1. Can you describe your role in the SDSS collaboration and what you enjoy most about it?
I am a Survey Scientist for the Milky Way Mapper, with oversight of stellar companions, radial velocity variability, and planet host characterization science areas. The thing I enjoy most about my role is that I get to interact with so many different researchers and research topics. From a technical standpoint, it is fun to see how all these different projects come together to make the Milky Way Mapper.
2. Can you tell us about your educational background and how you got interested in the field of astronomy/astrophysics?
I did my undergraduate degrees at the University of Kansas, and my graduate degrees at Michigan State University. I originally ended up in physics/astronomy because I found a copy of A Brief History of Time at a book fair when I was in high school. The book was filled with such exciting ideas that I majored in both physics and astronomy, and I haven’t looked back since.
3. What projects are you currently working on and what are you most excited about?
I am currently involved with a number of projects looking at radial velocity companions (binaries, brown dwarfs, and planets). That is a hard question. It feels like every day a new project comes up that is exciting. Certainly, in the long term I really want to understand the brown dwarf desert around M dwarf stars, but there a so many neat things going on right now that it is hard to pick a favorite!
4. Can you describe how you balance work and personal life, and what advice would you give to someone just starting in the field?
It is very tricky to balance work and personal life especially since I now have two very young kids. I am a professor at a university, and the biggest danger to the work/life balance is teaching. They say that teaching can grow to fill any space you give it. My best advice is to be very deliberate about how you schedule your time. When you are at work, you should be doing work and when you are home you should be doing things in your personal life. When work time and personal time overlap, then trouble can happen.
5. Can you share with us a unique hobby or interest that you have outside of work?
Before my second child was born, I used to play a wide variety of board games with different groups. I hope to get back to that when life settles down again!