Welcome!

I'm an Assistant Professor in the Department for Physics and Astronomy of the University of Alabama interested in late-stage planetary system evolution, asteroseismology and galactic archaeology. Previously, I was an Research Scientist at the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, and a Kalbfleisch Fellow in the Astrophysics Department of the American Museum of Natural History, and obtained my Ph.D. at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii working with Daniel Huber and Eric Gaidos on finding and understanding giant planets orbiting giant stars.

I'm interested in understanding the mysteries behind stellar and planetary evolution, and how they affect our past, present and future. In my free time, I enjoy making music, attempting to surf, and spreading my enthusiasm about astronomy to others.

Check out my CV, publications, Github and Twitter here.

Click on the icons to the left to learn more. Otherwise, feel free to reach out to me via email!

Current Research Projects

I'm currently leading multiple projects to study red giant stars and their transiting planet population with the NASA/MIT TESS Mission.

Finding new systems

I'm supported by the NASA TESS Guest Investigator program to find planet candidates transiting giant stars. Studying these planet population can solve decades-old mysteries of planet evolution.

Ground-based followup

I also coordinate the confirmation of these planet candidates using ground-based facilities around the world. So far, my team and I have confirmed more than 10 giant planets transiting giant stars using 5 different ground-based observing facilities.

Beyond the planetary

I'm also interested in asteroseismic characterization of red giant stars to probe the formation and evolution of our Galaxy.