Can you tell me a little about yourself?
A philosophical question. My name is David Vizgan and I’m from Brooklyn NY. I go to Wesleyan University and I’m a rising Junior, double majoring in Physics and Astronomy. I love heavy metal music and I’m a die-hard NY sports fan. I’ve been playing music for a while, the piano and guitar, and I’m an amateur chess player. Oh, and I’m also a quadruplet, one of four boys.
How did you get interested in astronomy?
When I was really young I had these night lights in our living room that were glow in the dark stars that we put up all over. Whenever I slept on the couch I’d see the cut out stars. When I was 5 or 6 years old, my mom bought me an astronomy book that I was completely obsessed with. I still have it today. As I went through school, I preferred the arts and I applied to college thinking I’d do journalism for a career. In my first year of college I was looking to take the easier astronomy class, but my mom pushed me to take the harder one. I had an amazing professor that semester, Dr. Meredith Hughes, who got me hooked and later took me on to do research with her.
What is your favorite part about Copenhagen? About DAWN?
I always thought that NYC was a clean, functional city but coming here and actually seeing what a clean, beautiful, functional city looks like was pretty alarming. I don’t think there is an analog for Copenhagen, it is just perfect for me. Aesthetically beautiful, friendly atmosphere, nice people and I love the emphasis on public health here, with lots of parks and exercising. It is a pretty cliche answer, but the people at DAWN are great — some of the brightest, most hard-working, invested people I’ve ever met. It is inspirational to come here to meet people working their tails off to unlock the secrets of the universe. I’m grateful to be among a talented cohort of students, which is motivating and it helps bring out the best in me.
What motivated you to apply to an international REU?
I got an email from my department encouraging students interested in astronomy to apply to this REU early in the fall semester. So it was in the back of my mind for quite a while. It is really hard to coordinate study abroad as a physics and astronomy student, so I thought this might be my only shot in my undergraduate career to do something like this. I was very invested in the application process, as I really wanted this! I thought of it like a semi-study abroad situation, which interested me, but perhaps more fulfilling from the career standpoint.
Can you tell me about your summer research project?
I’m working with Dr. Thomas Greve to investigate whether the C+ emission line at high redshifts can be used as a tracer of gas mass at early epochs. We are using simulated galaxies from SIGAME data set to derive our results.
What skills and knowledge would you like to acquire this summer?
I want to be a better coder and I want to develop more scientific independence. Having already done research, I feel like I’ve had my hand held a lot, so I’d like to grow more self-sufficient so that when I return to Wesleyan I can continue with my research project successfully.
If you could have any superpower what would it be?
Either shape-shifting or the power to light things on fire with my brain. I wouldn’t hurt anyone, of course, but I think that would be a really cool super power. But I suppose shape-shifting is more practical because I could get away with a lot more mischief. It would also help me achieve my life long dream of becoming an NBA player, by growing to 8 feet tall with super long arms. I might finally have a shot!