About Me

I am a recent graduate from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics & Astronomy. Throughout my academic career at Pitt, I participated in various research projects in the field of stellar astronomy. In my most recent project, I explored the field of asteroseismology in studying solar-like oscillating red giants in hopes of developing a tool to better constrain the asteroseismic parameter nu_max, or the star's characteristic oscillation frequency. This project is in its final stages where I am actively debugging the results from Python's Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) package. To learn more, head over to my research tab.

I am actively in the job market for an entry level software engineering position. Ideally, I would be working in the aerospace industry focusing on writing code that directly has an impact on vehicles that are being sent up into space. Although I would prefer a full-time position, I am open to any experience in the form of internships. I am a highly motivated, self-starting individual who wants to make an impact in the scene of interplanetary travel.

My main experience comes in the form of astronomy research and my extensive computer science coursework. I opted for the minor in computer science, however, I have completed almost every portion of the B.S. in CS except my capstone project and a few courses. Key courses I completed through Pitt's CS department include

  • Data Structures
  • Computer Organization & Assembly
  • Introduction to Systems Software
  • Algorithm Implementation
  • Programming Language for Web Applications
  • Interface Design Methodology
  • Introduction to Data Science
  • Principles of Computer Game Design and Implementation
  • Introduction to Machine Learning
and others. I have also completed various upper level physics & astronomy courses such as
  • Data Science and Statistics (Graduate)
  • Galaxies and Extragalactic Astronomy (Graduate)
  • Stars, Stellar Structure & Evolution
  • Mechanics
  • Quantum Mechanics

I spend a lot of time practicing my coding skills. My strongest languages include Python, Java and R. while I am familiar with C, HTML, CSS and JavaScript. I am actively developing a data processing pipeline for the Allegheny Observatory. This project has been in the works for a couple years now, but my time has mostly been spent observing using the 24" telescope and collecting data on quasars in hopes of setting up a long-term QSO monitoring pipeline. I am collaborating with Pitt Alumnus Justin Holt on this project where we are both getting hands on experience with the software development lifecycle.

I am most passionate about my dogs. We have eight dogs in our pack, seven of which are huskies. Almost two years ago, I adopted my boy Maverick and haven't looked back since. One day, I hope to be able to rescue huskies from shelters and rehome them with families that will properly care for these beautiful dogs. I hope to have enough land to start my own sanctuary so I am able to bring these dogs back into good health.

Maverick (right) and his sister Nikita!

When I am not working on school work or working on my research, I mostly spend my time playing volleyball. I played as the libero for the Pitt Men's Volleyball Club (PMVBC)'s A-Team. I have been a part of a few intramural teams and also play casually whenever possible on the lawn of the Cathedral of Learning at Pitt. If I am not playing volleyball, you may find me skiing at Seven Springs during ski season or simply at my computer speedrunning my favorite video games. I am also trying my best to get into astrophotography, so a lot of my more recent time has been spent researching various cameras, star trackers and telescopes.

Koda (black), Morgan (sister), Luka (white), Santa holding Mishka, Anakin (grey), Kaya (red), Bria (sister) and Me!

Research

Research Interests

My research interests are rooted in stellar astrophysics. I have experience working with asteroseismic data (KEPSEISMIC & APOKASC) probing red giants for information such as details about their rotation periods used for gyrochronology and frequency of maximum power directly in asteroseismology. In previous work, I have also looked at the close binary fraction of red clump stars. See below for more details about the projects I am involved with.

Upcoming Projects

Studying the Effects of Shadow Bands (Fall 2022 - Spring 2023)
Faculty: Prof. Russell Clark, Prof. Istvan Danko, Prof. Sandhya Rao, Prof. David Turnshek
Previous data has been collected to confirm the existence of a shadow band effect during solar eclipses. With the two upcoming solar eclipses in October 2023 (annular) and April 2024 (total) crossing paths near San Antonio, TX, we plan to use NASA funded equipment to study this effect in greater detail. We consider two approaches: launch High Altitude Balloons (HABs) to study light variations due to shadow bands and launch weather balloons with radiosondes to study any relationship to turbulence. The team consists of four faculty members, two staff members, three consulting faculty and ten undergraduate students at the University of Pittsburgh. I will be working primarily on the team launching the weather balloons with radiosondes.

Current Projects

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at University of Hawai'i Institute for Astronomy (IfA) (Summer 2023)
Advisor: Prof. Jen van Saders and Dr. Marc Hon
I am currently working with 30 minute long cadence Kepler data looking to develop a more reliable method of measuring the quantity νmax which is used to describe stellar parameters as it is related to the mass, effective surface temperature and radius of the star. We are looking to move away from the need to transform our time series data into the frequency domain as this method requires fitting for a complicated background model to describe the "noise" of the frequency oscillations. Using the instantaneous frequencies of the pulsations, our method will be purely empirical.

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at University of Florida (Summer 2022)
Advisor: Prof. Jamie Tayar
In 2016, Jennifer van Saders provided evidence that current stellar rotation models are predicting a higher rotation period than what has been observed due to a phenomenon known as weakened magnetic braking. This discovery has implications for a wide variety of astronomical subfields as using stellar rotation periods is one of the most popular methods of probing stellar ages, and thus interpolating various stellar parameters. The accuracy of gyrochronology method is crucial to confirm that these ages are precise as possible. Using a combination of Kiauhoku interpolation grids and APOGEE DR17 data, I have shown that there is still a discrepancy between empirical and theoretical rotation periods.

Corner plot showing output of stellar parameters for KIC757450. We were able to recover known stellar parameters with a high enough precision to infer the rotation period and age of the star.

Red Clump Stars' Unlikely Binary Companions (Fall 2021 - Spring 2022)
Advisor: Prof. Carles Badenes
Using the APOGEE Data Release 16, I have investigated properties about core helium (red clump) binary systems. In particular, I analyzed red clump stars with a particularly high change in radial velocity, which is an indicator that these stars still contain a short period binary companion. This is not something expected as the secondary star should have been engulfed by the red clump star during its evolution through the red giant branch, especially at the shorter periods that we are observing.

APOGEE DR16 red clump binary spectrum


Survey of Transiting Extrasolar Planets at University of Pittsburgh (STEPUP)
Advisor: Prof. Michael Wood-Vasey
STEPUP observes and collects data from stars predicted to have an exoplanet in its orbit. We analyze data by producing light curves to detect planetary transits. Learn more about STEPUP and what I do here!

Sample light curve produced from STEPUP data for the star HAT-P-3


STEPUP

STEPUP is the Survey of Transiting Extrasolar Planets at the University of Pittsburgh that uses the Allegheny Observatory’s Keeler 24” telescope to detect extrasolar planets (exoplanets). We take observations (weather permitting) and collect data about stars that we then analyze to determine if there is actually a planet in the host star's orbit. To do this, we currently perform Instrument Signature Removal (ISR) with our data processing pipeline, SIA (STEPUP Image Analysis), and perform photometry using an external program known as AstroImageJ. We take the output file from AIJ to produce light curves for our analysis. Click here to learn more about STEPUP!

I serve as the current Data Processing Lead for STEPUP. Our current objective is to create a more efficient data processing pipeline that can properly process data from the Allegheny Observatory’s new 24" Keeler PlaneWave telescope. Our old pipeline has been experiencing issues moving to a higher field of view CCD during the astrometry process. I plan to create a pipeline using the SIA framework with an improved performance. To do this, I am working with Dr. David Turnshek monitoring quasars for long term variability. The pipeline should work for both the quasar and exoplanet differential photometry, but it is too early to confirm.