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Research



I am an observational astronomer, with broad interest in the formation and evolution of stars in our Milky Way.

I have studied very young stars to understand how they gain mass and shed angular momentum through interactions with their surroundings. I've also studied older stars to learn how their rotation rate and magnetic fields are connected and evolve over time.

Since many stars are born in clusters, which provide a valuable snapshot of stars with a common age, I also dabble in identifying and studying star clusters too.

In this work, my collaborators and I use data from a large survey projects, such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's 2.5m telescopes (in both hemispheres!), the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, NASA's space-based Chandra, Spitzer, Kepler and TESS Observatories, and its ground-based Infrared Telescope Facility.

I've been lucky to work on a number of interesting projects, with great colleagues and students: highlights from these projects are summarized below.

mwbest - Identifying Extra-tidal Stars in the Center of the Milky Way

 Professors and students in the RAISE Team assembled for a group photo in front of one of the arms of the LIGO array Tidal forces cause star clusters in our Galaxy to shed stars over time. Identifying these tidally stripped stars helps us reconstruct the history of individual clusters, as well as the structure and evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy.
With support from the M.J Murdock Charitable Trust, and in collaboration with Profs. Andrea Kunder (St. Martin's University), Kathryn Devine (College of Idaho) and Joanne Hughes (Seattle University), my students and I are working to study the tidal disruption of star clusters in the center of the Milky Way, where these tidal effects are strongest.
For this project, we are working to computationally model the tidal disruption process, develop algorithms to identify candidate extra-tidal stars in large survey datasets, and collect and analyze follow-up spectroscopy to confirm or refute the extra-tidal nature of each candidate.

WWU Team Members - Current: Faith Benda, Carmen Black, Sean McAdam, Kieren Schofield, Mason Van Vleet
WWU Team Members - Past: Kaylen Gollnick, Erika Silva, Bee Tawa, Kyle Webster
WWU Research Highlights:

Stellar Rotation & Magnetic Activity

Professors and students in the RAISE Team assembled for a group photo in front of one of the arms of the LIGO array

Tidal forces cause star clusters in our Galaxy to shed stars over time. Identifying these tidally stripped stars helps us reconstruct the history of individual clusters, as well as the structure and evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy.

With support from the M.J Murdock Charitable Trust, and in collaboration with Profs. Andrea Kunder (St. Martin's University), Kathryn Devine (College of Idaho) and Joanne Hughes (Seattle University), my students and I are working to study the tidal disruption of star clusters in the center of the Milky Way, where these tidal effects are strongest. For this project, we are working to computationally model the tidal disruption process, develop algorithms to identify candidate extra-tidal stars in large survey datasets, and collect and analyze follow-up spectroscopy to confirm or refute the extra-tidal nature of each candidate.

WWU Team Members - Current: Faith Benda, Carmen Black, Sean McAdam, Kieren Schofield, Mason Van Vleet
WWU Team Members - Past: Kaylen Gollnick, Erika Silva, Bee Tawa, Kyle Webster
WWU Research Highlights:

Star Formation & Accretion

Professors and students in the RAISE Team assembled for a group photo in front of one of the arms of the LIGO array

Tidal forces cause star clusters in our Galaxy to shed stars over time. Identifying these tidally stripped stars helps us reconstruct the history of individual clusters, as well as the structure and evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy.

With support from the M.J Murdock Charitable Trust, and in collaboration with Profs. Andrea Kunder (St. Martin's University), Kathryn Devine (College of Idaho) and Joanne Hughes (Seattle University), my students and I are working to study the tidal disruption of star clusters in the center of the Milky Way, where these tidal effects are strongest. For this project, we are working to computationally model the tidal disruption process, develop algorithms to identify candidate extra-tidal stars in large survey datasets, and collect and analyze follow-up spectroscopy to confirm or refute the extra-tidal nature of each candidate.

WWU Team Members - Current: Faith Benda, Carmen Black, Sean McAdam, Kieren Schofield, Mason Van Vleet
WWU Team Members - Past: Kaylen Gollnick, Erika Silva, Bee Tawa, Kyle Webster
WWU Research Highlights:

Stellar Binaries

Professors and students in the RAISE Team assembled for a group photo in front of one of the arms of the LIGO array

Tidal forces cause star clusters in our Galaxy to shed stars over time. Identifying these tidally stripped stars helps us reconstruct the history of individual clusters, as well as the structure and evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy.

With support from the M.J Murdock Charitable Trust, and in collaboration with Profs. Andrea Kunder (St. Martin's University), Kathryn Devine (College of Idaho) and Joanne Hughes (Seattle University), my students and I are working to study the tidal disruption of star clusters in the center of the Milky Way, where these tidal effects are strongest. For this project, we are working to computationally model the tidal disruption process, develop algorithms to identify candidate extra-tidal stars in large survey datasets, and collect and analyze follow-up spectroscopy to confirm or refute the extra-tidal nature of each candidate.

WWU Team Members - Current: Faith Benda, Carmen Black, Sean McAdam, Kieren Schofield, Mason Van Vleet
WWU Team Members - Past: Kaylen Gollnick, Erika Silva, Bee Tawa, Kyle Webster
WWU Research Highlights: