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.