Welcome!
I am currently full technical staff and a systems analyst at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. This website highlights my academic work in astronomy and astrophysics. To learn more about my current work and receive an updated résumé, please reach out at one of the links above.
As an astronomer and educator, I studied the smallest stars in our galaxy and their stellar and planetary companions. I previously held academic appointments at the Institute of Astrophysical Research at Boston University and in the Department of Astronomy at Smith College. I received my Ph.D. in 2015 from Dartmouth, where I was an NSF GK-12 Fellow and the Graduate Fellow for Professional Development Programs at DCAL .
The smallest stars and their companions
Stars that are half the mass of our Sun and smaller are the most common type of star in our galaxy and have lifetimes longer than the age of the Universe. These small stars also host more planets than stars like our own Sun. Characterizing these planets and their atmospheres typically requires that we understand fundamental properties (e.g. age, luminosity, magnetism) of these stars to a high precision.
How Wide is Wide?
M Dwarf with white dwarf companions are enticing laboratories for determining ages of M dwarfs, a historically very difficult task. To understand the scenarios in which the white dwarf can be used to age-date the M dwarf, we need to better quantify the interaction history between the two stars. I am working to quantify how the white dwarf companion affects the M dwarfs magnetic signatures, rotation, and chemical composition.
Extending Gaia’s Reach
Astrometry from ESA’s Gaia mission is revolutionizing our understanding of stars and stellar populations in our Galaxy. Owing to Gaia’s relatively blue bandpass and the intrinsic faintness and redness of the very smallest stars, there is still work to be done determining precise distances for L dwarfs. I am doing ground-based astrometry of L dwarfs using the Discovery Channel Telescope in Happy Jack, AZ.
Activity and Planets at the bottom of the main Sequence
The discovery that planets are ubiquitous around early-type M dwarfs leads us to wonder if this trend continues all the way to the bottom of the Main Sequence and beyond. I am mentoring a BU undergraduate in a search for planets around ultracool dwarfs observed by the Kepler spacecraft as a part of its secondary mission, K2. We are working to better constrain the planet occurrence rate around ultracool dwarfs. The K2 light curves also give us an unprecedented sample to to study the largest flares and rotation in ultracool dwarfs. I am also a part of the Perkins Infrared Exosatellite Survey (PINES) collaboration, which was recently funded through the NASA Exoplanet Research Program to search for transiting exosatellites around ~400 brown dwarfs.
Teaching & Outreach
In my classroom teaching, I work to create an inclusive environment and use a variety of active learning techniques in my classroom. I also enjoy merging student writing and art with the scientific topics that we cover in class.
Courses Taught:
100 level: Survey of the Universe, Alien Worlds (Smith College)
For Majors: Intro. to Astrophysics: Stars and Galaxies, Explosions in Astrophysics (Smith College)
Interdisciplinary: From the Big Bang to Humankind (co-instructor; Tufts University)
Outreach
I enjoy speaking to the public about astronomy and my research. In the past, I’ve given talks and/or night sky tours at pubs, museums, libraries, festivals, and college observatories. Please contact me if you’re interested in hosting me for a public presentation.
Above: Student art projects from Survey of the Universe
Academic Professional Development
I strongly believe in providing professional development and mentorship that enables undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars to fulfill their career goals. This has manifested itself in a few different ways in my career.
WALA: Women as Leaders in Astronomy
Along with a former BU graduate student, I founded a group for women in the astronomy department at BU. This group was designed to facilitate community-building across the academic hierarchy to encourage informal mentorships between women at various stage in their academic careers.
Associate Director for BU Astronomy Research Experiences for Undergraduates
I was a mentor for two cohorts of summer research undergraduates hosted in the astronomy department at BU. As part of this, I developed several career development workshops that took place each summer. I also planned and organized a department-wide undergraduate research symposium as a capstone for the summer experience.
Graduate Fellow for Professional Development Programs, Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning
I worked in Dartmouth’s teaching and learning center for one year where I facilitated workshops on the scholarship of teaching and learning for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. I created a Learning Community centered around these themes for graduate students and postdocs. I also researched peer institution practices and developed a plan to implement graduate school-wide TA training.
WALA