Hello world! I am a soon-to-defend graduate student and National Physical Science Consortium Fellow in the Stellar Ages & Galactic Evolution (SAGE) group at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and the Department of Astronomy at Yale University.
My research focuses on developing artificial intelligence for the sciences. My specialization is in stellar astrophysics, and in particular, the study of variable stars. These stars are fascinating because they can be used to solve all kinds of problems, ranging from testing theories of fundamental physics to measuring the size and age of the Universe.
I have done research at several national and international laboratories including NASA, NIST, and the Japanese National Institute of Informatics. I enjoy teaching and have had the privilege to assist in teaching and supervising undergraduate and graduate students in computer science and astrophysics at several universities in the USA and in Germany.
In my free time, I like playing the guitar, bass, drums, and other instruments as well as composing and recording music and performing with my band, MegaGauß. I also love learning languages—and I've studied more than 30!
• Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany
• Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
• Institute of Computer Science, University of Göttingen, Germany
Fellow of the National Physical Science Consortium
Thesis Topic: Inverse Problems in Asteroseismology
School of Informatics and Computing (Minor in Bioinformatics)
Fellow of the National Physical Science Consortium
GPA: 3.94/4.0
Honors Thesis: Multiphase Relations of Magellanic Cloud Cepheids
GPA: 3.81/4.0 (summa cum laude, ranked #1 in computer science)
Yale University (2016 — 2017)
Visiting Assistant in Research, New Haven, CT, USA
Asteroseismic inversions of solar-like stars
Indiana University Bloomington (2013 — 2015)
Research Assistant, Bloomington, IN, USA
Protein inference and quantification from tandem mass spectrometry
Federal University of Alagoas (Summer 2011)
Research Student, Physics Institute, Maceió, Brazil
Dynamics of interacting electrons in disordered systems
Federal University of Santa Catarina (Summer 2010)
Research Student, Florianópolis, Brazil
Multiphase relations of Magellanic Cloud Cepheids
Federal University of Santa Caratina (Summer 2010)
IRES/NSF Research Student, Itajubá, Brazil
Chimera: an automated observatory system
[MPS] Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (2015 — present)
Ph.D. Candidate, Stellar Ages & Galactic Evolution Group, Göttingen, Germany
Fundamental stellar parameters in an instant with machine learning
[NIST] National Institute of Standards and Technology (Summers 2013, 2014)
Guest Researcher, Information Technology Laboratory, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
HydratiCA Information Discoverer (HIDE), a data mining tool for 3D chemical simulations
[NII] National Institute of Informatics (Spring 2013)
Research Student, National Center of Sciences, Tokyo, Japan
Asynchronous updating in elementary cellular automata with stochastic perturbations
[NASA] National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Summer 2012)
Summer Research Fellow, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, USA
CASSIUS, a communication tool for the Cassini mission to Saturn
Yale University (Spring 2017)
Teaching Assistant, Department of Astronomy
ASTR 550 — Stellar Astrophysics
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Summer 2016)
Assistant, Institut für Astrophysik
M.Phy.552 — Numerical Experiments in Stellar Physics
Indiana University Bloomington (Fall 2012)
Associate Instructor, School of Informatics and Computing
CSCI-C211/A591 — Introduction to Computer Science
Ranked in the top 5% of instructors [teaching evaluation]
SUNY Oswego (Fall 2010)
Seminar Leader, Honors Program
HON 150 — Introduction to Honors
Google Scholar |
ADS |
orcid.org/0000-0003-4456-4863
number of publications = 16 |
number of citations = 63 |
h-index = 4
Erdös number = 3 (via Steven Reyner & Bennet Manvel)
Expertise: R, Python, Bash, LaTeX, HTML, CLISP, Scheme, Java, MATLAB
Proficiency: C, Javascript, Perl, SQL, FORTRAN 77/95, CSS
Familiarity: ActionScript, Assembly, BASIC, C++, Haskell, Mathematica, ML, PHP, Prolog, Ruby, VB
English (native), German, Portuguese, Spanish
ERES-III: Emerging Researchers in Exoplanet Science
New Haven, CT, USA • June 2017
Fundamental Parameters of Exoplanet Host Stars with Asteroseismology
RR Lyrae 2015
Visegrád, Hungary • October 2015
Resolving combination frequency amplitudes of multi-mode pulsators
American Astronomical Society
Seattle, WA, USA • January 2015
Optimal Model Discovery of Periodic Variable Stars
National Conference on Undergraduate Research
Weber State University, Ogden, UT, USA • March 2012
Multiphase Relations of Cepheid Variable Stars in the Magellanic Clouds
★6th Aarhus Workshop on Red Giant Branch Modelling
Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Göttingen, Germany • May 2016
Stellar Parameters in an Instant with Machine Learning
★Delhi Workshop on Variable Stars
University of Delhi, India • January 2015
Calibrating the Cepheid Distance Scale
★Kerala Workshop on Stellar Astrophysics
St. Thomas College, Kerala, India • January 2014
Automated Supervised Classification of Variable Stars
★SAC Seminar
Stellar Astrophysics Centre, Aarhus University, Denmark • January 2018
Determining Stellar Structure with Asteroseismology Using Novel Techniques
★Madison Seminar
Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin–Madison • November 2017
From Starlight to Stellar Ages with Asteroseismology
★IMPRS Solar System School Seminar
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany • July 2017
The Seismic Structures of Solar-Type Stars: Surmising the Speeds of Sound Inside 16 Cygni
★Yale Professional Seminar
Department of Astronomy, Yale University • February 2017
Celestial Chronometry: From Starlight to Stellar Ages
★IMPRS Solar System School Seminar
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany • January 2015
Forward and Inverse Problems in Asteroseismology
★KUBIC-NII Joint Seminar on Bioinformatics
Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan • April 2013
Asynchronous Updating in 1D Cellular Automata with Stochastic Perturbations
★MPS Seminar
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany • February 2015
Resolving combination mode frequencies of multi-mode pulsators
★Science Today
SUNY Oswego, NY, USA • October 2016
From Starlight to Stellar Ages: A Look Inside the Private Lives of Stars
Quest: Global Laboratory
SUNY Oswego, NY, USA • April 2012
Dynamics of Interacting Electrons in Disordered Systems
Quest: Neural Networks
SUNY Oswego, NY, USA • April 2012
Synapsolution: Producing Prodigies of Problem Solving
TASC3/KASC10 Workshop
University of Birmingham, England • July 2017
The Seismic Structures of Solar-Type Stars: Surmising the Speed of Sound Inside 16 Cyg A
Joint TASC2 & KASC9 Workshop – SPACEINN & HELAS8 Conference
Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira-Açores, Portugal • July 2016
Fundamental Parameters of Main-Sequence Stars in an Instant with Machine Learning
KASC8/TASC1 Workshop
Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark • June 2015
GarsGen: An in-situ optimization algorithm for GARSTEC and ADIPLS stellar physics codes
20th Stellar Pulsation Conference
Granada, Spain • September 2011
New insights into the Cepheid PL Relation through the use of multiphase relations
Sigma Xi Northeastern Research Symposium
Stony Brook University, New York, USA • April 2011
Multiphase Comparison of PL and PW Relations for Magellanic Cloud Cepheids
American Astronomical Society
Seattle, WA, USA • January 2011
Multiphase Comparison of PL/PC Relations
MESA Summer School on Stellar Evolution
U.C. Santa Barbara, CA, USA • 2016
Azores International Advanced School in Space Sciences
Horta, Faial, Azores Islands, Portugal • 2016
St. Baldrick's Foundation
SUNY Oswego, NY, USA • 2010, 2011
Helped raise over $50,000 for research to find cures for childhood cancers.
Easy Street Horse & Barnyard Rescue
Amsterdam, NY, USA • 2006 — 2010
Provided care for horses with this IRS approved 501(c)(3) family-run charitable organization.
MegaGauß
Göttingen, Germany • 2015 — 2017
Electric bass, guitar, ukulele, percussion
Tyler Hall Records
Oswego, NY, USA • 2012
SUNY Oswego Student/Faculty Collaborative Challenge Grant • 2012
National SMART Grant • 2010, 2011 (awarded twice)
National Academic Competitiveness Grant • 2008 (awarded twice)
National Physical Science Consortium Graduate Fellowship • 2012 — 2017
Robert Brian Ellis Scholarship • 2011
New York State Federation of Home Bureau Scholarship • 2011
National Science Foundation International Research Experience for Undergraduates / SUNY Oswego Global Laboratory Scholarship • 2010, 2011 (awarded twice)
SUNY Oswego Presidential Scholarship • 2008-2012 (awarded four times)
Oebele Van Dyk Outstanding Computer Science Senior Award • 2012
SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence • 2012
Researchers measure the interior of two stars, find our models weren't quite right
January 2018
Publication: The Astrophysical Journal
Press release: English, German (Max Planck Society)
Scientists measure ages of planet-hosting stars using artificial intelligence
October 2016
Publication: The Astrophysical Journal
Press release: English, German (Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research)
Stellar Astrophysicist Alumnus Returns to Campus, Shares Research
October 2016
Oswego Experience Helped Launch Career
December 2013
NASA taps 3 for summer internships
April 2013
Grant Supports Undergraduate Research in Brazil
August 2011