Research
I work at Baylor University as an Assistant Professor. I received my Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Notre Dame under Peter Garnavich. I have previously worked at Space Telescope Science Institute and Duke University.
My research works to improve our understanding of a specific type of exploding star, Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). We use SNe Ia to understand the dynamics and size of the universe. SNe Ia allow us to measure distances across the universe, a difficult task when all you have are pictures of the night sky. I like to bring my knowledge of statistics and creative, cross-discipline problem solving to each project.
Projects
My research projects are intended to achieve 1% uncertainty in distances from SN Ia. Currently, a single SN Ia distance—the most precise cosmic distance indicator—has an uncertainty of 5%. In order to improve this, we need to both understand our telescopes and SN Ia.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
Most of my research is in preparation for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. I am apart of a team of scientists thinking about how to optimize supernova cosmology with Roman. In a two year span, Roman will observe over 100 times as many distant SN Ia than we have observed over the last 30 years. Beyond the typical SN Ia cosmology research, we spend a significant amount of time on calibration and software planning work.
Calibration
I have recently started work on improving our astronomical absolute flux scale. I hope to proved more details on this research soon.
Standardizing Type Ia Supernovae
Supernovae and their host galaxies: SNe Ia appear to know information about its host galaxy, specifically how many stars. This is strange. Why would a single star know about the size of its galaxy? There are some explanations for these correlations, such as the fact that you are likely an old star if you live in an old galaxy, but we do not have a satisfying answer. My Ph.D. furthered our understanding of these correlations, but there is still work to be done. See,
Novel models to describe SN Ia: We use a model for SN Ia that allows us to describe their diversity via just a few parameters. As we strive to use SN Ia more precisely, researchers develop new models. Part of this development involves a round of validation testing; my expertise. See,
Other Projects
Bulk flows: I have been apart of cosmic bulk flow analyses. We searched for the signature cosine in the Hubble diagram residuals.
Curriculum Vitae
You can download a copy of my CV or read it below.
Presentations & Scientific Posters
The astrophysics data system has a full list of my refereed paper (as well as other types of articles).