I was born and raised in Lakeside, a small suburb on the outskirts of San Diego, California. After finishing high school there I attended Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, and completed my Bachelor's degree in June of 1997 with majors in physics and philosophy. I was accepted to the University of Arizona for graduate work in the Department of Physics and finished my Ph.D. in theoretical astrophysics in 2002 with professor Adam Burrows.
I was awarded a Hubble Postdoctoral fellowship, which I took to the Astronomy Department at the University of California, Berkeley. During my time there, I was hosted by the The Theoretical Astrophysics Center and professor Jon Arons. During that time --- and since --- I have collaborated extensively with professor Eliot Quataert. I then spent two years as a Lyman Spitzer postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University.
I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Astronomy at The Ohio State University.
I enjoy hiking, rock climbing, playing a little piano, and swimming.
My research can roughly be divided into two loose categories: (1) Core-collapse supernovae, the birth of neutron stars, the origin of the heavy elements, gamma ray bursts, stellar and relativistic winds, and magnetars and (2) the physics, structure, and feedback processes of starburst galaxies and active galactic nuclei.
Action photo!: The picture of me at the right was taken on the Iveragh Penninsula outside of Kilarny in south-west Ireland.
The Bay Area : Here is a magnificent view from the Lawrence Hall of Science above UC Berkeley.
2008:
Jan 29 : Colloquium, UT Austin
Feb : Seminar, U Kentucky
Feb 28 : Colloquium, Harvard, ITC
July : Starbursts & AGN, Aspen
Aug : New Vistas, Perkins Observatory
Sept 8 : Fireside Chat, Indian Guides, Columbus
Oct 15 : Colloquium, Penn State
Oct 25-Nov 2: Starbursts & AGN, Shanghai, China
Nov 2 - Nov 4: Seminar, KIAA, Beijing, China
Nov : Seminar, MSU
2007:
Aug 1-6: Columbus
Aug 6-12: Leiden, Lorentz Center, Massive Stars to Supernova Remnants
Aug 13-31: Wisconsin
Sept 12: Faculty orientation, OSU
Sept 27-30: Princeton, Paczynski Memorial & Symposium
Oct 1-3: OSU AGN Workshop
Oct 3-9: San Diego
Oct 27-28: Nickels
Nov 5-9: Santa Fe, GRB 2007
Nov 27-Dec 1: Tucson AGN workshop
2006:
Feb 1: Colloquium, UCLA
Feb 2-8: Berkeley
Feb 13-16 : Seminar, Chicago
Feb 19-27: Review Talk, Energy Budget in the High Energy Universe, Tokyo
Mar 29: Colloquium, Columbia
May 4-7: Seminar, Lawrence University
May 24-25: Colloquium UC Santa Cruz
June 4-7: Visit UC Santa Barbara
June 30-July 4: Visit Berkeley
Sept 5-15: Visit Ireland
Nov 5-8: Seminar at CITA
Nov 14-15: Visit Berkeley
Nov 16-17: Seminar, UCSC
Nov 18-19: Visit Berkeley
Nov 22-27: Family visit
Dec 21-Jan 1: Wisconsin
2005:
March 26 - April 2 : Triggering Relativistic Jets, Cozumel
April 6 - April 10 : Hubble Symposium, Baltimore
May 23 - May 27 : Physics of Astrophysical Outflows, KITP
May 31 : Nuclear Astrophyscis Seminar, Ohio University
June 1 : Visit, Ohio State
June 7 : Seminar, UC Irvine
June 9 : Seminar, UC Davis
June 22 - July 12 : Alaska, Seattle
July 31 - August 15 : Move to Princeton
Oct 14: Seminar, NYU
Nov 9-11: Seminar, Johns Hopkins University
Dec 7: Seminar, Princeton (Wunch)
Dec 12: Colloquium, University of Rochester