Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: David Vizgan

Can you tell me a little about yourself?

A philosophical question. My name is David Vizgan and I’m from Brooklyn NY. I go to Wesleyan University and I’m a rising Junior, double majoring in Physics and Astronomy. I love heavy metal music and I’m a die-hard NY sports fan. I’ve been playing music for a while, the piano and guitar, and I’m an amateur chess player. Oh, and I’m also a quadruplet, one of four boys.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

When I was really young I had these night lights in our living room that were glow in the dark stars that we put up all over. Whenever I slept on the couch I’d see the cut out stars. When I was 5 or 6 years old, my mom bought me an astronomy book that I was completely obsessed with. I still have it today. As I went through school, I preferred the arts and I applied to college thinking I’d do journalism for a career. In my first year of college I was looking to take the easier astronomy class, but my mom pushed me to take the harder one. I had an amazing professor that semester, Dr. Meredith Hughes, who got me hooked and later took me on to do research with her.

What is your favorite part about Copenhagen? About DAWN?

I always thought that NYC was a clean, functional city but coming here and actually seeing what a clean, beautiful, functional city looks like was pretty alarming. I don’t think there is an analog for Copenhagen, it is just perfect for me. Aesthetically beautiful, friendly atmosphere, nice people and I love the emphasis on public health here, with lots of parks and exercising. It is a pretty cliche answer, but the people at DAWN are great — some of the brightest, most hard-working, invested people I’ve ever met. It is inspirational to come here to meet people working their tails off to unlock the secrets of the universe. I’m grateful to be among a talented cohort of students, which is motivating and it helps bring out the best in me.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

I got an email from my department encouraging students interested in astronomy to apply to this REU early in the fall semester. So it was in the back of my mind for quite a while. It is really hard to coordinate study abroad as a physics and astronomy student, so I thought this might be my only shot in my undergraduate career to do something like this. I was very invested in the application process, as I really wanted this! I thought of it like a semi-study abroad situation, which interested me, but perhaps more fulfilling from the career standpoint.

Can you tell me about your summer research project?

I’m working with Dr. Thomas Greve to investigate whether the C+ emission line at high redshifts can be used as a tracer of gas mass at early epochs. We are using simulated galaxies from SIGAME data set to derive our results.

What skills and knowledge would you like to acquire this summer?

I want to be a better coder and I want to develop more scientific independence. Having already done research, I feel like I’ve had my hand held a lot, so I’d like to grow more self-sufficient so that when I return to Wesleyan I can continue with my research project successfully.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

Either shape-shifting or the power to light things on fire with my brain. I wouldn’t hurt anyone, of course, but I think that would be a really cool super power. But I suppose shape-shifting is more practical because I could get away with a lot more mischief. It would also help me achieve my life long dream of becoming an NBA player, by growing to 8 feet tall with super long arms. I might finally have a shot!

Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: Laurel Weiss

Can you tell me a little about yourself?

My name is Laurel Weiss and I’m a student at Penn State and grew up in New Jersey. I’m an astrophysics & astronomy major going into my Junior year. I really like being outside, taking walks without a destination in mind. I also really like interior design. If I had unlimited money, I could go wild here with the Danish style. I like decorating spaces and I’ve even been commissioned by friends to set up and decorate their dorms. I enjoy fly fishing, Penn State also a program but this is also something I used to do with my dad a lot.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

I think every kid is at least a little interested in space because it is so cool. For the longest time I wanted to be an interior designer and architect. But I fell in love with my physics classes in high school, which led me to wanting more. Astronomy combined what I enjoyed working on and learning about with the romanticized sci-fi topic of space. I really love making plots and thinking about how to do things better.

What is your favorite part about Copenhagen? Dawn?

I’ve enjoyed exploring the city, both on foot and by bike, finding new cool spots, cafes, and streets. It is such a big city that you never run out of discovering new spaces. I like the laid back, open, and collaborative atmosphere at the Cosmic Dawn Center. It has a very relaxed feeling but at the same time everyone is doing really cool stuff. Oh, and they have really cool windows here too.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

I never thought that I would do an REU. I really wanted to study abroad, but I couldn’t justify picking up and leaving the people and work at home because I enjoyed it so much. This was a really awesome combination of both worlds, where I could continue to do research but also go abroad and see new places. This is pretty surreal to me, you never think you’d be that person in your twenties to live in Europe, but here I am.

Can you tell me about your summer research project?

I’m working Dr. Thomas Greve and we are looking the environments of high-redshift radio galaxies. We are seeing if the over-densities of 850 micron selected sub-millimeter sources changes with redshift. These galaxies are typically very massive, so we might find higher over-densities later in the universe.

What skills and knowledge would you like to acquire this summer?

I think what I am learning a lot more about this summer is how to do a project independently, in that my mentor will give me a list of things to do and set me free. I figure out how to do it, accidentally break things, and then fix them again. It is rewarding in a way because a lot of it is on me, but it is also terrifying because it is on me. But just learning how to handle this and be successful is what I’m most looking forward to mastering.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

I would love to be able to control the weather and the elements. There is nothing more devastating than being so excited to go outside and do an activity and then you look out the window and it is down pouring or it is bitter cold. But if I could control it…

Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: Katie Chapman

Can you tell me a little about yourself?

My name is Katie Chapman and I just completed my senior year at Colgate, earning a degree in Astronomy-Physics with an honors thesis on simulating the gravitational production of super heavy dark matter particles during inflation. I live in New Jersey now, but grew up in Connecticut. Outside of astronomy, I like running and ice skating and science & math youtube videos. I don’t make the youtube videos, I wish I did, but I find it inspiring to get ideas for how to communicate my own research. It also introduces new topics and ideas to expand my knowledge of abstract math concepts. Also, I’ve been getting into archery and chess while I’ve been here, learning from the other interns.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

My interest in astronomy started at the boarding high school I went to in Massachusetts. I took a basic intro astronomy class there. Seeing how enthusiastic I was, my teacher, Caroline Odden, suggested that I take an astronomy research class with her the following semester. She goes to the AAS every year and was able to pair each of us with a professional astronomer to conduct an individual research project. I had two projects, one was rediscovering exoplanets in Kepler data and the second was to search for strong gravitational lens candidates in dark energy surveys. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else once I had a taste of astronomy research.

What is your favorite part about Copenhagen? About DAWN?

I love the rich history with regards to physics in Copenhagen. I got to see Niels Bohr’s office and the room where Hafnium was discovered. Hafnia is the Latin name for Copenhagen, where the element was discovered. I actually just learned today that the direct english translation for Copenhagen is Chapman’s Haven, so, I belong here! Physics aside, I would definitely rate Copenhagen as “Lawful Good”: the transportation system always works on time and you follow the traffic rules religiously, the system works because people follow the rules. For me, DAWN is the ideal place to work and I love the community. I’ve always been in a smaller community, so it is cool to take part in the dynamic of an entire astronomy center and get to know people and be exposed to new topics. It is so easy to bounce ideas off people at a human level about anything, not just astronomy.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

I’m considering going to graduate school abroad and I was interested in the cosmology aspects of the center, so the program was a good fit for me. Also astronomy is a very international community, so being immersed in a new environment and seeing how they think will ultimately make me a better astronomer. I also really vibe with the European approach to work-live balance.

Can you tell me about your summer research project?

I am working with Dr. Daniel Ceverino, making use of the FirstLight simulation of high redshift galaxies. The motivation for my project is to make theoretical predictions for the formation of the first galaxies to inform future observations at cosmic dawn. In particular, I’m trying to elucidate the physical origin of starbursts by looking at merger rates and mass accretion histories.

What skills and knowledge would you like to acquire this summer?

I’ve already seen my python abilities improve exponentially, so I hope to continue to improve that even more. I’d also like to learn how to better communicate to the public about my research. I really enjoy listening to what kinds of questions people ask and what kind of connections they make with the talks that occur frequently here.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

I’m really tempted to say teleportation or the ability to speak all languages. But, instead, I definitely would choose to have the power to immediately fully comprehend any paper I read. That would really help my career moving forward!