About Me
Hello! I am an astronomer that studies baby solar systems in their infancy. I do this using radio telescopes to look at the polarization signature on both small (disk) and large (cloud) scales. Most polarization measurements map the magnetic field morphology of these protostellar systems. Magnetic fields can control the flow of material at all scales of star formation, and constraining the morphology at the envelope/disk interface is crucial in our study. By using multi-scale observations we can examine the mechanisms of how the in-falling natal material creates a disk and accretes on to the protostar. The disks surrounding young protostars contain all of the material (gas + dust) that will eventually build planets. By studying these disks at different stages in their development, we can learn about how planets form.
I also use polarization observations to study self-scattering in young disks. It’s been discovered that in regions of high density (such as a disk), where the dust grains have begun to grow, the polarized emission observed is not only from magnetically aligned dust grains, but from the grains themselves scattering light. This is an exciting area of study because if we can constrain the amount of scattering is present in our observations, then we can determine the amount of grain growth that has occurred. These growing dust grains are the seeds of planets!
I received my Bachelor’s degree in Astronomy and Physics from the University of Arizona in 2012. Prior to attending graduate school, I worked as a Research Specialist on the NIRCam instrument on JWST for a year. I completed my PhD in Astronomy from the University of Illinois in July 2018 with Leslie Looney. After graduate school I moved to Northwestern University’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) to work with Giles Novak as a postdoc. I was recently awarded a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship where I will continue my investigation of magnetic fields in protostellar envelopes at CIERA.
Recent Awards
- NSF MSP-Ascend Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2022
- Robert L. Brown Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award, 2019
- ALMA Ambassadors Postdoctoral Program, 2019
- Rodger Doxsey Travel Prize, 2018
- University of Illinois Excellence Award, 2015 – 2018
- Illinois Space Grant, 2015
- Excellent Teacher Award, 2014