Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: Nora Linzer

Can you tell me a little about yourself?

My name is Nora Linzer. I’m originally from Chicago (unless if you are reading this and you are from Chicago, then I’m from Evanston). I’m going into my senior year at Caltech where I am a physics major, with all of my research focused on astronomy. In school, I run a science demo teaching program where every week we show local demonstrations for students, also coaching them for elementary level science olympiad.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

Ive always been interested in science in general. As a kid, I did a biology program where they let us do real adult experiments. But I got into physics specifically in high school because I had a really great teacher, who we all called him Doc V. And I got hooked on astronomy after doing some research.

What is your favorite part about Copenhagen? Dawn?

My favorite part about Copenhagen is how there is always something new to discover and explore. From where we're living, you can start walking in nearly any direction and eventually run into a castle or museum. It's also so easy to get around, which I really like. Walking is always great, and it's so simple to bike or take public transit. I really appreciate the atmosphere at DAWN. The people working here, as well as the other REU students, are so welcoming. It doesn't hurt that we get cake all the time, either.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

I haven't had time to do a study abroad program, but I still wanted the experience of living in a different country, so this opportunity seemed perfect. I really enjoy traveling to new places, but I've never gone this far on my own. I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone. The research opportunities here were also really appealing.

Can you tell me about your summer research project?

I am working with Charles Steinhardt to estimate how many high-redshift galaxies JWST will discover. Currently, JWST is estimated to find extremely high-redshift galaxies, but these calculations don't account for the clustering of galaxies. When clustering is included, it seems that it will be much more difficult for JWST to find any of these galaxies. My work now is to develop a strategy for the telescope that may overcome this problem.

What skills and knowledge would you like to acquire this summer?

I think I have improved my ability to do research independently, without having my mentor guide me through every problem. I've had to learn a lot about my research topic on my own, and I have been free to try my own ideas. My ability to present my work has also improved this summer.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

I've had the same answer since I was about seven when I watched the movie Sky High. The movie is about teenagers with superpowers, and one girl had the power to control plants. I don't know why, but I thought that was the coolest power ever. Now I think teleportation would be great because I could travel or go home whenever I wanted.

Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: Isabelle Cox

Can you tell me a little about yourself?

My name is Isabella Cox and I am going into my senior year as a physics major and astronomy minor at RIT. I am also from Rochester, NY, where I go to college. I have a service dog who I named Hubble after the Hubble Space Telescope, but, don’t worry, I won’t be renaming him James Webb once that launches. I like to read biographies of twentieth century astronomers; some of my favorites include Edwin Hubble (obviously) and Makio Akiyama.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

When I was 5 years old, I would watch Nova on PBS with my parents where I saw an episode about astrophysics. I told my parents then that I would be an astrophysicist some day. I performed astronomy research at RIT throughout both middle school and high school, so it has been almost a decade since my first research experience. I shadowed an astronomer at RIT when I was 12 years old and she had prepared a bunch of computer games to keep me occupied, but I showed up with a bunch of highlighted questions about a research paper she had written and we ended up discussing that for my entire visit. She invited me back later to work with her. My parents have always been very supportive, exposing my sister and I to the academic life starting at a very young age.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

I was really interested in getting experience at a different university, because so far I have only had a chance to perform research locally at RIT.

Can you tell me about your summer research project?

I’m working with Drs. Kristian Finlator, Nina Bonaventura, and Kate Whitaker using different hydrodynamic cosmological simulations to help inform our understanding of how galaxies form and evolve, especially at high redshifts before the actual observations come from the James Webb Space Telescope. We are looking at how galaxies grow in three different simulations to test if star formation is occurring in equilibrium and to understand the flow of baryonic matter cycling in and out of galaxies.

What skills and knowledge would you like to acquire this summer?

I would like to improve my ability to program more efficiently with big catalogs, instead of relying on running things overnight; it would be good to learn how to optimize my programs.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

I would say the power to pause time. I feel like I always need more time in the day to work on my projects. When I’m debugging I wish that I could pause time because I get fixated on a tiny error and then I lose the rest of my day.

Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: David Vizgan

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!