Post-Docs

I am an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow and DiRAC Fellow. I am conducting a search for the first planets transiting white dwarf stars in data from the Zwicky Transient Facility, while also mentoring undergraduates in astronomical research. My previous work has focused on white dwarf asteroseismology, and I am an active collaborator in variable star research using Kepler and TESS data.

My research focuses on how galaxies shut down star formation and transition from actively star forming to quiescent. This work leverages deep multi-wavelength photometric surveys, large spectroscopic surveys, and cosmological simulations in order to constrain the mechanisms potentially responsible for shutting down star formation in galaxies.

I am an NSF MPS-Ascend Postdoctoral Fellow. I study the long-term variability of X-ray Binaries and Active Galactic Nuclei with data from the Zwicky Transient Facility and X-ray observatories using time series analysis techniques from nonlinear dynamics and machine learning. I also mentor students in astronomical research. My previous research has included the development of radiation-hydrodynamical simulations of the accretion disks around black holes, for comparison to observational data.

I am interested in developing data analysis techniques using the latest advances in statistical inference in order to leverage complex astronomical data. I work on probabilistic cataloging, a novel Bayesian technique that is able to handle extremely crowded stellar fields. The method is able to handle deblending ambiguities by treating the number of sources itself as a parameter to be inferred, using trans-dimensional Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling.

I’m interested in how galaxies form and evolve, from the smallest dwarf galaxies to large galaxies like the Milky Way. I primarily study the resolved stellar populations, large-scale properties such as satellite populations, and gas and dust content of galaxies comparable in size to our Milky Way to understand their evolution, particularly as a result of their interactions with other galaxies.

Kirill Tchernyshyov studies gas and dust in and around galaxies. He is currently investigating the connection between a galaxy’s evolutionary state, environment, and circumgalactic gas content. In the past, he has worked on chemical evolution and gas dynamics in the Milky Way and its neighbors.

I study planetary atmospheres, habitability, biosignatures, and the emergence of life. I host a podcast called Strange New Worlds, which examines science, technology, and culture through the lens of Star Trek.