Grad Student Spotlights

Overview

I’ve been a graduate student at Cornell since 2018, after completing my B.A. in Astrogeophysics from Colgate University. I am a member of the science team for Mastcam-Z, which is a set of two multispectral, stereoscopic cameras onboard the Mars 2020 Rover, Perseverance. In addition to supporting the rover’s surface operations, I use our Mastcam-Z emulator MASI (Mastcam-Z Analog Spectral Imager) to provide field analog research that we use to better understand data collected by Mastcam-Z on Mars. I also study comet surface evolution and the processes that govern these changes. In particular, I focus on the processes and pathways by which regolith migrates in the smooth terrains of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Research interests

Comet geomorphology

Multispectral imaging

Planetary and small body surface evolution

Research Focus

Advisor: Professor Alex Hayes

Overview

Hello, my name is Rodrigo and I help design and build state-of-the-art instruments to study the early universe and its evolution. 

I joined Cornell in Fall 2021 as a PhD student. Since then, I've been working with Prof. Gordon Stacey and Prof. Michael Niemack on multiple aspects of Prime-cam, a cryogenic modular receiver for the CCAT/FYST telescope. In particular, I've been focused on the development of the Epoch of Reionization Spectrometer (EoR-Spec), one of Prime-cam's instrument modules. EoR-Spec is a carefully designed experiment intended to obtain tomographic maps of the early universe (z ∼ 3.5−8.0) through Line Intensity Mapping (LIM) of fluctuations in the aggregate clustering signal encoded in the 158 μm fine-structure line emission from ionized carbon [C II].  

I got my undergraduate degree in electronics engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, where my research focused on radio astronomy instrumentation. Before joining Cornell, I worked for two years as site engineer at the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), a cosmology experiment located in northern Chile. 

Beyond work pursuits, I love running, hiking, camping, and anything that will get me outside and into nature.

Overview

Hello! I’m Sashabaw (Sash, for short), and I became a graduate student at Cornell in Fall, 2021. I study different radio signals from galactic and extragalactic sources alike.

I received my B.S. in Physics and Applied Mathematics from Hillsdale College. During this time, I helped construct the fifth Low-Frequency All-Sky Monitor (LoFASM V) radio telescope array and wrote python scripts to streamline the viewing and cataloging efforts of the incoming telescope data. I also developed numerical methods for reducing eccentricity in simulated black hole binary mergers using post-Newtonian theory up to 3.5 order during a summer REU with Prof. David Neilsen of BYU. This NSF-funded research was the focus of my undergrad thesis.

I am currently researching Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) from galactic and extragalactic sources with Professors James Cordes and Shami Chatterjee. I am developing machine learning algorithms for use in pre and post-processing of radio telescope data in the search for FRB engines. Post-processing methods to constrain the distribution of FRB pulses in parameter space will limit the astrophysical processes driving them. I am currently working on the Global Radio Explorer Telescope (GREX) project in collaboration with CalTech, and am leading installation of the Cornell University GREX terminal slated for Fall of 2023.

Outside of astronomy, I enjoy spending my free time reading fantasy books, playing board games and MTG with friends, spending time outdoors, playing the violin, and acquiring trinkets for my bookshelf.