Education


B.S., Physics, honors and distinction
Concentration in Astrophysics

Stanford University June 2004
M.S., Astronomy & Astrophysics

University of California Santa Cruz December 2006
Ph.D., Astronomy & Astrophysics
(anticipated)

 University of California Santa Cruz expected June 2009
advanced to candidacy June 2007



Research Experience


Detailed Chemical Abundances UCSC October 2006-present
advisor: Puragra Guhathakurta
thesis committee: Puragra Guhathakurta, Sandy Faber, Chris Sneden
  • detailed abundances from moderate resolution spectra (Ph.D. thesis)
  • photometric and Ca II triplet spectroscopic metallicities of resolved RGB stars in the dwarf satellites of M31
  • gradients in the abundances of the satellites of M31 and the Milky Way
  • refining the measurement and [Fe/H] calibration of the Ca II infrared triplet


All-Wavelength Extended Groth International Survey (AEGIS) UCSC January-December 2006
advisor: Puragra Guhathakurta
  • star formation histories of low-mass (log M* < 8.5) galaxies using panchromatic broadband photometry from Spitzer, Palomar, Hubble, CFH, and GALEX and Ha spectroscopy from DEEP


Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe (DEEP2) UCSC September 2004-present
advisor: Puragra Guhathakurta
  • determining the spectroscopic redshifts of single-line emission galaxies
  • confirming the identity of z ~ 5 Lya-emitting galaxies via spectral coaddition
  • locating and identifying serendipitously detected galaxies in two-dimensional spectra


QUEST at DASI (QUaD) Stanford University January 2002-June 2004
advisor: Sarah Church


University of California Los Angeles Research Experience for Undergraduates UCLA Dept. of Physics June-August 2003
advisors: Charles Whitten, Huan Huang, and George Igo


Teaching and Mentoring Experience


Mentoring Undergraduates
  • Jody Hannibal (UC Santa Cruz): individual and statistical confirmation of M31 red giant identifications
present
  • Basilio Yniguez (UC Santa Cruz): neural network technique to separate M31 red giants from MW dwarfs
 present
  • Jennifer Consiglio (UC Santa Cruz): optimizing methods to measure the Ca II infrared triplet
 present
  • Octavio Avila (UC Santa Cruz): optimizing methods to measure the Ca II infrared triplet
 Fall 2007
  • Heather Kaluna (UH Hilo): measuring redshifts and correlation functions for serendipitously detected galaxies in DEEP2
 2007
  • Katharine Fayram (UC Santa Cruz): matching galaxies serendipitously detected in DEIMOS spectra to their photometric counterparts in CFHT imaging
 2006-07
  • Darwin Fernandez (Hartnell Community College): spectral energy distributions in AEGIS


 2006
Teaching Assistantships
  • AY2: Introduction to the Universe (UCSC, Prof. Puragra Guhathakurta)
 Fall 2005
  • AY2: Introduction to the Universe (UCSC, Prof. Jean Brodie)


 Winter 2005
K-12 Outreach
  • Stars, Sight, and Science instructor as part of the California State Summer School for Mathematics & Science (COSMOS) for high school students
 Summer 2005
  • Henry's Place volunteer mentoring program for underprivileged elementary schools, Stanford University


 September 2001-June 2003
Undergraduate Tutoring and Advising
  • math and physics undergraduate tutor, Stanford University
 September 2002-June 2003
  • volunteer peer academic advisor, Stanford University
 September 2001-June 2002



Awards and Fellowships

Chancellor's Dissertation Year Fellowship, UC Santa Cruz

 September 2008-June 2009
Runner-Up, Best Presentation in Physical & Biological Sciences, Graduate Research Symposium, UC Santa Cruz

 May 16, 2008
Whitford Prize, for outstanding graduate student completing the second year, UC Santa Cruz

 September 2006
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

 September 2005-June 2008
Chancellor's Fellowship, UC Santa Cruz

 September 2004-June 2005
Jeffrey A. Willick Award, Stanford University, for outstanding graduating physics major

 June 2004
David S. Levine Award, Stanford University, for outstanding junior in physics

 September 2003



Interests


  • clarinet
    • winner, 2004 Stanford Concerto Competition, performed Weber's Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor on April 17, 2005, with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra in Memorial Church at Stanford University
    • Stanford Symphony Orchestra, September 2000-June 2004 plus a Carnegie Hall/European tour in June 2002 and a New Zealand/Australia tour including the Sydney Opera House in June 2005
    • Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra, January 1998-June 2000
  • road cycling