About
Currently
I'm a second year graduate student at the University of Virginia, living in Charlottesville. I recently transitioned from working on theoretical galaxy cluster research to computational supernova research.
I'm a second year graduate student at the University of Virginia, living in Charlottesville. I recently transitioned from working on theoretical galaxy cluster research to computational supernova research.
 Lead Climbing at Barton Creek Green Belt in Austin, TX
Hobbies
When I finally pry my eyes away from the computer, I like to settle them on some birds or on a book. Outside, I like to hike, bird watch, and sometimes camp. I've been known to climb outside (and inside) too. At home, I love to read, crochet, and cuddle with my cats (shown down below!). A Little History
During my freshman year at UT Austin, I joined the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) and had my first foray into the world of astronomical research. I quickly learned modern astronomy research is done almost completely on a computer. This was a bit of a shock at first but now I couldn't imagine it any other way. My two undergraduate research projects focused on the very small and the very biggest structures in our universe. On the small side, I worked with Dr. Mike Montgomery to improve upon at white dwarf star pulsation analysis tool. As this was my first real research project, I learned how to use Python for beginning data analysis, how to effectively communicate with my advisor, and how to script in Python. On the large side, I worked with Dr. Camille Avestruz, at University of Michigan, to find observable tracers of the dark matter halo of galaxy clusters by studying the brightest cluster galaxies. In this work, I really saw the life cycle of data and projects as I was brought on at the inception and stayed till publication. I got to work with "medium" data, i.e. thousands of images, and learned how to create flags for inaccuracies, assess the accuracy and validity of various models, how to create informative and readable data visualizations, and gained lots of experience communicating my results not only to my collaborators but also in talks, posters, and presentations. |
Birding (a.k.a. bird watching) in Charlottesville, VA
Me standing next to my first poster ever at the Undergraduate Women in Physics Conference. (Don't worry, I make prettier posters now)
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