"We find them smaller and fainter, in constantly increasing numbers, and we know that we are reaching into space, farther and farther, until, with the faintest nebulae that can be detected with the greatest telescopes, we arrive at the frontier of the known universe."
- Edwin Hubble
- Edwin Hubble
My research interests lie almost exclusively within the realm of extragalactic astrophysics and cosmology. I use state-of-the-art optical and infrared observatories and surveys to study the lives of galaxies, and how their properties change over cosmic time. This includes detailed case studies of individual galaxies, as well as statistical analyses of large survey catalogs.
Distant Galaxies
Where did all this stuff come from? In order to answer that question, we must look far back into the early Universe when conditions were very different from today. But distant galaxies are incredibly faint, so we must find clever ways to detect them by using gravitational lensing, or extremely deep surveys. I am a core member of the COSMOS collaboration, as well as the up-and-coming Cosmic Dawn Survey with deep imaging from the Subaru and Spitzer Telescopes. Evolution of Galaxies
We find galaxies in two kinds: blue star-forming spirals and red dead ellipticals. Why are the properties of star-formation, shape, and colour so correlated and bimodal; how do they change over time? It seems a combination of galaxy interactions, passive starvation, and black holes is culprit. I use spatially-resolved spectroscopy from instruments like VIMOS and MUSE, as well as surveys like MaNGA to examine how galaxies transform over time. High-Energy Astrophysics
The extremely bright regions surrounding supermassive black holes are host to some of the most violent phenomena in the Universe, capable of shining across the cosmos. We can use that light to better understand how black holes feed and grow, and how they impact the galaxies in which they reside. I use the intrinsic variability of extremely bright accretion disks to infer the physics of black hole growth and regulation, as measured by the SDSS and others. |
Recent Projects |
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Comparison of stellar populations in simulated and real post-starburst galaxies in MaNGA
PAPER
We study the spectral indices of post-processed mock IFS datacubes of binary merger simulations, carefully matched to the properties of the MaNGA IFS survey. We find that the starburst peaks at the same time at all radii, but is stronger and more prolonged in the inner regions. This results in a strong time evolution in the radial gradients of the spectral indices which can be used to estimate the age of the starburst without reliance on detailed star formation histories from spectral synthesis models.
Comparison of stellar populations in simulated and real post-starburst galaxies in MaNGA
PAPER
We study the spectral indices of post-processed mock IFS datacubes of binary merger simulations, carefully matched to the properties of the MaNGA IFS survey. We find that the starburst peaks at the same time at all radii, but is stronger and more prolonged in the inner regions. This results in a strong time evolution in the radial gradients of the spectral indices which can be used to estimate the age of the starburst without reliance on detailed star formation histories from spectral synthesis models.
THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT SERIES
The BUFFALO HST Survey
PAPER | NASA PRESS RELEASE | ESA PRESS RELEASE
The Beyond Ultra-deep Frontier Fields and Legacy Observations (BUFFALO) is a 101 orbit + 101 parallel Cycle 25 Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Treasury program. BUFFALO is designed to take advantage of gravitational lensing from massive clusters to simultaneously find high-redshift galaxies that would otherwise lie below HST detection limits and model foreground clusters to study the properties of dark matter and galaxy assembly.
The BUFFALO HST Survey
PAPER | NASA PRESS RELEASE | ESA PRESS RELEASE
The Beyond Ultra-deep Frontier Fields and Legacy Observations (BUFFALO) is a 101 orbit + 101 parallel Cycle 25 Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Treasury program. BUFFALO is designed to take advantage of gravitational lensing from massive clusters to simultaneously find high-redshift galaxies that would otherwise lie below HST detection limits and model foreground clusters to study the properties of dark matter and galaxy assembly.
Talks & Presentations |