About Me

I am a 6th-year graduate student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow at Yale University, working with Prof. Pieter van Dokkum. My work focuses primarily on galaxy evolution, and in particular, my thesis is focused on the baryon cycle in galaxies — how galaxies accrete, proccess, and expel gas — using both novel instrumentation, large telescopes (Keck/Palomar), and simulations. I earned my undergraduate degrees in physics, astrophysics, and (minor) creative writing at UC Berkeley (go bears!) working with Prof. Mariska Kriek. I, along with Deborah Lokhorst, Seery Chen, Pieter, and Bob Abraham (PI) am building and comissioning the Dragonfly Spectral Line Mapper, a novel telephoto array with ultranarrowband filters, targeting emission lines from gas in the Circumgalactic Medium of nearby galaxies. You can learn more about my research here , and more about my software releases here .

I have written or co-written several pieces of open source astronomical software, including pysersic, a bayesian profile fitting code for galaxy images, maskfill, a code for robustly filling masks in astronomical images, and silkscreen, a simulation-based inference + CNN based framework for estimating the masses and distances to dwarf galaxies.

I also maintain a website with a free Python textbook oriented towards astronomy and astrophysics students. The site also has numerous guides and tutorials you can download and/or use in your classrooms, as well as some advice columns for undergrads about applying to graduate school, the NSF GRFP, and REUs. I will soon be releasing a new Python textbook with IOP AAS E-books publishing.

Astronomy Climate and Diversity Committee

I am actively involved in, and committed to, efforts to create a more equitable and inclusive department community and astrophysics field in general. I believe that science is a human endeavor, and that it is critical we all do the work needed to combat systemic and widespread racism, sexism, and ableism in our field. If you want to talk science, grad admissions/NSF apps, Python pedagogy, or DEI work, I am always happy and eager to chat - please don’t hesitate to reach out.

In the Astro department at Yale, I have both served as the chair of, and sat on the steering comittee of, the ACDC, our working group for departmental efforts toward inclusion and equity. You can learn more about ACDC at our website . A few examples of the initiatives our group has led are

• Organizing a DEI-oriented colloquium during the department’s colloquium schedule (on per semester), centering focus on the topic. Recent speakers include Ed Bertschinger and Casey Miller.
• Both the Summer umbrella academy and Astro research preparation seminar (see more here) rose out of discussions on undergrad support in ACDC.
• Members of ACDC are liasoning with the newly formed Astro Grad Congress, a national organization designed to facilitate the sharing of resources and information surrounding department development.
• Suggesting (now being implemented) a service award within the department, complementing other awards dedicated to academic achievement.
• Liasoning with the Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (CSMA).
• Gathered, compiled, and shared feedback with the faculty on numerous grad student issues, including course feedback, qualifying exams, etc. Compiled reports of graduate program requirements and procedures across institutions, leading to changes in the graduate requirements at Yale.
• Researched Equity in Admissions, providng reports and guidelines to the graduate admissions committee for best practices in interviewing, involving grad students in the process, etc.
• Organizing toward the creation of a MultiMentoring Program, facilitating more undergraduate involvement in research with good support networks.
• Conducted town halls and department surveys to establish priorities and climate concerns.