Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: Sam Cutler

Tell me a little about yourself.

I am a third year PhD student at University of Massachusetts and I live out there in Western Massachusetts. I am from Northern Connecticut which is a similar area. In my free time I like to play music. I play the electric bass and the cello, and I like to play prog rock/metal and classical music. I like to play and watch any sport. Recently my favorite sports to play are soccer and frisbee. I play a lot of board games with friends. I really like geography -- maps, any kind of exploring of places and exploring the areas around.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

I don't know if there is any one thing that got me interested in astronomy. I have always been interested in science, math, and physics. But I guess the scale and how grand astronomy is what drew me in. I didn't go to college knowing I wanted to do astronomy, but it became interesting to me over time.

What is your favorite part about Copenhagen? DAWN?

I like how easy it is to get around-- walking, metro, biking. I also like how much there is to do and see that you can get to super easily. I've spent time at Tivoli, gone to some museums, gone to Reffen, did a canal tour, and spent time in some parks.

DAWN feels really lively. There's always people eating or hanging around in the hall, so you really get to see everyone and interact with people. That is helpful for motivating you to do work, as opposed to being trapped in your office alone.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

I had done a program similar to this at DARK, so I already knew I liked Copenhagen and the idea of an international REU. I hoped that now as a grad student and having experience here that that could kind of help. I thought my experience would be able to help others as well.

Can you tell me about your PhD research?

Most recently I have been measuring resolved star formation histories for star forming galaxies. I'm pivoting now towards trying to infer them for quenched galaxies. I also work a lot with making galaxy catalogs -- for morphology and photometry.

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

Mentoring and leadership. Also, hopefully being able to improve skills to set up pipelines to make catalogs. I'd also like to improve on data presentation, e.g., giving talks.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

Seeing how rough flying has been for people in the last few weeks, it would be great to get to teleport.

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Visit Sam’s professional webpage at https://samecutler.github.io or follow him on Twitter @secutler.

Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: Sarah Bodansky

Tell me a little about yourself.

I'm going to be a second year grad student at UMass Amherst, and I study galaxy evolution. I'm from Phoenix, Arizona, but I've lived all over the US at various points. I like to read all sorts of books, but especially fantasy. My favorites right now are the Broken Earth Trilogy and The Dispossessed. I like hanging out with my pets (I have a dog and cat at home and a cat in Massachusetts), cooking, and going on Wikipedia for long periods of time. I play a few instruments badly-- piano, guitar and ukulele.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

I was always excited by space as a kid, but I was also interested in science in general. When I got to college I was thinking about being a biology major, but I took a physics class instead and really liked that. I started doing research with Cindy Blaha at Carleton College who studies Local Group galaxies. I really enjoyed that experience and then realized that I loved physics and astronomy.

What is your favorite part about Copenhagen?  DAWN?

I love how walkable and bikeable and how easy to get around it is. I've only lived in places where the easiest way to get around is by car so I love the emphasis on public transport and biking. It's a really liveable city. I like how collaborative DAWN is and how it seems like everyone is working on similar problems. It seems like a really great environment to study high redshift galaxies.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

My advisor being involved definitely influenced me to apply, but also I've never had the chance to do a study abroad type program in undergrad so it seemed like a neat opportunity to live somewhere else for a while and get to do research.

Can you tell me about your PhD research?

Broadly, I am studying how dust evolves in galaxies from cosmic noon to the more local universe. The project I'm working on right now is how dust mass in star forming galaxies evolves using LMT/TolTEC data.

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

I've mostly been trying to develop a stacking algorithm so that when I get data from TolTEC I will be able to immediately process it and get the dust masses for the galaxies I'm working with. I'm also improving my biking skills -- before this summer, I hadn't ridden a bike since elementary school.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

I think the ability to control time would be helpful. Not necessarily being able to go forward or backwards in time, but just pause. 

Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: Ezra Huscher

Tell me a little about yourself.

I did my undergrad in Kansas and I've been working for the laboratory of atmospheric and space physics in Boulder for the last 3 years (LASP). I worked on Jupiter, did planetary science for a long time and simultaneously worked on some simulations of the high redshift circumgalactic medium while I was there. Before that I was teaching high school for 4-5 years. Towards the end of LASP, I got interested in cosmology and that is what I am doing my PhD in at New Mexico State University. I love basketball, playing it, watching it, writing about it. I also play the piano.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

I suppose probably two things that got me interested in astronomy. The first was my very last semester in Kansas, where I was a physics major. Astronaut Steve Holly, who went to KU, had just retired, but came back and taught a class. I took his class and it was great, I really liked it. The second reason is that I have always been into Star Trek. I just like science, all science, but I had to buckle down and pick at some point.

What is your favorite part about Copenhagen?  DAWN?

I bike everywhere, always in the US, and put some effort out to push cities to make biking easier. Coming here where it is the norm has been wonderful. I like the weather a lot too — it is not too hot here.

I'm coming around to getting to know people at DAWN. Everyone is nice and helpful. It is a nice group of people. The building space is cool and I like the bike ride to get here.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

Kristian Finlator, my advisor, suggested I apply. I was deciding between staying at school and coming here, and it seemed like a great opportunity to see a new place. I've never been to this part of Europe.

Can you tell me about your PhD research?

I am doing simulations of reionization. In particular, I'm working on Carbon IV and trying to figure out why simulations are underproducing Carbon IV.

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

Part of my thought process was to get a little bit more observationally minded through my visit to DAWN. I'm also hoping to learn a little bit of Danish. I'm ordering (roughly) in Danish and I can do greetings.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

I'd like to be able to change my appearance. Like shape shift to be anything, animals, etc. Like Mystique from the X Men.