Research Interests

My research focuses on the properties of galaxies in the local Universe. More specifically, I look at the neutral hydrogen gas, or HI, content in dwarf, low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies to provide context towards how they may have formed, what they may have experienced throughout their evolution, and the role they play in the formation and evolution of more massive galaxies. To accomplish this, most of my data comes from radio observations taken with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (left), the world's largest fully-steerable telescope.

I use a variety of analysis methods and tools to get the job done. Given the data-focused era we are in, I am always trying to learn and use new data science methods in my research.

Here are a few cool papers that I led or was a part of:

Hovering over the thumbnails will reveal the short and complete title of the paper. Clicking on "ads" to take you to the ADS listing for a paper. The thumbnails are cutouts from the Legacy Survey viewer of one of the targets that are in the paper. Alternatively, you can go to find a complete ADS of papers here: link

MADCASH x HST

Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Two Faint Dwarf Satellites of Nearby LMC Analogs from MADCASH

SMUDGes in HI

Systematically Measuring Ultradiffuse Galaxies in H I: Results from the Pilot Survey

Tidal UDG

Evidence for Ultra-diffuse Galaxy “Formation” through Galaxy Interactions

HI in LSBs

Neutral Hydrogen Observations of Low Surface Brightness Galaxies around M101 and NGC 5485

Outreach and Teaching

I believe that science outreach and education are important tools to make complex topics accessible for our future generations of scientists and our society, while also providing opportunities to develop their critical thinking skills. I have held teaching assistant positions for my entire graduate career, from introductory labs to senior astrophysics. One that I love to highlight is the third year "General Laboratory" where I supervised student-led projects over the course of a year. One group built a radio telescope! See a picture of it on the terrace of Ellis Hall to the right (or above, depending on where your viewing this site). Unfortunately, the cellular towers on campus were too strong for our filters.

I have volunteered at many public outreach events in the community for groups ranging from elementary school students to adults looking to further their scientific knowledge. I have given public lectures at the Queen's University Observatory (QUO) open house and more recently I was on the QUO podcast, Fast Radio Bursts: link. I was a magazine columnist for Vista, the Kingston Senior Center's monthly regional newsletter, where I wrote over 40 articles covering new results or on-going events in the astronomical community.

What else?

I love fiddling and playing with all types of data and tech. I try to ensure that I am always learning something new to add to my toolbox. I am fortunate enough to be in a position where I can travel to beautiful locations around the world not only for astronomy-related purposes but also for vacations. When I am not doing something related to astronomy, I am probably doing something active (ideally, a sport), cooking, or just relaxing. Below are some highlights

Captivating view of the 900-ton platform and main dish from the catwalk at the Arecibo Observatory. RIP.

On a ride through the canals in Leiden, Netherlands

Wonderful view of some of the telescopes at Kitt-Peak National Observatory