Welcome!

I am a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics at Northwestern University. I study AGN and their host galaxies, X-ray emitting groups and clusters, accreting compact binaries, and accretion-driven outflows, using multi-wavelength and time domain surveys. Check out this press release on my research: How Often do Giant Black Holes Become Hyperactive? There are many more details on my Research page.

I've had several wonderful opportunities and recognitions recently, including the award of a Chandra Large Observing Program (300 ks), joint with EVLA and XMM Newton, to monitor the expected collision between a massive cloud called "G2" and the black hole at our galactic center (Gillessen et al. 2012). Our Swift proposal to monitor the encounter was also approved. As of Jan. 2013, I've become an Elected Member of the AAS High Energy Astrophysics Division (HEAD) Executive Committee, and earlier in 2012 I became an Editor for the AASWOMEN Newsletter. During the summer months of 2012, I helped organize a fantastic Ice Cream Social and Sky Stories event at the Aspen Center for Physics (which led to my first TV interview (!) on Aspen's GrassRoots Community TV).

As a CIERA fellow, I direct my own projects and work with a great group of student researchers, including Kenza Arraki, an NSF Graduate Research Fellow at NMSU, several NASA Space Grant summer students, and two exceptional high schoolers from Evanston Township High School.

I also work with Northwestern's NSF GK-12 program, Reach for the Stars. We focus on bringing computational thinking to middle and high school STEM classrooms in Evanston and Chicago. Before arriving at NU, I was instrumental in establishing the Pre-Major in Astronomy Program (Pre-MAP) at the University of Washington. Learn more about my education and outreach programs.

Here is my CV.