We had approximately 475 applications from across the country for the 15 spots in our 2021 CIERA REU program!
The 2021 CIERA REU took place virtually due to COVID-19. Although all activities and interactions were virtual, the students were very successful and made the absolute best of the situation. Normal programming, including workshops, panels, and poster sessions, continued on without serious interruption.
Below you will find information about these very talented students who spent the 2021 summer online with us. Please click on each student’s name to visit their research website, which they each developed during their REU to present their research projects.
Students listed in alphabetical order by last name.
David Barker
University of Colorado Boulder (Astrophysics), Sophomore
Advisor: Eric Dahl & Rocco Coppejans
Project: Computer Simulations Help Calibrate The Scintillating Bubble Chamber (SBC)
Daniel Blanco
Lewis University (Physics), Junior
Advisor: Daniel Horton
Project: Observing Changes in the Great Lakes Water Level Variability
Qifeng Cheng
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (Astronomy), Senior
Advisor: Patrick Sheehan & Giles Novak
Project: Searching for Planets in Young Disks
Mallory Drevline
Illinois Institute of Technology (Astrophysics), Senior
Advisor: Daniel Lecoanet
Project: Investigating Damped Internal Gravity Waves in Massive Stars
Sara Eberlin
University of Wisconsin – Madison (Astronomy-Physics and Physics), Sophomore
Advisor: Mel Ulmer
Project:Searching Deep Field Galaxy Clusters for Transient Events
Rebecca Guilfoyle
University of Michigan (Engineering Physics), Junior
Advisor: Tjitske Starkenburg & Claude-André Faucher-Giguère
Project: The Fates of Galaxies That Stop Producing Stars
Saarah Hall
University of Pennsylvania (Physics), Junior
Advisors: Kerry Paterson & Wen-fai Fong
Project:Gravitational Waves: Streamlining the Optical Counterpart Search
Rachel Hur
University of Oregon (Physics and Math), Junior
Advisors: Vicky Kalogera
Project:How Does Mass Transfer Affect the Evolution of Eccentric Binary Stellar Systems?
Ryan Lebron
The University of Scranton (Physics), Junior
Advisor: Adam Miller
Project: Understanding Type IA Supernova in the Ultraviolet
Emma McGinness
University of California Berkeley (Physics), Junior
Advisor: André de Gouvêa
Project:Constraining a Fourth Neutrino Using DARWIN
Ilia Qato
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (Astronomy and Physics), Sophomore
Advisor: Vicky Kalogera
Project: Do Low-Mass Black Holes Really Exist?
Naomi Shechter
DePaul University (Physics), Sophomore
Advisor: Shane Larson
Project: Detecting EMRIs in Gravitational Wave Data with Harmonic Structure
Jason Vazquez
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (Astronomy and Physics), Sophomore
Advisor: Charlie Kilpatrick & Wen-fai Fong
Project: The Progenitor of the Hydrogen-rich Supernova 2019mhm
Oswaldo Vazquez
Harvard University (Physics and Mathematics), Sophomore
Advisor: Sara Wellons & Claude-André Faucher-Giguère
Project: The Dark Matter Properties of the Most Extreme Galaxies in the Early Universe
Jonte’ Williams
Illinois Institute of Technology (Astrophysics), Sophomore
Advisor: Giacomo Fragione & Fred Rasio
Project: Binary Black Hole Systems and Collisions
