Contact

Oxford College of Emory University

Department of Physics

801 Emory Street

E-mail: rcawthon28@gmail.com, rcawtho@emory.edu 

Academic Appointments

Oxford College of Emory University

Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Aug 2025-present

William Jewell College

Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Aug 2023-July 2025

Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Aug 2021-July 2023

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research Associate, Department of Physics, Sept 2018 - July 2021

Education

The University of Chicago

Ph.D. Astronomy and Astrophysics. Aug 2018.   

Advisor: Josh Frieman   

Carleton College

B.A. Physics and Astronomy. June 2012. Magna Cum Laude with Distinction in Major.

Advisor: Cindy Blaha  

Students Mentored in Astronomy Research

William Jewell College: Ellesa Henning, Fabian Reyes, Jonathan Fang, Caio Cavarsan

UW-Madison: Megan Tabbutt (graduate), Alex Krzyston

Collaborations

The Dark Energy Survey (DES)                                                                                         2013-present

Member of Large-Scale Structure, Theory and Combined Probes, Redshifts, and Education and Public Outreach working groups. Awarded Builder Status in Nov. 2017 for two years of infrastructure contribution. Became co-coordinator of Education and Public Outreach in 2018.

Research Interests

-Cosmological history of the Universe; cosmological parameters

-Large-scale structure evolution with redshift

-Combining datasets of different surveys for cosmological analysis

-Redshift estimation using galaxy clustering measurements between photometric and spectroscopic surveys

-New techniques for estimating redshift errors and other systematic effects in cosmological  analyses 

Conference Presentations

(Talks)

Fermilab Users’ Meeting                                                                                                          Jun 2017

“Calibrations of Photometric Redshifts from Clustering in the Dark Energy Survey” 

American Physical Society (APS April Meeting, Baltimore, MD)                  Apr 2015

“CMB Lensing Tomography with Dark Energy Survey Science Verification Galaxies”

Dark Energy Survey Collaboration Meetings (x11)                                        May 2014-May 2018

(Posters)

Fermilab Users’ Meeting                                                                                                         Jun 2015

“CMB Lensing Tomography with the Dark Energy Survey, the South Pole Telescope, and Planck”

American Astronomical Society (AAS 217th Meeting, Seattle, WA)          Jan 2011

“Surveying Ionized Hydrogen Regions in M33”

Invited Talks

Presentation to DESI Education/Public Outreach Group Feb 2024

"Successes and Challenges from a Decade of Dark Energy Survey EPO Efforts"

IEEE Aerospace Conference (Plenary, Big Sky, MT) Mar 2022

"Studying the Dark Universe with the Dark Energy Survey"

Duke University (Cosmology Seminar) Feb 2021

"Calibrating Photometric Redshifts for Cosmic Surveys"

Argonne National Laboratory (High Energy Physics Seminar)                      Dec 2017

“Calibrating Photometric Redshifts using Cross Correlations with Spectroscopy and the CMB”

University of Pennsylvania (Astrophysics & Cosmology Journal Club)   Dec 2017

“Calibrating Photometric Redshifts using Cross Correlations with Spectroscopy and the CMB”

Stanford University (KIPAC Tea Talk)                                                                            Nov 2017

“Calibrating Photometric Redshifts using Cross Correlations with Spectroscopy” 

Awards

Early Career Scientist Award to attend Dark Energy Survey Collaboration Meeting

Student Grant to attend American Physical Society Meeting

McCormick Fellowship, The University of Chicago

Minneosta Space Grant Consortium Award, Carleton College

Ewers Award from the Minnesota Space Grant, Carleton College 

Observing Experience 

Pillsbury Observatory, William Jewell College, Missouri (primarily Open Houses)

Blanco 4-meter, DECam, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile (38 nights, 2014-2018)

Goodsell Observatory, Carleton College, Minnesota (primarily Open Houses) 

Teaching Experience

William Jewell College

Faculty (2021-2025)

Physics 111: College Physics I (+Laboratory)

Physics 112: College Physics II

Physics 213L: General Physics I Laboratory

Physics 316: Modern Physics

Physics 322: Optics

Data Science 190: Introduction to Programming

Critical Thought & Inquiry 258: Astronomy & Cosmology (course for primarily non-scientists)

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Guest Lecturer (2019):

Physics 205: Modern Physics for Engineers

The University of Chicago 

Teaching Assistant (2012-2016):

Natural Science  10200: Evolution of the Universe

Physical Science 11900: Stellar Astronomy and Astrophysics

Physical Science 12000: The Origin of the Universe and How We Know 

Physical Science 13400: Global Warming

Carleton College

Physics and Astronomy Department Tutor/Lab Assistant (2009-2012) 

Service 

               Director of Observatory for William Jewell College’s Pillsbury Observatory (2023-2025)

                 Schedule and set up monthly observatory open houses.

                 Open House Host at William Jewell College’s Pillsbury Observatory (2021-2025)

Assist guests in observing through telescope and answer astronomy questions, once a month during academic year.

                 Event Supervisor for Science Olympiad, hosted at William Jewell College (2022-2025)

Write and proctor astronomy exams for middle school students. 

Co-organizer of William Jewell College Duke Colloquium (2022-2025)

The annual Duke Colloquium showcases undergraduate research and scholarly work.

Coordinator for Dark Energy Survey Education and Public Outreach Committee (2018-present)

Coordinate Dark Energy Survey outreach projects, particularly related to social media

Organizer of Cosmology Journal Club, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2018-2021)

Weekly reading group for arXiv cosmology articles

              Journal Referee Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

                 Journal Referee Astronomy & Astrophysics

                 Internal Referee Dark Energy Survey

Have been assigned to review DES papers in Large-scale structure, Theory and Combined Probes, Weak Lensing and Education/Public Outreach groups

Institutional Representative for University of Chicago on Dark Energy Survey Education and Public Outreach Committee (2015-2018)

Coordinate Dark Energy Survey outreach projects with local members of the survey. 

Student Representative on Admissions Committee, University of Chicago (2017-2018)

Co-organizer of Broader Horizons Speaker Series, University of Chicago (2015-2017)

Series for showcasing the breadth of possible career paths with an Astronomy or Physics Ph.D. 

Student Representative on Graduate Curriculum Committee, University of Chicago (2014-2015)

Student Departmental Advisor, Carleton College (2011-2012)

Advise students on course choices and completing the major in physics and astronomy.

Outreach and Science Communication

Lead Editor, Writer, The Darchive: Dark Energy Survey Results in a Nutshell (2016-present)

Website for short articles on science from the Dark Energy Survey explained for the public.

http://www.darkenergysurvey.org/news-and-results/darchives/ 

Social Media Manager for the Dark Energy Survey (2017-present)

Coordinate and post content for Twitter and Facebook pages. 

Astronomy Conversations Presenter, Adler Planetarium, Chicago, IL (2014-2018)

Volunteer ~monthly for 2 hour conversations with planetarium visitors involving science visualizations.

Instructor, Yerkes Summer Institute, Space Explorers Program, Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago (2013-2015)

Instructor at yearly 1-week science camp with inner-city high school students. 

Regional Finalist, NASA FameLab Competition, Chicago, IL, (June 2015)

Workshop and competition in science communication at a public level.

Open House Host, Goodsell Observatory, Carleton College, MN (2010-2012)

Host and guide to seeing through telescopes and open night sky at monthly open house.

Instructor, Young Astronomers Summer Experience, Goodsell Observatory, Carleton College (July 2010)

Instructor at 2-week astronomy evening program for middle school students.

Publications

(As Lead Author or Major Contributor. On each co-authored paper listed here, I was one of 3-6 full-time contributors to the advancement of the project over several months. The DES et al. papers, I contributed major parts of the analysis, along with dozens of others.)

1. Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Calibration of Lens Sample Redshift Distributions using Clustering Redshifts with BOSS/eBOSS

R. Cawthon et al., MNRAS, 513, 4 (2022). https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-abstract/513/4/5517/6594026

2.     Effects of Redshift Uncertainty on Cross-Correlations of CMB Lensing and Galaxy Surveys 

Ross Cawthon, Phys. Rev. D, 101, 063509 (2020). https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.101.063509

3.     Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Calibration of redMaGiC Redshift Distributions in DES and SDSS from Cross Correlations

R. Cawthon et al., MNRAS, 481, 2 (2018). http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018MNRAS.481.2427C

4.        Dark Energy Survey: A 2.1% Measurement of the Angular Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation Scale at Redshift zeff=0.85 from the Final Dataset

DES Collaboration et al., Phys. Rev. D, 110, 063515 (2024). https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.063515 

5.     Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Cosmological Constraints from Galaxy Clustering and Weak Lensing

DES Collaboration et al. Phys. Rev. D, 105, 023520 (2022) https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.105.023520

6.     Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Cosmological Constraints from Galaxy Clustering and Weak Lensing

DES Collaboration et al., Phys. Rev. D, 98, 043526 (2018). https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.98.043526 

7.     Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: Cosmological constraints from galaxy clustering and galaxy-galaxy lensing using the MagLim lens sample

A. Porredon, M. Crocce, J. Elvin-Poole, R. Cawthon et al., https://arxiv.org/pdf/2105.13546.pdf

8.     Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Cross-Correlation Redshifts in the DES - Calibration of the Weak Lensing Source Redshift Distributions

C. Davis, M. Gatti, P. Vielzeuf, R. Cawthon et al., https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.02517

9.     Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Cross-Correlation Redshifts - Methods and Systematics Characterization

M. Gatti, P. Vielzeuf, C. Davis, R. Cawthon et al., MNRAS, 477, 2 (2018) http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018MNRAS.477.1664G

10.     Cross-correlation of gravitational lensing from DES Science Verification data with SPT and Planck lensing

D. Kirk, Y. Omori, A. Benoit-Levy, R. Cawthon et al., MNRAS, 459, 1 (2016). http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016MNRAS.459...21K

11.     CMB lensing tomography with the DES Science Verification galaxies

T. Giannantonio, P. Fosalba, R. Cawthon et al., MNRAS, 456, 3 (2016). http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016MNRAS.456.3213G

Co-author on 100+ other publications. See SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data system for full list.