1. Can you describe your role in the SDSS collaboration and what you enjoy most about it?
I work on data reduction and analysis, working close to the hardware and trying to improve the data quality for all of the science applications within the collaboration. I really love getting to think about our instruments, how they impact the data, and the fun/hard problems of calibration and component separation. In addition, I have found a really nice community of collaborators and working with them brings me joy.
2. Can you tell us about your educational background and how you got interested in the field of astronomy/astrophysics?
I went to a public high school in Wisconsin Rapids, WI, where I fell in love with Chemistry and Math as the result of great teachers. I went to Yale for undergrad and pursued/attained degrees in both. For grad school, I wanted to continue working with spectroscopy, but on slightly larger datasets so I joined the Harvard Physics department, where I recently defended my Ph.D. I am now a NASA Hubble postdoctoral fellow at Princeton working full time on astronomy. My shift from math and chemistry to astronomy might seem perplexing, but one of the things I love about astronomy is how many disciplines intersect here and how I get to use all of the skills I developed and enjoy in my current work.
3. What projects are you currently working on and what are you most excited about?
I am very excited about the prospect of mapping the chemical and velocity variations of the dust between stars through millions of near-infrared spectra. This project is really only accessible via the resources of SDSS-V and involves a lot of fun big data science, fast code, and statistics.
4. Can you describe how you balance work and personal life, and what advice would you give to someone just starting in the field?
Within academia, I have found that it is far more important to respect and enjoy the people you are working with than to be focused on working on any one specific topic. The same number of hours of “work” feels very different depending on how much stress or fun you have interacting with your colleagues.
5. Can you share with us a unique hobby or interest that you have outside of work?
I love my cat (a uniquely excessive amount) and epic fantasy book series.