Meet the DAWN-IRES Senior Scholars: Sidney Lower

Tell me a little about yourself.

I am fourth year graduate student at the University of Florida in the Department of Astronomy, working on galaxy formation and evolution with simulations. I am originally from a very small town in Illinois (2000 people!) and I got my undergraduate degree in Physics from the University of Illinois. So I spent the first 22 years of my life in central Illinois... it was good to get away when I moved to Gainesville for graduate school. My biggest fear was always getting stuck at home, so college and grad school were neat because it guaranteed I would be exploring new places.

I really enjoy reading and I’ve been trying hard to get back into that lately. I like reading niche things like about royal families in medieval Europe. If I didn’t do physics and astronomy I think I would do something in history. History is like a big puzzle, almost like putting the pieces together in astronomy. I also like reading a lot of non-fiction, political science, and activism literature. I like fantasy but for some reason I can’t read science fiction.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

It is so cliche but I got interested as a kid by looking up at the night sky in wonder. That is one of the benefits of living a small town - you can actually see the stars! Leading up to college, I knew I really liked science but didn’t know my exact path forward. By process of elimination I found myself enjoying physics the most and knew it was the best fit for me.

My first research experience was in my sophomore year at a point in my knowledge curve where I wasn’t yet afraid of what I didn’t know. My research advisor asked what I wanted to do (i.e. work in the lab or work on data) but I wasn’t sure nor did I know what it really meant. He showed me an Allen wrench and asked me what it was. I know now, but at the time I had no idea, and replied that maybe I should go into data analysis.

What is your favorite part about DAWN?

DAWN is one of the more major collaborations that I’ve been able to join in my graduate career. As a first year graduate student, I had heard of the DAWN faculty and read papers. So to actually get to meet these people in person was priceless. I think everyone has their fangirl moment... Getting to know everyone and their work and witnessing the science develop real time - that is the cool part for me. It is so worthwhile to form partnerships here and there and to draw connections from informal meetings. These conversations wouldn’t happen if it weren’t for this program.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

My PhD advisor Desika Narayanan is very good at finding opportunities that are going to be a good fit for his students. He encouraged me to apply to this program and once I learned more about it I was very excited.

How has the pandemic impacted your life?

The pandemic happened right when I was transitioning from a brand new graduate student into getting my footing. I think it has disrupted a lot of what I think a typical grad student experience could and should be. On the flip side, I’ve been able to attend a lot of virtual conferences that I may not otherwise have been able to. I got to give a talk at Roman Space Telescope conference and a number of remote seminars at universities across the country. I have been able to expose my work to many more people than I otherwise would’ve been able to, and for that I am grateful.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

The most obvious one is flying - that would be so much fun. I remember that it was always something I was dreaming about as a kid. Well, either that, or invisibility. The concept of being in a space and not being noticed is enticing. That sounds really creepy. But I guess I want to be a fly on the wall. I love people watching. Actually, you asked how the pandemic impacted my life? I can no longer people watch! It is tragic.

Tell me about your PhD project.

My PhD is a meandering project because my PhD advisor and I get together and brainstorm a lot of big ideas and get really excited but then realize they won’t all pan out. The big picture of my PhD is looking at the most massive galaxies in the universe at early times and understanding how they evolve in terms of their star formation, quenching, and dust. I’m into trying to understand how galaxies that exist 700 million years after the Big Bang have such extreme amounts of dust. We have so much to learn about how this dust forms, where, and when. I’m working on developing a holistic view of massive galaxy evolution, with a grab bag of different projects that use cosmological hydrodynamical simulations.

Where is the first place you want to visit when we finally get you to Copenhagen?

That is a good question! Definitely an art museum. I haven’t been a good noodle and researched where to go yet, maybe because I didn’t want to get my hopes up and have the trip cancelled, but I definitely need to find art museums. There is nothing more peaceful than being in an old art museum for hours by myself.

Anything else that you want to share?

I am very thankful for the other students in this program. This has been very fun given the circumstances. It seems like any time I meet younger students the bar keeps getting raised… these young kids are just killing it and that’s amazing! The future is bright. Seeing and working with undergraduates this summer has brought me new hope.

---

You can view Sidney’s professional webpage at sidneylower.com, contact her via email at s.lower@ufl.edu, or follow her on twitter @es_em_ell.

Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: Hollis Akins

Tell me a little about yourself.

I am currently a rising senior at Grinnell College in Iowa, majoring in Physics. Though I grew up in North Carolina, I’ve lived all over the country at various points. I had the unique opportunity to go to a dual enrollment high school, where you can take college classes at a local college in your junior and senior years. Because of this, I was able to take a unique astronomy class using the college observatory quite early on. I also got to use the college darkroom and spent a lot of time experimenting in there.

Other hobbies I’ve developed in the past year or so include cooking, as we’ve all been home so much recently. I’ve been doing school fully online for the last year but living with a bunch of friends and cooking with them. My favorite cuisine is Indian, and I’ve been learning to make it since there isn’t a good place to get it within a 30 minute drive.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

I got into astronomy because of my interest in photography. I enjoyed using the darkroom and taking photography classes, a lot of it just for fun. I also had been taking a lot of my physics classes, and had access to an observatory. When I saw there was an observational astronomy course that I could take and realized telescopes are just different types of lenses, I was excited to try it out. It was an extension of my interest in physics and photography. My summer research advisor at DAWN is also really into photography, which is a nice connection.

What is your favorite part about DAWN?

I would say that it is really nice to be a part of an institute that is very focused on a specific era in the universe. It feels like we are all trying to answer some of the same questions at the same time and in the same (virtual) place. In that sense it feels different from a university where there is a much wider field of study. It is really cool to see how everyone’s work interconnects by going to the Cake Talks and other larger DAWN meetings.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

At the time that I applied (which was over two years ago given the cancellation in 2020), half of my class was applying to study abroad programs (something like 50% of students study abroad in their third year to get the "Grinnell experience”). I knew I wanted to study abroad and go into astronomy, but there were very few opportunities that would allow me to do both. I was torn, because while I was willing to take a semester away from astronomy, I didn’t want to, as it was something I enjoyed studying. I knew that a lot of astronomy research is done internationally, so this program really seemed perfect to spend my summer abroad and see how international collaborations work and perform research relevant to the field I want to go into. Some of those things didn’t pan out in that I am still in the US due to the pandemic, but my experience has definitely given me a better understanding about how international collaborations work.

How has the pandemic impacted your life?

Grinnell sent us home in March 2020 and I spent the summer back home in North Carolina. However, I was able to make it work to live with some friends for the fall semester. Because travel was still somewhat rare at that point, we were able to find discounts on housing and we ended up renting a big house in the mountains of Northern Utah for the semester. We did our online classes from there and got to live together, cook great meals, and explore the area. This was an experience that I never would have had if not for the pandemic, so that was positive outcome. I’ve had a lot of weird adventures that would never have have happened if classes were not remote. On the whole, the pandemic has had a lot of silver linings despite also being a very difficult and strange time.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

Flying—it seems like so much fun! To be clear, I don’t want to go sky diving—that sounds too dangerous—but if I could fly and have total control and no reason to worry, that would be very cool.

Tell me about your summer research project.

Some recent observations have found that, at early times in the universe, there were large halos of gas around galaxies that cannot be explained entirely by star formation. There are theories on their origin, including possible evidence of ongoing or previously outflowing neutral gas. I’m working with data from ALMA studying a single strong gravitationally lensed galaxy at a redshift of 7 to look at the distribution of the gas in this galaxy. In particular, we are looking for this extended halo of gas and for any signatures of outflowing gas. Earlier results are based on stacking of data from many galaxies, but our study would be one of the first times this has been shown for an individual galaxy.

Where is the first place you want to visit when we finally get you to Copenhagen?

This is a tough question because I know very little about Copenhagen—but I will probably start with a visit to whatever the internet tells me is the best coffee shop in Copenhagen.

Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: Julia Homa

Tell me a little about yourself.

I am a rising Senior at Columbia University in NYC (I love NYC!) and originally from Massachusetts. I went to college with the intention of studying astrophysics but I really struggled with the large, impersonal intro physics courses at first. Last summer I was supposed to stay in the city to do research, but the program got cancelled. Instead I coded an entire summer from my parent’s basement (the only place with A/C!) - that really scarred my first research experience, unfortunately. But so far this summer has been a totally new experience and I’m really enjoying it. Living with friends in the city instead of at home has helped to change my expectations and I also feeling lucky that I have an opportunity to do research despite the pandemic. My perspective has really changed from last year.

Beyond astronomy, I have a few really obscure hobbies. First, I am in a Scottish fiddle band (we’ve recorded two albums!). I also speak Chinese and sometimes do subtitles and translation. The three things in life I care most about are astro, languages, and music. In terms of personal development, I believe it is important to have hobbies not related to work. My ultimate goal is to work in a country that doesn’t speak English and be able to speak the language fluently.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

In elementary school, I was always the “math kid” and I have also always really liked space. I don’t ever remember the conscious decision to study astrophysics in college, it just made sense. My first direct experience with physics was in high school. This was also one of the first courses to really challenge me, which I found equally rewarding.

What is your favorite part about DAWN?

I really like how the people at DAWN seem to know what everyone else is up to. The research community seems to be really close knit. I haven’t yet had a chance to experience what makes DAWN specifically “DAWN” or feel the character of the place yet but I am looking forward to getting to the know the center better moving forward.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

I would like to move out of the US and attend graduate school abroad. It was natural to build connections and check out the character of research at institutes outside of the US. My mentor this summer at DAWN did her undergraduate and masters in Italy and then a PhD in Munich, Germany. This program gives me a rare opportunity to learn more about graduate school abroad, an experience that I wouldn’t get if I attended a US-based summer research program.

How has the pandemic impacted your life?

On a personal level, I haven’t experienced a lot of loss and so I feel lucky. But it has changed the way I think about what I want out of my own future. I had spent my entire time in secondary school wanting to get out of Massachusetts. I have truly loved living in the city and so when I got sent home due to the pandemic I felt directionless. It was hard to find motivation to do research, and research itself also felt out of reach at that point. Many of my close friends went home and I still haven’t seen them. I experienced a lot of isolation and was forced to live somewhere I didn’t want to be - that was hard. And online classes were terrible. The worst thing ever. Online classes in the pandemic have fundamentally changed how I go about doing school work. I am more focused on learning material I care about and not destroying myself to finish everything. It has helped change my perspective about what really matters.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

Teleportation - I want to go everywhere and I don’t like long plane rides. I would go to Brazil first. I have to travel to Boston every other weekend for my band and it is a lot of time and expensive. Teleportation would really help!

Tell me about your summer research project.

For my summer research project, I am looking at two different galaxy kinematic fitting models that are similar but one uses Markov chain Monte Carlo methods while the other does not. I am fitting data cubes to models of the galaxies — so far I’ve created 24 different models with different parameters! I am comparing the two different model packages and the goal is to apply it to real data eventually.

Where is the first place you want to visit when we finally get you to Copenhagen?

I’ve already done the tourist stuff in a previous visit to Copenhagen, so what I really want to see is the Cosmic Dawn Center itself to build a more personal connection to the city. And then we can all go out together to an open air cafe. My absolute favorite thing about European cities is the outdoor dining. Since Covid, we know have this all over NYC which has been a nice silver lining.

---

Contact Julia at julia.homa@columbia.edu or follow her on twitter @julia_homa