Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: Zoe Kearney

Tell me a little about yourself.

I am soon to be first year masters student at McGill working with Prof Tracy Webb and I recently finished my undergraduate degree in Astronomy and Physics at UMass Amherst in May 2020 working with Prof. Alex Pope. In this last year, I took a gap year to work at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics on atmospheric physics and remote sensors.

I am originally from Colorado, so I love to do a lot of outdoor activities (hiking, skiing, camping). I also like to run and I have gotten into yoga in the last year. I’ve been trying to learn caligraphy recently too, so that has been fun. Otherwise, I’m a huge extrovert so I love spending time with my friends.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

I didn’t have a eureka moment, it was just a gradual interest that built in me. Starting in eighth grade I would tell people I wanted to become an astonomer, probably before I even know what it really meant. I had a lot of diverse interests, poetry, art, math, and science, and astronomy felt like a nice intersection of these things. I decided to guide my college search based on astronomy programs, which is what led me to UMass Amherst. As soon as I started taking physics classes I also realized right away that I loved physics probably more than anything else and that was a really cool bonus to astronomy.

What is your favorite part about DAWN?

I really like the community at DAWN. It seems like everyone is really interested not only in each others science but also their lives. It is pretty easy to spot a collaboration that is non-toxic and I definitely see that in DAWN. It is so nice to work in an environment like that. Even though we aren’t in person, I really love who I've been working with; everyone has been very encouraging and I feel like I'm making new strides in my research and thinking processes and I think that's definitely a byproduct of how I've been treated and talked to.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

I spent 6 months in Heidelberg Germany as an undergrad through a study abroad program. Ever since I came home from that program, I’ve wanted to go back to Europe. So this seemed like a great opportunity. It also felt like a really nice nugget of research I could do between school and jobs. When I was in Germany, I got to experience doing research at the Max Planck Institute which showed me the importance of working with people from all around the world. Such networks are advantageous in terms of research, building connections, and creating opportunities.

How has the pandemic impacted your life?

I got sick with COVID at the beginning of the pandemic which was a very traumatic experience overall. It was really scary to have the symptoms pop up and for nobody really to understand what was going on. It threw my whole body out of whack and it made it difficult to finish up my senior year and honors thesis while dealing with that. I had to readjust how I did work and was forced to listen to my body, which was something new for me. Unfortunately I am still struggling with my health issues, so it has been a long year and a half. It has been a bit of a wakeup call for how I treat my body in terms of how much sleep I get, how I eat, and how I take care of myself. It has also been eye opening to see how broken our healthcare system is. This combined with the isolation has been pretty difficult. But I am lucky to have a strong support system; I don’t think I would’ve made it through this year without that.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

Definitely flying, because I love to travel and I tend to feel stuck in a rut if I’ve been in one place for too long. Flying would definitely help with that and let me explore the world.

Tell me about your summer research project.

I’m working with Thomas Greve and we are exploring the high oxygen and carbon line ratios ([OIII]/[CII]) in high redshift galaxies. It has been found that these ratios are unusually high in the earliest galaxies relative to later cosmic times. We are comparing observations to simulations from SIGAME as well as analytical simulations to see if they agree. We are also exploring some of the physics that can explain these high ratios using CLOUDY radiative transfer modeling.

Where is the first place you want to visit when we finally get you to Copenhagen?

I don’t have a definite answer but I am excited to bike around and to see the architecture and go out for a beer.

Meet the DAWN-IRES Senior Scholars: Sidney Lower

Tell me a little about yourself.

I am fourth year graduate student at the University of Florida in the Department of Astronomy, working on galaxy formation and evolution with simulations. I am originally from a very small town in Illinois (2000 people!) and I got my undergraduate degree in Physics from the University of Illinois. So I spent the first 22 years of my life in central Illinois... it was good to get away when I moved to Gainesville for graduate school. My biggest fear was always getting stuck at home, so college and grad school were neat because it guaranteed I would be exploring new places.

I really enjoy reading and I’ve been trying hard to get back into that lately. I like reading niche things like about royal families in medieval Europe. If I didn’t do physics and astronomy I think I would do something in history. History is like a big puzzle, almost like putting the pieces together in astronomy. I also like reading a lot of non-fiction, political science, and activism literature. I like fantasy but for some reason I can’t read science fiction.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

It is so cliche but I got interested as a kid by looking up at the night sky in wonder. That is one of the benefits of living a small town - you can actually see the stars! Leading up to college, I knew I really liked science but didn’t know my exact path forward. By process of elimination I found myself enjoying physics the most and knew it was the best fit for me.

My first research experience was in my sophomore year at a point in my knowledge curve where I wasn’t yet afraid of what I didn’t know. My research advisor asked what I wanted to do (i.e. work in the lab or work on data) but I wasn’t sure nor did I know what it really meant. He showed me an Allen wrench and asked me what it was. I know now, but at the time I had no idea, and replied that maybe I should go into data analysis.

What is your favorite part about DAWN?

DAWN is one of the more major collaborations that I’ve been able to join in my graduate career. As a first year graduate student, I had heard of the DAWN faculty and read papers. So to actually get to meet these people in person was priceless. I think everyone has their fangirl moment... Getting to know everyone and their work and witnessing the science develop real time - that is the cool part for me. It is so worthwhile to form partnerships here and there and to draw connections from informal meetings. These conversations wouldn’t happen if it weren’t for this program.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

My PhD advisor Desika Narayanan is very good at finding opportunities that are going to be a good fit for his students. He encouraged me to apply to this program and once I learned more about it I was very excited.

How has the pandemic impacted your life?

The pandemic happened right when I was transitioning from a brand new graduate student into getting my footing. I think it has disrupted a lot of what I think a typical grad student experience could and should be. On the flip side, I’ve been able to attend a lot of virtual conferences that I may not otherwise have been able to. I got to give a talk at Roman Space Telescope conference and a number of remote seminars at universities across the country. I have been able to expose my work to many more people than I otherwise would’ve been able to, and for that I am grateful.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

The most obvious one is flying - that would be so much fun. I remember that it was always something I was dreaming about as a kid. Well, either that, or invisibility. The concept of being in a space and not being noticed is enticing. That sounds really creepy. But I guess I want to be a fly on the wall. I love people watching. Actually, you asked how the pandemic impacted my life? I can no longer people watch! It is tragic.

Tell me about your PhD project.

My PhD is a meandering project because my PhD advisor and I get together and brainstorm a lot of big ideas and get really excited but then realize they won’t all pan out. The big picture of my PhD is looking at the most massive galaxies in the universe at early times and understanding how they evolve in terms of their star formation, quenching, and dust. I’m into trying to understand how galaxies that exist 700 million years after the Big Bang have such extreme amounts of dust. We have so much to learn about how this dust forms, where, and when. I’m working on developing a holistic view of massive galaxy evolution, with a grab bag of different projects that use cosmological hydrodynamical simulations.

Where is the first place you want to visit when we finally get you to Copenhagen?

That is a good question! Definitely an art museum. I haven’t been a good noodle and researched where to go yet, maybe because I didn’t want to get my hopes up and have the trip cancelled, but I definitely need to find art museums. There is nothing more peaceful than being in an old art museum for hours by myself.

Anything else that you want to share?

I am very thankful for the other students in this program. This has been very fun given the circumstances. It seems like any time I meet younger students the bar keeps getting raised… these young kids are just killing it and that’s amazing! The future is bright. Seeing and working with undergraduates this summer has brought me new hope.

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You can view Sidney’s professional webpage at sidneylower.com, contact her via email at s.lower@ufl.edu, or follow her on twitter @es_em_ell.

Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: Hollis Akins

Tell me a little about yourself.

I am currently a rising senior at Grinnell College in Iowa, majoring in Physics. Though I grew up in North Carolina, I’ve lived all over the country at various points. I had the unique opportunity to go to a dual enrollment high school, where you can take college classes at a local college in your junior and senior years. Because of this, I was able to take a unique astronomy class using the college observatory quite early on. I also got to use the college darkroom and spent a lot of time experimenting in there.

Other hobbies I’ve developed in the past year or so include cooking, as we’ve all been home so much recently. I’ve been doing school fully online for the last year but living with a bunch of friends and cooking with them. My favorite cuisine is Indian, and I’ve been learning to make it since there isn’t a good place to get it within a 30 minute drive.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

I got into astronomy because of my interest in photography. I enjoyed using the darkroom and taking photography classes, a lot of it just for fun. I also had been taking a lot of my physics classes, and had access to an observatory. When I saw there was an observational astronomy course that I could take and realized telescopes are just different types of lenses, I was excited to try it out. It was an extension of my interest in physics and photography. My summer research advisor at DAWN is also really into photography, which is a nice connection.

What is your favorite part about DAWN?

I would say that it is really nice to be a part of an institute that is very focused on a specific era in the universe. It feels like we are all trying to answer some of the same questions at the same time and in the same (virtual) place. In that sense it feels different from a university where there is a much wider field of study. It is really cool to see how everyone’s work interconnects by going to the Cake Talks and other larger DAWN meetings.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

At the time that I applied (which was over two years ago given the cancellation in 2020), half of my class was applying to study abroad programs (something like 50% of students study abroad in their third year to get the "Grinnell experience”). I knew I wanted to study abroad and go into astronomy, but there were very few opportunities that would allow me to do both. I was torn, because while I was willing to take a semester away from astronomy, I didn’t want to, as it was something I enjoyed studying. I knew that a lot of astronomy research is done internationally, so this program really seemed perfect to spend my summer abroad and see how international collaborations work and perform research relevant to the field I want to go into. Some of those things didn’t pan out in that I am still in the US due to the pandemic, but my experience has definitely given me a better understanding about how international collaborations work.

How has the pandemic impacted your life?

Grinnell sent us home in March 2020 and I spent the summer back home in North Carolina. However, I was able to make it work to live with some friends for the fall semester. Because travel was still somewhat rare at that point, we were able to find discounts on housing and we ended up renting a big house in the mountains of Northern Utah for the semester. We did our online classes from there and got to live together, cook great meals, and explore the area. This was an experience that I never would have had if not for the pandemic, so that was positive outcome. I’ve had a lot of weird adventures that would never have have happened if classes were not remote. On the whole, the pandemic has had a lot of silver linings despite also being a very difficult and strange time.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

Flying—it seems like so much fun! To be clear, I don’t want to go sky diving—that sounds too dangerous—but if I could fly and have total control and no reason to worry, that would be very cool.

Tell me about your summer research project.

Some recent observations have found that, at early times in the universe, there were large halos of gas around galaxies that cannot be explained entirely by star formation. There are theories on their origin, including possible evidence of ongoing or previously outflowing neutral gas. I’m working with data from ALMA studying a single strong gravitationally lensed galaxy at a redshift of 7 to look at the distribution of the gas in this galaxy. In particular, we are looking for this extended halo of gas and for any signatures of outflowing gas. Earlier results are based on stacking of data from many galaxies, but our study would be one of the first times this has been shown for an individual galaxy.

Where is the first place you want to visit when we finally get you to Copenhagen?

This is a tough question because I know very little about Copenhagen—but I will probably start with a visit to whatever the internet tells me is the best coffee shop in Copenhagen.