I began my career in astronomy at Brown University where I graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor's Degree in Astrophysics. While at Brown, I served as the Head Photo Editor for the Brown Daily Herald and was a leader of the Brown CubeSat team. After graduating, I spent a year at Goddard doing research in support of the Roman mission. I then spent a year in San Francisco at Planet Labs building Earth-imaging CubeSats. Now, I turn my telescopes skyward using data from the TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) Mission to study stars and planets. Specifically, my research focuses on the detection and characterization of exoplanets around M dwarf stars. I received my PhD from the University of Chicago in March of 2022 after completing my dissertation research with the TESS team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. I am currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Exoplanet Exploration Program Office at NASA's Jet Propolusion Laboratory.
My research primarily involves using data from the TESS spacecraft to study stars and planets.
In particular, I focus on the detection and characterization of exoplanets orbiting M dwarf stars.
I am interested in the habitability of such planets, and study flares in order to
determine how stellar activity may affect exoplanet atmospheres.
For the most up to date list of my publications, please click
here).
I have been interested in SmallSats and how they can be used for science for over a decade.
While I was an undergradauate at Brown, I was a leader on the Brown CubeSat Team
(now Brown Space Engineering).
This group worked to design, build, and launch a 1-U CubeSat, EQUiSat.
You can see it just after deployment from the ISS in July 2018 in the picture to the right, it's the third from the left!
EQUiSat's primary mission was to make space more accessible,
and you can find out more about its mission here.
Before starting my PhD, I also spent a year at Planet.
working on their fleet of Earth-imaging CubeSats as a part of their Imaging Team.
I'm currently a member of the Pandora
Science Team. Pandora is a smallsat designed to disentangle
stellar activity signals from those of exoplanet atmospheres. Pandora was initially selected
as a part of NASA's inaugural class of Pioneers missions in 2021,
(read more here!)
and is well on it's way towards a 2025 launch.
Some of my hobbies include photography, baking, knitting, and cheering on the New York Yankees in as many MLB stadia as I can get to. Keep an eye on this page for more about my interests!
If you want to get in touch to talk about science, dogs on Instagram, or your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, hit that pink button over there.