About Me
Professional
Background
I did my Ph.D. at UC Santa Cruz under the guidance of Professor Gary Glatzmaier. During my Ph.D. I studied convective overshoot and internal gravity wave generation (IGW) in the Sun. After graduating I had an NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship, which I took to NCAR in Boulder. While in Boulder, I worked with Keith MacGregor on the interaction of IGW with magnetic fields. After two years I became an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona, Lunar and Planetary Lab. While at University of Arizona I changed my research to focus on more massive stars and giant exoplanets (hot Jupiters). In 2014 I moved to the Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics at Newcastle University, where I am currently Professor of Computational Astrophysics. I am also a Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute (PSI, Tucson AZ).
Current
Position
Professor of Computational Astrophysics, Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics,
Newcastle University 2019 - present
Director of Applied Mathematics and Physics 2017-present
Employment
Reader, School of Mathematics, Statistics & Physics, Newcastle University 2016 - present
Senior Scientist, Planetary Science Institute 2016 - present
Senior Lecturer Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Newcastle University 2015 - 2016
Lecturer, Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Newcastle University 2014-2015
Assistant Professor, Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona 2008-2014
NSF A&A Postdoctoral Fellow, High Altitude Observatory, NCAR 2006-2008
National Physical Sciences Consortium Graduate Fellow 1999-2006
Prior to attending college I was in the USAF as an intelligence operator.
University of California, Santa Cruz, CA US 1999-2006
Ph.D. in Astronomy & Astrophysics
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ US 1995-1999
B.Sc. in Physics and Astronomy, Magna Cum Laude
Education
Research
Grants (last 5 years)
Dynamical Processes in Stellar Interiors, STFC, £350,000 PI (2022-2025)
Internal Gravity Waves in Evolved Stars, STFC, £315,000 PI (2018-2021)
Modeling Inhomogeneous MHD in hot Jupiter atmospheres, Leverhulme Trust, £223,000 PI (CoI Bushby) 2017-2021
The role of Wave Dynamics on the Origin and Evolution of hot Jupiters, NASA, $515,000 PI (CoI Lin) 2017-2020
Internal Gravity Waves in Massive Stars, STFC, £290,000, PI
(Institutional PI: Shukurov) 2016-2019
The role of Wave Dynamics on the Origin and Evolution of hot Jupiters, NASA, $50,000 PI (CoI Lin) 2015-2016
Magnetism in hot Jupiter Atmospheres, NASA/NESSF, $30,000 PI 2014-2015 * grant to fund Ph.D. student Tad Komacek
Numerical Simulations of Magnetism in hot Jupiter Atmospheres, NASA, $368,000, PI (CoI Showman) 2013-2017
Numerical Simulations of Solar Interior Dynamics, NASA, $330,000 PI (CoI Glatzmaier) 2013-2015
Team Members
Philipp Edelmann, Former Postdoctoral Researcher, Massive Stars project, programmer extraordinaire
Rathish Ratnasingam, Postdoctoral Researcher, 3D Simulations of Waves in Massive Stars
Ashlin Varghese, Ph.D. student, Waves in Massive Stars (expected completion 2023)