I am an astronomy doctoral student at Georgia State University, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. I earned my undergraduate degree in physics at Johns Hopkins University (2003), where I met Dr. Todd Henry, one of the world's leading authorities in nearby and low mass stars. After working full time as a high and middle school physics teacher for 2 years at the Holton-Arms Girls' School in Bethesda, Maryland, I "followed" Todd to Georgia State. My research interests focus on observational studies aimed at understanding the smallest (lowest lass) possible stars, and to compare and contrast them to their slightly lower mass cousins, the substellar high mass brown dwarfs. It is a remarkable fact that in this area of astronomy there exists a sophisticated theoretical understanding of what we think is happening in nature, but actual observations have only recently allowed us to begin testing and ironing out the kinks in that theoretical understanding. Producing observational results that will allow us to test current theory both in the context of individual objects as well as populations of objects is a major goal of my Ph.D. thesis effort, which my collaborators and I call the HLIMIT (pronounced "H"-LIMIT) family of projects. The links on the top left describe my research in detail in both an astronomer's and general public version. Amateur astronomers as well as other enthusiasts are encouraged to look at the astronomer's version and let me know if you need help understanding anything. My buddy Adric Reidel (right) and I at CTIO My wife Bonny and I at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta  Welcome to Atlanta, where 5 inches of snow can close schools for one week! |
