CV

University of Maryland | College Park, MD | 2002-2007
Ph.D., Astronomy
Dissertation "A Spectral Survey of Black Hole Spin in Active Galactic Nuclei" (Advisor: Prof. Chris Reynolds)

Williams College | Williamstown, MA | 1995-1999
B.A., Astrophysics, cum laude
Dept. honors in Astrophysics based on defense of senior thesis, "The Use of Globular Clusters to Examine Spiral Galaxy Bulge Evolution"

Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian | Cambridge, MA | Oct. 2022 – Present

Chair, High-Energy Astrophysics Division

Leading the scientific management the high-energy astrophysics division.

Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian | Cambridge, MA | Jan. 2021 – Oct. 2022

Deputy Chair, High-Energy Astrophysics Division

• Assisted in leading the scientific management the high-energy astrophysics division.

• Developed and began implementing a ten-year strategic plan for the HEAD.

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory | Cambridge MA | April 2014 – Present

Astrophysicist

• Studying the physics of the innermost regions of AGN; leading role in the development of several planned and proposed X-ray astronomy missions.

Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian | Cambridge, MA | 2009 – 2014

Postdoctoral Fellow

• Studied absorption and emission in AGN with Martin Elvis and Aneta Siemiginowska using theory and X-ray observations.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA/GSFC) | Greenbelt, MD | 2007 – 2009

NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow

• Worked with Kim Weaver in the Astrophysics Science Division on the X-ray properties of AGN, black hole systems and starburst galaxies.

University of Maryland | College Park, MD | 2003, 2005 – 2007)

Graduate Research Assistant

• Performed X-ray spectral analysis of AGN with Chris Reynolds, characterizing absorption signatures and the inner accretion flow closest to the black hole; developed spectral model to constrain black hole spin.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA/GSFC) | Greenbelt, MD | 2000 – 2002

Visiting Fellow, Lab for High Energy Astrophysics

• Analyzed Chandra/ACIS and gratings data relating to emission properties of stellar coronae with advisers Michael Corcoran and Stephen Drake.

• Served as Deputy PI for the Arcus NASA/Probe mission concept.  Led the development of the science section of the phase-1 proposal.

• Served on AGN Physics Working Group for the HEX-P NASA/Probe proposal.

• Served on the Steering Committee for the STROBE-X NASA/Probe proposal.

• Playing a leading role in the on-orbit calibration, mission planning and scientific observations of the XRISM observatory.

• Serving as the U.S. representative on the NewAthena Science Study Team; also playing a leading role in calibration verification and on-orbit calibration planning.

• Leading large, international collaborations in an examination of the physics at work in active galaxies with the XRISM, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR missions.

• Pioneering measurements of the angular momenta of supermassive black holes using X-ray spectroscopy.

• Collaborating on a theoretical project to create spectral models for the X-ray emission from merging supermassive black hole systems.

• Serving on the thesis committee for Claire Hinrichs, an SAO predoctoral fellow working with Wystan Benbow on multi-wavelength analysis of TeV blazars (April 2024 - Present).

• Serving on the thesis committee for Julie Malewicz, a Georgia Tech graduate student working with Tamara Bogdanovic on modeling the X-ray emission from accretion disks around merging supermassive black hole systems (Sept. 2022 - Present).

• Serving as Thesis Committee Chair for Santiago Ubach-Ramirez, an SAO predoctoral fellow working with Jack Steiner on measuring black hole spin in X-ray binaries with NICER and NuSTAR (Sept. 2021 – Present)

• Mentored Shalini Kurinchi-Vendhan, a summer undergraduate fellow from Caltech who worked with Francesca Civano and myself on the stacking and spectral analysis of Fe Kα lines in the Chandra Source Catalog

• Mentored Mackenzie Jones, an SAO postdoctoral fellow who worked with Francesca Civano and myself on the stacking and spectral analysis of Fe Kα lines in the Chandra/COSMOS survey (Sept. 2018 – Aug. 2020)

• Mentored Jasmine Singh, a Harvard University undergraduate who worked with Francesca Civano and myself on the stacking and spectral analysis of Fe Kα lines in the Chandra/COSMOS survey (June – Aug. 2017)

• Mentored Mason Keck, a Boston University graduate student who worked with me to measure black hole spin and coronal properties in a sample of AGN with NuSTAR, XMM and Suzaku, as well as on a theoretical investigation into the effects of time-variable absorption (June 2013 – Aug. 2017)

• Mentored Corinne Tu, a Harvard University undergraduate working with me to constrain the spin of the supermassive black hole in the Seyfert AGN Ark 120 (Jan. – May 2012).

• Served as a guest lecturer in ASTR 104 & 101 (intro for non-majors) at Williams College on the topic of black holes (April & Dec. 2011)

• NASA Group Achievement Award for role on the NuSTAR Project Team (2015).

• American Astronomical Society (AAS) Chambliss Award Honorable Mention (2007).

• National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention (2004).

• UMCP Dept. of Astronomy John C. Wang Academic Excellence Prize (2004).

• UMCP Dept. of Astronomy Wentzel Fellowship (2002-2003).

• NCAA Post-graduate Scholarship (1999).

• Scientific organizing committee, XRISM 2025: 1st Public Science Conference (Oct. 2025).

• Scientific organizing committee, XMM-Newton 25th Anniverary Symposium (May 2025).

• Scientific organizing committee, “EAS2024 Special Session on The Hot Environment Around Black Holes” (July 2024).

• Panelist, NASA Precursor Science Workshop 2 (Oct. 2022)

• AAS/HEAD Nominating Committee (Sept. 2021 – Sept. 2023)

• Scientific Organizing Committee, "EAS2021 Symposium on XRISM and Athena" (June 2021)

• Scientific Organizing Committee, "GMT Community Science Meeting" (Sept. 2021)

• CfA New Normal Working Group co-chair (May – Dec. 2021)

• SAO Scientific Computing Advisory Committee (2019 – 2020; Chair of SCAC, Sept. 2020 – Present)

• NASA Athena Study Team co-lead (Sept. 2019 – Present)

• Scientific organizing committee, "X-ray Astronomy 2019," (Sept. 2019)

• NASA Astrophysics Advisory Committee (2018 – 2020).

• Scientific Organizing Committee, "High Energy Science and Simulations: SIXTE Workshop 2018" (May 2018)

• Scientific Organizing Committee, "Exploring the Hot and Energetic Universe: The second scientific conference dedicated to the Athena X-ray observatory" (Sept. 2018)

• AAS/HEAD Executive Committee (2018 – 2020)

• Scientific Organizing Committee, "WHIM and Cluster Outskirts: Lost and Found Baryons in the Local Universe," (June 2018)

• Scientific Organizing Committee, "Science with STROBE-X" (Sept. 2017)

• XRISM co-I (Aug. 2017 – Present)

• Scientific Organizing Committee, "The X-ray Universe" (June 2017)

• Lynx Science Team, Feedback and Extreme Physics Working Groups (Aug. 2016 – Present)

• Co-chair of Athena Science Working Group panel, "The Energetic Universe;" led on-orbit calibration planning (2015 – 2022).

• Scientific organizing committee, "Exploring the Hot and Energetic Universe with Athena" (2014)

• Astro-H/Hitomi Science Team (Feb. 2014 – March 2016)

• NASA X-ray Probe Science & Technology Definition Team (Sept. – Nov. 2013)

• Scientific organizing committee, "The X-ray Universe" (2014)

• Athena Science Team, Strong Gravity Working Group (2011 – 2014)

• XMM-Newton Users Group, NASA Senior Review preparation (2011 – Present)

• NuSTAR Science Team, AGN Physics and Obscured AGN Working Groups (2009 – 2015)

• Leading workshop on black holes at Concord Academy (April 2025)

• Guest Lecturer on black holes for Belmont Day School sixth grade science class (March 2022)

• Speaker on a SETI talk, "Black Holes are Real. How Do They Shape Structure and Evolution in our Universe?" (Oc. 2021)

• Guest Lecturer on black holes for Williams College astrophysics class (Dec. 2020)

• Speaker/presenter on black holes and mission concepts for SAO’s advisory board (Feb. 2020, October 2022)

• Speaker/presenter for NASA’s "Universe of Learning Science Briefing" STEM Learning Program (Dec. 2018)

• Smithsonian magazine expert responder to "Ask Smithsonian," (June 2017)

• Speaker for NASA’s "Space on the Hill" seminar series to the U.S. House of Representatives Space Science Subcommittee (May 2017)

• Frequent contributor of expert opinions to Sky & Telescope magazine (2011 – Present)

• Astronomy magazine "AskAstro" expert responder (Dec. 2013)

• Guest Lecturer, New England Air Museum’s Space Expo (Apr. 2012)

• Panelist/mentor, Williams College Women in the Sciences Program (Feb. 2012)

• NuSTAR media training workshop participant at NASA/JPL (Feb. 2012)

• Public talk for the Aldrich Astronomical Society monthly meeting (Princeton, MA, Oct. 2011)

• Volunteering as part of the "Ask a Scientist" team for the CfA Black Holes exhibit (2010 – Present) 

• "The X-ray Imaging and Sepctroscopy Mission," Sesto Conference, July 2024.

• "The Arcus Astrophysics Probe Explorer," Sesto Conference, July 2024.

• "The Arcus Astrophysics Probe Explorer,” JSI Workshop, October 2023.

• “The Arcus Astrophysics Probe Explorer,” SRON Colloquium, September 2023.

• “The Arcus Probe Mission,” AAS/HEAD Annual Meeting, April 2023.

• "STROBE-X: Revealing Fundamental Physics via the Life Cycles of Compact Objects and the Dynamic Universe," CfA HEAD Seminar (Sept. 2022)

• "Synergies Between Rubin and ATHENA in AGN Spectroscopy," ATHENA/VRO Synergy Workshop (Apr. 2021)

• "Two Decades of Measuring Black Hole Spin with XMM-Newton," XMM 20th Anniversary Symposium, Greenbelt, MD (Oct. 2019)

• "Black Hole Spin Measurements in AGN," BHI Conference, Cambridge, MA, May 2019.

• "Illuminating the Disk/Corona/Jet Connection in NLS1 Galaxies," University of Michigan Dept. of Astronomy Colloquium, Ann Arbor, MI (Oct. 2018)

• "Arcus: the X-ray Grating Spectrometer Explorer," The Power of X-ray Spectroscopy, Warsaw, Poland (Sept. 2017)

• "Athena: Mission Concept, Status and Development," From Chandra to Lynx, Cambridge, MA (Aug. 2017)

• "Probing the Inner Disk and Corona in AGN with X-ray Spectroscopy," Univ. Amsterdam Astrophysics Colloquium, Amsterdam, Netherlands, (Nov. 2016)

• "X-ray Spectroscopy of Local AGN," The X-ray View of Black Hole Activity in the Local Universe, Zurich, Switzerland (Feb. 2016)

• "Impact of the X-ray Surveyor on Supermassive Black Hole Spin Measurements," Probing the Universe in Depth and Detail with the X-Ray Surveyor, Washington DC (Oct. 2015)

• "SMBH Spin Measurements in AGN: Current Status and Future Directions," CfA/HEAD Lunch Talk (Sept. 2015)

• "The Role of Black Hole Spin in Shaping Accretion, Feedback, and Galaxy Evolution over Cosmic Time," IAU General Assembly, Honolulu, HI, (Aug. 2015)

• "X-ray Puzzles from Supermassive Black Holes," CfA Summer Colloquium, Cambridge, MA (July 2015)

• "The Future of X-ray Reflection Studies in the 2020s and Beyond," HEAD Special Meeting: High Energy Large and Medium-class Space Missions in the 2020s, Chicago, IL (June 2015)

• "Black Hole Spin and the Immediate Environs of AGN," IAP Astrophysics Seminar, Paris, France (Feb. 2015)

• "Measuring Black Hole Spins in AGN," Compact Objects as Astrophysical and Gravitational Probes, Leiden, Netherlands (Feb. 2015)

• "NuSTAR/Suzaku X-ray Spectroscopy of NGC 4151," Astronomy 310: Astrostatistics, Harvard University (Sept. 2014)

• "A Survey of Black Hole Spin and Relativistic Physics in AGN," Suzaku-MAXI 2014: Expanding the Frontiers of the X-ray Universe, Matsuyama, Japan (Feb. 2014)

• "AGN Physics: Spin and Coronal Studies Overview," NuSTAR Science Team Meeting, New York, NY (Jan. 2014)

• AGN Science Panelist and presenter, "Early Results from the NuSTAR AGN Physics Program," Exploding Transients: Lighthouses of the Universe, Santorini, Greece (Sept. 2013)

• "Relativistic Lines in AGN," From the Dolomites to the Event Horizon: Sledging Down the Black Hole Potential Well, Sesto, Italy (July 2013)

• "The NuSTAR AGN Physics Program," AAS, Long Beach, CA (Jan. 2013)

• "NuSTAR’s View of AGN," X-ray Astronomy: Toward the Next 50 Years, Milan, Italy (Oct. 2012)

• "Probing Black Hole Spin and AGN Structure with X-ray Spectra," MIT Astrophysics Colloquium, Cambridge, MA (Sept. 2012)

• "Measuring Black Hole Spins in AGN: Current Status and Future Prospects," Black Holes by the Black Sea, Istanbul, Turkey (June 2012)

• "Probing the Inner Accretion Disk in AGN Using X-ray Spectra," The X-ray Universe 2012, Bamberg, Germany (June 2012)

• USA Baseball Women’s National Team (2002-2007): World Cup MVP (2004), International Woman Baseball Player of the Year (2004), World Cup gold medalist (2004, 2006)

• NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship (1999); awarded for demonstrating outstanding academic, athletic and leadership abilities.

• Williams College Class of 1925 Scholar-Athlete Prize (1999)

• Williams College varsity soccer: NSCAA All-American (1998), All-region (1997-1998), All-conference (1997-1998)

• Williams College varsity basketball: NCAA All-tournament team (1999), New England Senior All-Star Team (1999), All-conference defensive team (1999)

• Williams College varsity softball: All-region (1998-1999), All-conference (1997-1999)