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
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Professor of Computational Astrophysics, Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics,
Newcastle University 2019 - present
Director of Applied Mathematics and Physics 2017-present
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Employment
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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
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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
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Education
Research
Grants (last 5 years)
Dynamical Processes in Stellar Interiors, STFC, £350,000 PI (2022-2025)
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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
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Numerical Simulations of Solar Interior Dynamics, NASA, $330,000 PI (CoI Glatzmaier) 2013-2015
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Team Members
Philipp Edelmann, Former Postdoctoral Researcher, Massive Stars project, programmer extraordinaire
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Rathish Ratnasingam, Postdoctoral Researcher, 3D Simulations of Waves in Massive Stars
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Ashlin Varghese, Ph.D. student, Waves in Massive Stars (expected completion 2023)
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