Introduction
Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Notre Dame. I use telescopes to discover exoplanets and characterize their fundamental properties.
Exoplanet science is an explosive new field catalyzed by the discovery of over 5000 planets orbiting other stars via ground-based observations and the NASA Kepler and TESS space telescopes. Among these discoveries, the planets in multi-planet and multi-star systems offer a unique but relatively unexplored lens for understanding the solar system. My research group uses telescopes to discover new planets and characterize their fundamental properties in dynamically rich, multi-body planetary systems.
My research highlights include:
Discovered the transition between rocky and volatile-enveloped planets at 1.5 Earth radii
Discovered the similar sizes and regular spacings of planets in coplanar multi-planet systems (the "peas in a pod" pattern)
Principal Investigator of multiple NASA-supported grants
Observed >160 nights on Keck-HIRES and Keck-KPF as part of the California Planet Search collaboration.
Experience in self-consistent analysis of Doppler and transit-timing variations/photometry to determine planet masses and N-body orbital dynamics
Maunakea, Hawai`i
Reykjavik, Iceland
