enjoy practicing yoga
(and hope to complete my yoga teacher training in the future!!),
bouldering, hiking, trying new activities, playing chess, and
spending time with family and friends :) I also love music and
exploring new creative hobbies!
Surveys
POPPIES
I lead the image data reduction and photometric catalog construction
for POPPIES, a JWST pure-parallel NIRCam wide-field slitless
spectroscopy (WFSS) survey. A paper describing the survey catalogs
is in preparation.
Using POPPIES, I am also investigating why star formation in the
early universe (\(z \sim 7\text{--}12\)) appears so stochastic.
By combining photometric and spectroscopic observations with
stellar population synthesis (SPS) modeling, I aim to constrain
the star formation histories of these early galaxies.
More to come on this work! ;)
PASSAGE
(Coming Soon!)
Coming soon! I'll be joining IPAC for the visiting graduate student research fellowship in 2027 to work
with PASSAGE, a pure parallel JWST NIRISS WFSS survey. More to come as for this work as it develops!
SQuIGGLE
As an undergraduate researcher at the University of Pittsburgh,
I studied gas-rich neighboring galaxies around post-starburst
galaxies (PSBs) in the SQuIGGLE survey. Using ALMA CO(2–1)
observations, I identified gas-rich companions and combined
photometry from the HSC and DECaLS surveys with Bagpipes and
Prospector to model their star formation histories.
I also compared these results with the UniverseMachine to
investigate how commonly post-starburst galaxies have nearby
companions. Check out this work in the Publications tab!
Other Research Experience
STEPUP
The Study of Transiting Extra-Solar Planets at the University of
Pittsburgh (STEPUP) is a research group that uses the 24-inch and
16-inch Keeler telescopes at Allegheny Observatory to observe
known and candidate exoplanets for the TESS and Exoplanet Watch
projects. As group leader, I taught undergraduate students about
time-domain astronomy, data reduction, and interpreting
observational results. I also participated in public outreach
at Allegheny Observatory.
Publications
View my publications on Google Scholar
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
