Education
I completed my PhD in Physics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN in 2017, working with Keivan Stassun and Joshua Pepper. My thesis is available online through the Vanderbilt University library, titled Understanding Exoplanets and Other Variable Sources in Sparsely-Sampled Time Domain Surveys. At Vanderbilt, my research was primarily on exoplanets, and was broadly interested in time-series variability. This included my work with the KELT planet search, my interest in variability, especially of planets, in the upciming LSST survey, and a few broader topics, such as looking at the long-term variability of stars similar to KIC 8462852, better known as "Tabby's star" or "Boyajian's star".
Prior to this, I received both a B.S. (2007) and an M.S. (2011) in Physics from California State University, Northridge in their Physics and Astronomy department. My Master's work there was with Damian Christian, and provided my introduction to the field of transiting exoplanets. My Master's thesis there, Properties of Transiting Extrasolar Planets, featured some look at the properties of all known exoplanets at the time, as well as an attempt to refine parameters of some discovered exoplanets that I took follow-up data for using instruments at Mount Laguna Observatory in California and McDonald Observatory in Texas.
I also took a portion of my undergraduate coursework at College of the Canyons, part of California's community college system.
I have, off and on, been involved with amateur astronomy almost my whole life. My first guides to the night sky were the members of The Local Group Astronomy Club, and I was first a member when I was around 5 years old and continued into college. They provided me a wealth of opportunities over many years, from my first visit to Mount Wilson to the frequent hands-on experience wih telescopes, and learning both the night sky and the mythology around it. More importantly, and something that I always strive to replicate, they always made me feel more like a peer than anything else, even when I was first starting out, despite both age and inexperience.
During college, I also worked part-time at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles as a museum guide. The role is almost exclusively an outreach position, in effect, both with their school program for 5th graders and with the general public. Over several years I was fortunate to be able to be paid to share the universe with people of all ages and backgrounds while working with a mix of students, amateur astronomers, and general space and science enthusiasts.
On a personal and non-science note, coming from Southern California shaped me into a big fan of both film and theme parks. I have been known both to extend conference travel in order to squeeze a theme park in on a trip and also to read statistics textbooks in between showings of a film festival or have telecons while lined up for Star Wars.