Research Interests

Observational galaxy formation and evolution:  quenching of star formation, galaxy morphology, star formation rate – stellar mass relation, spatially-resolved stellar populations, spectroscopic ages, dust content, star formation efficiency.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Astronomy, Yale University (Awarded Dec 2012, Advisor: Prof. Pieter van Dokkum)

  • M.Phil. in Astronomy, Yale University (May 2008)

  • M.Sc. in Astronomy, Yale University (May 2007)

  • B.Sc. in Physics and Astronomy, UMass Amherst (May 2005)

Positions

  • Associate Professor of Astronomy, UMass Amherst (2023-)

  • Associate Faculty, Cosmic Dawn Center, Copenhagen Denmark (2017–)

  • Assistant Professor of Astronomy, UMass Amherst (2019–2023)

  • Assistant Professor of Physics, UConn (2017–2019)

  • Hubble Fellow, UMass Amherst (2015–2017)

  • NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, Goddard Space Flight Center (2012–2015)

  • Graduate Research Assistant, Prof. Pieter van Dokkum, Yale (2006–2012)

  • Graduate Research Assistant, Prof. Theodore Fritz, BU (2005–2006)

  • Research Assistant, UMass Amherst, Prof. Daniel Wang, (Summer 2005)

  • REU Internship, Harvard-Smithsonian CfA (Summer 2003/2004)

Honors & Awards

  • 2023 Kavli Fellow, nominated by National Academy of Sciences to participate in the Frontiers of Science Symposium

  • 1% Highest-Cited Scientist, Clarivate Analytics (2021)

  • 2021 Lilly Fellow for Teaching Excellence

  • 2019 Alfred P. Sloan Fellow

  • Dirk Brouwer Memorial Prize (2015), Yale University

  • NASA CT Space Grant Graduate Fellowship (2010-2011) Awarded to one graduate student within the Space Grant Consortium per year to fund thesis research

  • Mary Dailey Irvine Prize (2005) Awarded to a graduating senior from one of the Five College institutions for an outstanding senior thesis.

  • Outstanding Undergraduate Award (2005, Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts Amherst) Awarded once a year to an undergraduate student for academic excellence.

  • William F. Field Alumni Scholar (2004, University of Massachusetts Amherst)

  • Hasbrouck Scholarship Award (Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts Amherst)

  • Commonwealth College Honors Research Grant (2004, University of Massachusetts Amherst)

Professional Activities

Service to the Scientific Community

  • NASA Mission Concept Studies:

    • CETUS Probe Class Mission Concept Design (2018-2020)

    • LUVOIR Cosmic Origins Science Working Group (2016–2018)

    • LUVOIR High Definition Imager Working Group (2016–2018)

    • Participant in WFIRST study group, NASA/GSFC (2014–2015)

  • Science Organizing Committees:

    • Extreme Galaxies and their Extreme Environments at Extreme Early Epochs, Reykjavik, Iceland (planned April 2024)

    • EAS2023 Special Session, “The importance of relations in galaxy evolution: linking observations and theory in the Big Data era"“, Kraków, Poland (July 2023)

    • Subaru 20th Anniversary, Hawaii (November 2019)

    • CANDELS @ UMass (October 2018)

    • Massive Beasts of the Cosmos, South Africa (August 2016)

  • External Reviews: ALMA (2021-2023), Canada Time Allocation Committee, Chinese Telescope Access Program, NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowship, Sapling Learning, NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship Review Panelist (2014 - present)

  • Panel Reviews:

    • NASA Astrophysical Data Analysis Program (Panel Chair, 2023)

    • Large Millimeter Telescope (Panel Chair, 2021, 2022)

    • James Webb Space Telescope Cycle 1 Review Panelist (2021)

    • Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 24 and 26 Review Panelist (2016, 2018)

    • National Science Foundation (2014, 2015)

  • External Referee: ApJ, ApJ Letters, MNRAS, Nature, Nature Astronomy, A&A, and PASA (2009–present)

Service to the UMass Community (2019-)

  • Committee Service:

    • Graduate Admissions Committee (2019, 2021, 2022)

    • Graduate Recruitment Committee (2019-2021)

    • Department Personnel Committee (2019, 2021)

    • Second Year Exam Committee (2020, 2022)

  • Class of 2024 Astronomy Majors Co-Advisor (17 advisees; 2020-present)

  • Director of Five College Astronomy Department Summer Internship Program (2022-present)

    • Organized Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium (2020, 2022, 2023)

Service to the UConn Community (2016-2019)

  • Development of Astrophysics Minor and new astrophysics curriculum.

  • PI of initiative adopting an open educational resource textbook (Fall 2017)

  • PI of course redesign of Introductory Astronomy through Provost’s Large Course Redesign Grant Initiative (Fall 2017)

Publications Summary

As of July 2023 – h-index: 57. 142 refereed publications (17 first author), with 17 additional manuscripts under review. >16,000 citations total, with >3,000 citations of first author papers (source: Google Scholar).

Conferences and Research Talks

Colloquia and Invited Presentations

  • Colloquium, UCLA, Los Angelos, CA (4/2024)

  • Invited Talk, “The Growth of Galaxies in the Early Universe IX”, Sesto, Italy (1/2024)

  • Invited Talk, 4th Japanese-American-German Frontiers of Science Symposium, Dresden, Germany (10/2023)

  • Invited Talk, Science with Habitable Worlds and Beyond Conference, STScI, Baltimore, MD (7/2023)

  • Invited Talk, DAWN Summit, Copenhagen Denmark (6/2023)

  • Invited Talk, SIMBA Collaboration Meeting, CCA/Flatiron, New York City, NY (5/2023)

  • Invited Talk, “The Growth of Galaxies in the Early Universe VIII”, Sesto, Italy (3/2023)

  • Colloquium, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ (3/2023)

  • Colloquium, Texas A&M, College Station TX (1/2023)

  • Invited Talk, JWST ISSI Workshop, Bern, Switzerland (1/2023)

  • Colloquium, University of Toledo, Toledo OH (10/2022)

  • Colloquium, University of Florida, Gainesville FL (10/2022)

  • Invited Talk, DAWN Research Conference, Copenhagen Denmark (6/2022)

  • Colloquium, MIT, Cambridge MA (Virtual; 2/2022)

  • Invited Review Talk, “The Main Sequence of Star-forming Galaxies”, European Astronomical Society Meeting, Leiden, Netherlands (Virtual; 7/2021)

  • Colloquium, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore MD (Virtual; 5/2021)

  • Colloquium, Queens University, Kingston Canada (Virtual; 9/2020)

  • Invited Talk, Subaru 20th Anniversary Symposium, Waikaloa Beach, HI (11/2019)

  • Invited Talk, ITC Battlestar Galactica Edition, Cambridge MA (4/2019)

  • Colloquium, University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA (3/2019)

  • Invited Talk, “Extremely Big Eyes on the Early Universe”, UCLA, CA (1/2019)

  • Invited Talk, “Massively Parallel Large Area Spectroscopy from Space”, ATLAS Probe Community Workshop, Pasadena, CA (10/2018)

  • Invited Talk, WFIRST Deep Fields Workshop, Princeton NJ (8/2018)

  • Colloquium, Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, NO (7/2018)

  • Invited Talk, LUVOIR Seminar, Goddard Space Flight Center (5/2018)

  • Invited Talk, Galaxy & Cosmology Seminar, Harvard CfA, Cambridge MA (2/2018)

  • Invited Talk, WFIRST Splinter Session, AAS, 231st Meeting, Washington DC (1/2018)

  • Invited Talk, LUVOIR Splinter Session, AAS, 231st Meeting, Washington DC (1/2018)

  • Colloquium, Boston University, Boston MA (10/2017)

  • Colloquium, Yale University, New Haven CT (9/2017)

  • Invited review talk, “A Decade of the Star-Forming Main Sequence” Lorentz Center Workshop, Leiden NL (9/2017)

  • Invited Talk, Hubble Fellows Symposium, Baltimore MD (3/2017)

  • Invited Talk, BASS Seminar, Brown University, Providence RI (3/2017)

  • Colloquium, University of Kansas, Lawrence KS (3/2017)

  • Colloquium, University of Connecticut, Storrs CT (3/2017)

  • Colloquium, MIT, Cambridge MA (2/2017)

  • Colloquium, Wesleyan University, Middletown CT (11/2016)

  • Invited Talk, Hubble Fellows Symposium, Baltimore MD (3/2016)

  • Colloquium, Penn State, State College PA (2/2016)

  • Invited Talk, University of Connecticut, Storrs CT (2/2016)

  • Invited Talk, Amherst College, Amherst MA (1/2016)

  • Invited Talk, LUVOIR Splinter Session, AAS, 227th Meeting, Seattle WA (1/2016)

  • Colloquium, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI (10/2015)

  • Colloquium, University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX (9/2015)

  • Invited Talk, Hubble 25th Symposium, Baltimore MD (4/2015)

  • Invited Talk, University of Massachusetts, Lowell MA (3/2015)

  • Invited Talk, Brown University, Providence RI (2/2015)

  • Invited Talk, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie NY (2/2015)

  • Invited Talk, 3D-HST Session, AAS, 225th Meeting, Seattle WA (1/2015)

  • Invited Talk, NASA/GSFC SED Director’s Seminar, Greenbelt MD (6/2014)

  • Invited Talk, CTC Seminar, University of Maryland, College Park MD (3/2014)

  • Colloquium, University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA (9/2013)

  • Invited Talk, Watching Galaxies Grow Up, Ringberg, Germany (12/2011)

Other Seminars, Contributed Talks, and Poster Presentations

  • Poster, MIT First Light Conference, Cambridge MA (6/2023)

  • Galread, Princeton University (Virtual; 2/2022)

  • Contributed Talk, Aspen Center for Physics, Aspen CO (2/2020)

  • Contributed Talk, AAS, 235th Meeting, Honolulu HI (1/2020)

  • Seminar, Cosmic Dawn Center, Copenhagen DK (7/2018)

  • Contributed Talk, AAS, 231st Meeting, Washington DC (1/2018)

  • Contributed Talk, Massive Beasts of the Cosmos, Kruger Park SA (7/2016)

  • Contributed Talk, The Most Massive Galaxies and their Precursors, Sydney AU (2/2015)

  • Contributed Talk, AAS, 225th Meeting, Seattle WA (1/2015)

  • Seminar, MIT, Cambridge MA (11/2014)

  • Contributed Talk, Z-FOURGE Annual Meeting, Montgomery TX (10/2014)

  • Contributed Talk, Aspen Center for Physics, Aspen CO (2/2014)

  • Dissertation Talk, AAS 223rd Meeting, Washington DC (1/2014)

  • Seminar, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge MA (11/2013)

  • Contributed Talk, 3D-HST Annual Meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico (10/2013)

  • Invited Talk, Z-FOURGE Annual Meeting, Montgomery TX (10/2013)

  • Seminar, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore MD (10/2013)

  • Seminar, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD (1/2013, 9/2013)

  • Invited Talk, Lorentz Center, Leiden NL (1/2008, 2/2009, 11/2009, 5/2013)

  • Seminar, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore MD (10/2012)

  • Contributed Talk, 3D-HST Annual Meeting, New Haven CT (10/2012)

  • Seminar, University of California, Santa Cruz CA (12/2011)

  • Seminar, University of California, Los Angeles CA (12/2011)

  • Seminar, University of California, Riverside CA (11/2011)

  • Seminar, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena CA (11/2011)

  • Seminar, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge MA (11/2011)

  • Seminar, University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA (10/2011)

  • Contributed Talk, 3D-HST Annual Meeting, Leiden NL (10/2011)

  • Poster, Galaxy Formation Conference, Durham UK (7/2011)

  • Contributed Talk, AAS 211th Meeting, Austin TX (1/2008)

  • Poster, AAS 206th Meeting, Minneapolis MN (5/2005)

  • Poster, AAS 205th Meeting, San Diego CA (1/2005)

  • Poster, AAS 203th Meeting, Atlanta GA (1/2004)

 Telescope Experience

  • James Webb Space Telescope (NIRCam, NIRSpec, MIRI)

  • Kitt Peak 4m (26 nights; NEWFIRM)

  • Cerro-Tololo Blanco 4m (5 nights; NEWFIRM)

  • MMT Observatory 6.5m (2 nights; MMIRS)

  • Hubble Space Telescope (WFC3, ACS, WFPC2)

  • Spitzer Space Telescope (IRAC, MIPS)

  • Atacama Large Millimeter Array

  • XMM-NEWTON Observatory

  • Chandra X-ray Observatory