Kaitlin Webber

I'm originally from Arizona and got my Bachelor's degree from Arizona State University. Outside of science I do triathlons and love being outside. I also enjoy spending time with friends, reading, and baking.

I am currently a sixth year working with Jennifer Marshall. For my research, I do chemical analysis of stars in ultra-faint dwarf galaxies and stellar streams to investigate the nucleosynthesis processes that chemically enriched the Universe. I am an observational astronomer so I have had many opportunities to go observing to obtain data for my research.

Macon Magno

Well howdy, partner. Name’s Macon, but out on the prairie they just call me The Fairway Wrangler. By day, I ride the range of manicured greens with a nine iron slung over my shoulder, and by sundown, you’ll find me slingin’ discs through the trees like a hawk chasin’ rabbits. Ain’t nothin’ better than breathin’ that open air, 'less you count showin’ up at trivia night and cleanin’ house with facts 'bout everything from cattle brands to quantum physics. I don’t just rustle steer, I rustle answers, too. So whether it's a long drive down the fairway, a tight shot through the woods, or a showdown of wits at the local saloon’s quiz night, I’m always up for a good challenge… long as it comes with a side of fresh air and maybe a sarsaparilla.

I wrangle supermassive black holes. While others ride the plains, I ride the radio waves, chasin’ jets so powerful they’d make a stallion blush. My days are spent studyin’ the mighty outflow-driven shocks that ripple through galaxies like thunder after a lightning strike. When two black holes lock eyes across the cosmic dance floor, I’m there takin’ notes—black hole mergers, they call it. It’s a wild rodeo, partner, and I’ve got a front-row seat. So if you're talkin’ about the deep dark, the loud silent kind of space where gravity does all the talkin’, well then, pull up a log and stay a spell. I’ll tell you tales of the universe’s wildest outlaws and the invisible lasso of physics that holds it all together.

Franklin Wang

Hi, I'm Frank! I grew up in Hong Kong, and went to college at the University of Illinois. Outside of work, I enjoy skateboarding, hiking, and watching the 2026 Super Bowl champs - the Chicago Bears.

I'm going to be a fourth year grad student in the fall.  I've spent my time at A&M working with Jonelle Walsh on making stellar dynamical mass measurements of some of the most massive black holes in the local Universe. My interests, however, are on the other end of the mass scale: I'm really interested in intermediate mass black holes, central black holes in dwarf galaxies, and trying to  figure out where supermassive black holes came from.

Vinny D'Onofrio

Hi! I'm Vinny and I’ll be a fourth-year graduate student this fall. I grew up in the metro Detroit area in Michigan and went to Michigan State University for undergrad. In my free time, I enjoy hiking with my dog Aurora and partner Meghan, read a bunch of fantasy (mainly to decompress from astro stuff xD), and go for long runs.

My research mainly focuses on using radio telescopes to study higher-redshift galaxy evolution (if z~1 still even counts as higher). I do this as part of the SQuIGGLE colab (the best acronym in astronomy) which uses a bunch of multiwavelength data including ALMA, VLA, and HST. I’m a big fan of radio astronomy and enjoy talking about it with anyone interested!

Refa Al-Amri

I'm an international student from Oman. I love to paint whenever I get the chance, and I like to bake. I enjoy spending time outdoors when the weather allows for it (which rarely happens in Texas). I like soccer (I actually call it football) and going to the gym *sometimes*.

I'm a fourth year *cries* working with Jonelle Walsh. I am currently working on extracting the stellar and gas kinematics in M87 using JWST NIRSpec IFU data. Next, I will be working on modeling the stars and gases in M87 to determine a black hole mass measurement. I'm interested in addressing the disparity and intrinsic scatter between different methods of obtaining black hole masses in galaxies.

Divya Mishra

Hey, I'm Divya! I'm a 4th year graduate student. I did my undergraduate in electronics engineering from India. Outside of science I'm a huge nerd about F1 and soccer (I need more friends who are into that). Ethan and me are also looking for gym partners lol if any of you are interested. In my free time, I like to read and paint.

I'm broadly interested in Type Ia supernovae, their diversity, and studying their explosion mechanism and progenitor system from observational point of view. I am also working on this observational tool called 'polarimetry' to study the magnetic field morphology in nearby galaxy M83. I am also interested in using polarimetry to study the 3-D structure of supernova explosion.

Briana Wirag

Heyo! I’m Bri, and I'm from Wisconsin, so yes I love cheese and yes it's too hot for me here. Graduating from UW-Madison, I primarily focused on astronomy and physics and supplemented that with math and environmental studies. My cozy indoor hobbies include crafting, reading, and playing games while snuggling with my two cats. I love any excuse to be outside, I mainly play softball and recently picked up pickleball and gardening.

I'm a third-year finishing up my work with Justin Spilker. I’m using photometry from HST and JWST to characterize the stellar component of SPT0311, a massive system of dusty star-forming galaxies that’s within the epoch of re-ionization. In the past, I've worked on instrumentation projects (LZ dark matter detector, NIRWALS on SALT) as well as a sample of quiescent galaxies with an unknown source of ionizing photons. Come the fall, I’ll be shifting my focus to stellar-dynamical mass measurements of supermassive black holes with Jonelle Walsh.

Raenessa Walker

Hello!! I am a third-year graduate student, and I’m from Louisiana (geaux Tigers!). I love to sleep, shop, start crochet projects that I won’t finish, and play with my cat (not in that order). I think I play Stardew Valley more than I do research, and I like getting tattoos!

Currently, I’m researching the atmospheric variability of brown dwarfs and if the variability is correlated with their spectral type. I’ve previously modelled microlensing event data at LSU and analyzed Cassini data of Saturn’s rings at Cornell, which exposed me to exoplanetary research and partially led me to what I study now. My goal is to graduate (of course) and have a post-doc position near a NASA research facility. After that, I would like to transition into industry and work the ol’ 9 to 5.

John Dixon

I'm a third year grad student working with Jen Marshall on stellar astronomy research. I graduated from the University of Florida in 2023 with a B.S. in Astrophysics and a B.A. in Music Composition, and I'm passionate about astronomy education / outreach in addition to my research. I have two kittens named Castor and Pollux, and I like rhythm games, D&D, and jazz :)

My research is in stellar archaeology, and I have done both computational and observational research. At UF, I worked with the HiPerGator HPC cluster to measure non-LTE abundances of r-process elements. At TAMU, I'm currently analyzing spectra of carbon-enhanced stars to search for binary systems, and I've also been on 6 observing runs (so far!) to the McDonald Observatory.

Claire Bolda

I am an incoming third-year astronomy graduate student from Wisconsin, where I completed my BS in Physics *with an Astronomy Emphasis* at UW-Milwaukee. Aside from research, I love learning languages, music, spending time along the shores of Lake Michigan, and exploring new coffee shops wherever I go. Also, I am chronically ill and would be happy to answer any questions about how to navigate grad school with health issues :)

Currently, I am researching environmental effects on the star formation rates of satellite galaxies (i.e., low-mass galaxies that orbit more massive galaxies) in the early universe with Casey Papovich using spectroscopic observations from JWST/NIRISS. My research interests include the interactions between galaxies and their environments, the reionization era, collections of galaxies big and small, and the cosmic web. I am also particularly fond of the circumgalactic medium and pulsars, which I researched during my undergraduate degree.

Ethan Poore

I'm a 3rd year graduate student working with Dr. Krista Smith. I earned my BS in Physics from Western Kentucky University (WKU) with a minor in Astronomy and Mathematics. I'm originally from the suburbs of Atlanta, GA, moved to Bowling Green, KY, and now reside in College Station! Outside of the office you'll catch me gaming, skateboarding, or with sleeping in with my cat Juniper!

During my undergraduate career I primarily worked on data analysis and data reduction pipelines of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), with a AGN focused twist! Currently, I've been more focused with ground-based observing with TAMU's Exoplanet Transmission Spectroscopy Imager (ETSI), again hitching a ride on exoplanet science to study AGN. However, I also have adopted a few other projects in the X-ray regime allowing me to learn a completely new set of skills. In the future I would like to be a part of astronomy still, but within the industry. Perhaps working at an observatory!

Sophia Korte

I was born and raised in Brazil and I came to the US to study astrophysics in college and now I'm doing a physics PhD. I love cats and I have 6 cats at home. I like to watch movies and read, but I also like to swim and practice Taekwondo.

My first research project was in high energy physics, using machine learning for particle tracking at the CMS tracker. Then I decided to do cosmology and I have been working on he Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) foregrounds and lensing. Recently I've learned how to use quadratic estimators to reconstruct the leasing potential.

Aaron Hughes

Howdy! I’m Aaron and I’ll be a second-year graduate student this fall. Growing up, I split time between Colorado and Missouri, but for undergrad, I went to the University of Arizona. Outside of academics, I delight in many endeavors but particularly enjoy baseball, golf, pickleball, playing drums/bass, reading, hiking, and church youth ministry.

I work with Kevin Huffenberger and am a part of the ACT and Simons Observatory collaborations, which primarily focus on observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation. Many galaxies are also picked up in these millimeter scans of the sky, and at high redshifts, these detected sources are often extreme star-forming galaxies in the early universe. I am currently analyzing follow up observations conducted with ALMA on the brightest of these high-redshift star forming galaxies. In doing so, I will hopefully shed some light on early galaxy formation, structure, and evolution of which recent observations have greatly challenged the theoretical predictions.

Yuha Hosoki

I was born in Japan, and have been living in Texas since 2012. I got my Bachelor's degree in Physics at the University of Houston. I enjoy playing tennis, pickle ball, and going hiking.

I'm a 2nd year working with Louis Strigari. I'm currently studying the exceptionally high-energy (~220 PeV) KM3NeT neutrino event by analyzing the Fermi gamma-ray source detected within 1 sigma from the KM3NeT neutrino event. I'm also analyzing other unclassified, unassociated Fermi sources to search for potential dark matter subhalos. I'm interested in dark matter and high-energy astrophysics.

Grace Gouin

Hi! I’m a second-year grad student from Massachusetts. I told myself I’d go somewhere warm for undergrad…but then I ended up in Maine. Luckily, I followed through the second time by coming to Texas for grad school! I got my B.A. in Astrophysics from Colby College, where I also played softball…which means that I am now a washed up college athlete trying to find new hobbies. I still enjoy playing softball, but I have also gotten into pickleball, hiking, baking, and reading.

In the past, I’ve done a couple of NASA internships. One focused on simulations for the Roman Space Telescope (scheduled to launch in October 2026… hopefully!), and another studying the recurrent nova M31N 2008-12a with HST data. Since coming to TAMU, I’ve transitioned to working with Krista Smith on stellar populations in AGN host galaxies.