About me

I investigate questions about what the Universe is made of and how it evolved to the state that we observe today. I am the Deputy Wide Field Instrument Scientist on the Roman project science team and a research astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. I am a member of several international scientific collaborations. I am particularly interested in the process by which we attempt to answer fundamental physics questions and how we might draw lessons from different fields of study, including the social sciences and humanities, to make this process more equitable, ethical, and efficient.

I was born in Columbus, grew up in Urbana, Illinois, and went to Chicago for my undergraduate studies. I also spent one year living on-site at Fermilab in the suburbs of Chicago. I went to Davis, California for graduate school, followed by a first postdoc post in Edinburgh, Scotland before coming back to Columbus for a second postdoc (sort of a homecoming after three decades away). In the meantime, I have had incredible opportunities to travel all over the world both for work and fun. In terms of hobbies, I used to play a lot of soccer and feel like that experience was one of the most impactful for shaping who I am today. These days I stick to sports that are better for my ligaments. I also like literature, music, and design.