Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: Michael Messere

Tell me a little about yourself.

I’ll be a rising senior at the University of Michigan, double majoring in astronomy and physics, and minoring in space engineering.  I am from upstate New York in the Saratoga Springs area. Outside of astronomy, I am a runner and on the club cross country and track team in college. I also enjoy hiking, and since I’m from upstate New York there are a lot of mountains.  

I started a science podcast with four of my friends in college where we aim to share the amazing stories within science by having light-hearted conversations with professors, researchers, grad students, professionals, and really anyone with a passion for science.  We all met in an intro astronomy class freshman year, with all of us interested in getting involved with research. We soon realized that research is very one-on-one tailored, not group project oriented, so that inspired us to instead pursue this idea of science communication.  As our name ‘Everything Astronomy’ suggests, we want to cover a broad spectrum of topics; from the math of black holes to the biology of aliens.  Other than their research interests, we also discuss their backgrounds and unique career pathways.  There is such a diversity of people in astronomy and science that we figured a podcast would be the best way to share their stories and demonstrate that science can be for everyone.  

Feel free to follow us on social media or listen on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.  All platforms can be found here: https://linktr.ee/everythingastronomy.  

How did you get interested in astronomy? 

I don’t think there is one clear answer, but I know my dad’s personal interest in astronomy and science fiction had a lot to do with it.  We used to spend nights together looking through our telescope or watching meteor showers on our hammock (even though I always preferred to look at my Hubble picture book where everything was less fuzzy), watching space-related documentaries, and I would often read through his astronomy books.  At the same time, we would always watch classic science fiction films together and discuss the possibility of aliens and UFOs in the universe.  I think this combination of actual science with the curiosity that comes with science fiction fueled my interest in space and led me to pursue it as an actual career.

What is your favorite part about DAWN? 

It is a bit hard to tell the atmosphere there, as I haven’t yet been there in person.  A lot of astronomy departments have many faculty that cover a wide range of topics, whereas it is quite rare to have a focused research interest.  This is one of the things I love about DAWN; the members are from a diverse range of backgrounds, but covering one common interest.  Everyone is also really supportive and friendly.  

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

I applied to this program the spring of my sophomore year.  Around this time, I knew I wanted to expand my research with an REU, but I was also considering a travel abroad program in Germany.  The DAWN international REU seemed like a great balance between wanting to travel abroad while also performing astronomy-related research.   As it turned out, it was not financially feasible to go to Germany and the study abroad program itself was cancelled about a month in due to the pandemic.  This left many of my friends that decided to go to Germany scrambling to get back home. 

How has the pandemic impacted your life?

Fortunately, no one immediate to me has been sick or infected with COVID and my parents were able to continue working.  I was sent home in mid-March 2020 and was stuck thereafter at home for a long period.  One silver lining was that I got into hiking and I was able to hike all 46 high peaks in the Adirondacks last summer over about 11-12 days total with my two best friends from high school.  Remote school was really miserable and my motivation to do homework and study was really lacking.  But I did get close with my living pod this past year, making dinner together and going on our weekly outing to the supermarket on a Friday night (the highlight of my week!). 

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

I would be able to manipulate space and time such that I could instantaneously travel to another spot in the universe and gaze back at Earth as it was in the past (taking advantage of light travel time).  This assumes I’d have a really good telescope with me of course.

Tell me about your summer research project.

This summer I’m working with Dr. Steven Gillman, who is a postdoctoral fellow at DTU/DAWN.  We are looking at the starburst-driven gas outflows of galaxies with a redshift of ~1-2.  Since these galaxies exist at cosmic noon when there is a peak in star formation, the outflows are driven by the collisions of exploding supernovae and stellar winds.   Essentially, I am focused on stacking the Halpha emission of 288 galaxies with KMOS IFU spectroscopy and comparing the outflow velocities with other properties of these galaxies.

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

After the bathroom at the airport, I would probably head straight for the best coffee shop (asking my advisor his opinion ahead of time).  I really like coffee.  Did I forget to mention that?

Anything else that you want to share? 

In addition to my podcast that you can follow @EvAstroPodcast, you can also follow my paw-some cat on instagram @scotchbuttercat.  The three pillars of my life are coffee, astronomy, and cats.

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Follow Michael on Twitter @messeremichael or his podcast at @EvAstroPodcast!

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.