Bio Sketch
Observing Manager, Hobby Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment
Research Interests:
Extragalactic Astronomy: Emission Line Galaxies, Lyα Emitters, Galaxy Evolution, the Cosmic Distance Scale, Dark Matter, Ionized Gas in Galaxies, Stellar Populations, Intracluster Stars, HETDEX
Stellar Astronomy: Planetary Nebulae, Post-AGB Stars, Novae
Interstellar Medium: The Physics of Ionization and Emission Lines
Education:
UCLA (1977-1986) Ph.D. (Astronomy)
Yale University (1972-1976) B.S. (Astronomy and Physics)
Employment:
Professor, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Penn State University (2003-present)
Associate Professor, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Penn State University (1996-2003)
Assistant Professor, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Penn State University (1990-1996)
Research Associate, National Optical Astronomy Observatories (1987-1990)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington (1985-1987)
Instrument Analyst and Research Associate, Space Telescope Science Institute (1982-1985)
Research Associate, Department of Astronomy, UCLA (1979-1982)
Teaching Associate, Department of Astronomy, UCLA (1977-1979)
Research Assistant, Department of Astronomy, Yale University (1976-1977)
Memberships:
American Astronomical Society
Astronomical Society of the Pacific
International Astronomical Union
Awards:
National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award (1992)
Courses Taught:
Astro 1: The Astronomical Universe
Astro 6: Stars, Galaxies and the Universe
Astro 11: Elementary Astronomy Laboratory
Astro 293: Observational Astronomy Laboratory
Astro 414: Stellar Structure and Evolution
Astro 480: Nebulae, Galaxies, and Cosmology
Astro 501: Fundamental Astronomy
Astro 504: Extragalactic Astronomy
Astro 534: Stellar Structure and Evolution
Ph.D. Theses Supervised:
Gautam Nagaraj (2023): The Stellar, Gas, and Dust Properties of 0.5 < z < 3.0 Emission Line Galaxies
Will Bowman (2022): Robust Estimation of the Physical Properties of z ~ 2 Emission Line Galaxies
Brian Davis (2022): Late-Stage Evolution of Low- and Intermediate-Mass Stars
Mallory Molina (2019): Resolving Black Hole and Star Formation Activity in Nearby Galaxies (co-supervised)
Joanna Bridge (2017): Using Emission Lines to Characterize Galaxy Properties: From Nearby to the Distant Universe (co-supervised)
Alex Hagen (2017): A Study in Lyman Alpha
Kimberly Herrmann (2008): Probing Galactic Disks with Planetary Nebulae
John Feldmeier (2000): A Survey of Intracluster Planetary Nebulae in the Virgo Cluster
Russet McMillan (1997): Constraining the Ages of Supernova Progenitors
Undergraduate Theses Supervised:
Owen Chase (2022)
Cullen Abelson (2021)
Laurel Weiss (2021)
Adam McCarron (2019)
Megan DeCesar (2005)
Amanda Simone (2002)
Rachel Kuzio (2001)
Kara Krelove (2001)