B.A. - Wesleyan University
(1986)
B.A. - Wesleyan University
(1986)
Ph.D. - Yale University (1993)
Postdoctoral: Cerro
Tololo Inter-American Observatory: I spent 3 years doing research
and some observatory support (single-channel photometers and CCDs).
CTIO is the Southern Hemisphere sister of Kitt
Peak National Observatory in Tucson, AZ, and together with the
Gemini Observatories (twin
8-meter telescopes), forms the ground-based core of the U.S.
National Observatories (there is also a solar component). My
research at CTIO focused on three observational projects to study the
chemical abundances and kinematics of RR Lyrae stars in three distint
regions of our Milky Way galaxy, in an effort to better understand
how our Galaxy formed -- because of the massive amount of data I
collected, all three projects are still underway. I also studied the
newly-discovered Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, which in 1994 was found
lurking behind the Bulge of our Galaxy, and which has replaced the
Large Magellanic Cloud as the "closest known galaxy to our own". I
like to think my time at Tololo was well-spent, but perhaps my most
lasting legacy is Chucky, the
Astro-Gnomer.
Postdoctoral: Dept. of
Physics & Astronomy at McMaster
University, in Hamilton, Ontario (Canada). Drs. Bill Harris and
Doug Welch supported my study of old stellar populations in the
Galaxy. In addition to starting a large project with Doug to survey
the variable star populations of metal-rich globular clusters in the
Milky Way, I completed a paper with Drs. Bob Hanson (UCO/Lick) and
Suzanne Hawley (MSU) on the luminosity calibration of RR Lyrae stars
using the method of statistical parallaxes. Bill and grad student Pat
Durrell were co-investigators on a project to measure the structural
and color properites of the nucleated dwarf elliptical NGC 5106 using
the Hubble Space Telescope.
Postdoctoral: Afterwards, I recieved a Hubble Fellowship, which I
took to the Department of
Astronomy at the University of
Michigan (faculty contact, Dr. Mario Mateo). Mainly, I continued
the projects I had begun at CTIO and McMaster, with the help of
undergraduates Laura Ritter and Ben Bowes. Laura and Ben did
extensive photometry of the variable stars in NGC 6441 and NGC 6316,
respectively. Ben stayed on for a summer and lent a hand on projects
including RR Lyrae stars in M54, in and the Galactic halo. With Dr.
Ata Sarajedini (SFSU), I measured the age of the globular cluster M54
in the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy (it is as old as Galactic globulars,
indicating that they and Sgr formed at about the same time). I also
published photometry of 102 RR Lyrae stars in the inner halo of the
Galaxy, and with Stefanie Wachter (Washington), discovered that the
suspected cataclysmic variable CG Muscae is actually a garden-variety
RR Lyrae star.
Postdoctoral: In 1998, I transferred my Hubble Fellowship to the
Department of Physics and
Astronomy at the Bowling Green
State University (faculty contact, Dr. John Laird), where I will
start teaching as an Assistant Professor in Sept 1999. My research
activities will focus on completing the study of the dE,N galaxy NGC
5206, the photometric study of M54 (main-sequence turnoff and RR
Lyrae stars), the RR Lyrae kinematics projects begun at CTIO, and the
globular cluster variable star survey.