Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: Rebeca Reyes Carrion

Tell me a little about yourself. 

I am from Puerto Rico and currently a senior at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez. I already graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree this past spring, but I am completing a second degree in Physics now.  

I was a cheerleader at university and a gymnast growing up so I naturally gravitated towards enjoying hobbies in a lot of sports and spending time outdoors. I’ve had a beach 20 minutes away at any given point in my life, so I also love to spend time there.  

How did you get interested in astronomy? 

I was always interested in astronomy growing up. I remember getting an award in high school and one of the speakers was a Puerto Rican astrophysicist. They inspired me to realize this could be my career. Through the University of Puerto Rico there were no direct options to go into Astronomy, hence I found myself in Mechanical Engineering. In my 3rd year of university, amid the aftermath of the hurricane, I applied and got accepted into an internship program at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Mechanical Engineering, where I worked with the Perseverance Rover. That was a really great experience for me but I still wanted to do stuff more closely related to astrophysics so when I got back from JPL I applied for the double major in Physics and minor in Astronomy.  

What is your favorite part about Copenhagen? DAWN? 

I was thinking about this a lot as my time is winding down here in Copenhagen and I’m not ready to go home. First, I identify with the culture here. The city is so well planned and efficient. Copenhagen is the perfect ratio between city and trees/rivers/nature. I wouldn't survive if I can’t see green; the city has a good balance. I love the accessibility of the buses/metro and biking everywhere too! 

I feel extremely fortunate to work in a place where everyone is so welcoming. DAWN members treat everyone like they belong, creating a strong sense of community. Everyone is really friendly at DAWN, so it really pushes you to interact with people/make connections, which is great specially for younger career professionals.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU? 

I found the DAWN-IRES summer program through a thread on Twitter that was specific to international opportunities. This is my last summer to gain REU experience and what is better than doing it while you are in Europe? It is hard to come to Europe from Puerto Rico (it is expensive), making this international REU even more appealing.

Can you tell me about your summer research project? 

I am working with Aswin Vijayan at DAWN/DTU this summer. We are working with FLARES hydrodynamic simulation and investigating the efficiency of stellar formation in different environments.  

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

I still have a lot to learn with a steep learning curve. I have done programming before but I keep being proven I know nothing — I would like to improve my programming skills. It is a never ending project! 

If you could have any superpower what would it be?  

I would like to be able to read minds — not in a devious way. I under communicate a lot and think a lot and later realize I wasn’t on the same page. It would be so great to communicate better! 

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Follow Rebeca on Twitter @rebecastr8

Meet the DAWN-IRES Scholars: Lauren Elicker

Tell me a little about yourself.

I am a rising senior physics and astrophysics major at the University of Cincinnati, where I moved for college. I'm originally from Akron, Ohio. I really enjoy Northeast Ohio where Akron is, but it's very different from the rest of Ohio and Cincinnati where I go to school. I like the seasons in Ohio, and I like that there is access to a lot of city things in Northeast Ohio. For fun I enjoy hiking -- I've really enjoyed hiking in Cuyahoga Valley National Park and I visited Shenandoah in Virginia which was beautiful.

How did you get interested in astronomy?

Later in high school I started reading non-fiction astronomy books geared towards the public and those were really interesting. When I think about space it kind of makes my head spin because there is so much we really don't know. I just always wanted to learn more about that.

What is your favorite part about Copenhagen?  DAWN?

I like how easy it is to walk or bike around. It's really nice for an independent traveler; you don't need to have a car. I got covid so I had to isolate for a while, which I didn't like so much... I've liked walking near the lakes in the city center, and going to Reffen. I've also enjoyed going to Tivoli and just walking around. We actually watched fireworks with the queen there! We are hoping to go to the Glyptotek and the zoo.

I really like the small community feeling of DAWN and the space that it is in. After just a few weeks, most people seem familiar and friendly. I also really enjoy that there are grad students in the DAWN-IRES program; they are great resources for astronomy and professional development questions.

What motivated you to apply to an international REU?

I applied to as many REUs as I could, but this one stood out because I'd never been to Europe. Studying abroad always appealed to me, but it's difficult to do that as a Physics major. When it came down to deciding, I chose to come to Copenhagen after talking to some friends who had done a lot of traveling and they had nothing but the best things to say about it.

Can you tell me about your summer research project?

I am working with Kasper Heintz and we're looking at [CII] and Lyman Alpha emission in high redshift galaxies. We're noticing that there can be a velocity offset between the two and we are exploring that in more detail.

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

I feel like I've already gotten better at reading papers. I'm excited that I get to learn more about a different topic in astronomy. My work at the University of Cincinnati is more about X-ray images of galaxy clusters, so it is a bit different. I would like to get better at coding, and I've been learning some useful coding skills, like fitting a gaussian to spectral data.

If you could have any superpower what would it be?

I would be able to function on very little sleep.

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.