Standing in front of the SPIDER experiment on the launch pad at the Long Duration Balloon Facility near McMurdo Station, Antarctica, on Jan. 1, 2015, a few hours before its launch.
I am a postdoc at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, specializing in observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB).
From 2015-2016, I was a postdoc in physics at Case Western Reserve University, working with Prof. John Ruhl on CMB polarization experiments.
I completed my PhD in Astrophysics in 2015 at the University of Toronto, in the Balloon Astrophysics Group. During this time, I specialized in developing the flight power systems, control systems, and scan strategy for two balloon-borne telescopes: the SPIDER and BLASTPol experiments. I also worked on the analysis of submillimetre dust polarization data from BLASTPol's observations of molecular clouds in the Galactic plane.
For three months from late 2014 to early 2015, I lived at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, where I worked as part of a team of 20 scientists to prepare SPIDER for its launch and 16-day stratospheric balloon flight around Antarctica.
Trained as an experimentalist, my interests have traditionally lain at the confluence of science and technology; I enjoy developing and testing the new hardware that enables new scientific discoveries.
Science education and outreach are also very important to me. As a graduate student I co-ran the AstroTours: a series of free monthly astronomy public lectures and observing sessions at the University of Toronto downtown campus. I also participated in organizing outreach activities at such events as Science Rendezvous.
Standing in front of the SPIDER experiment on the launch pad at the Long Duration Balloon Facility near McMurdo Station, Antarctica, on Jan. 1, 2015, a few hours before its launch.