What do you do here at Wright Lab?
I am a third year graduate student in Laura Newburgh’s group, and I am working on drone based calibration systems for 21cm radio cosmology experiments like HIRAX and CHIME. Currently I am writing a python based analysis package that will be used to study data that my group collected at Green Bank Observatory in late 2021. I also dabble in radio instrumentation and recently built a testbed radio telescope at Yale’s Leitner Family Observatory and Planetarium.
What is the most unique and/or exciting experience you’ve had here at Wright Lab?
With a loose definition of ‘here’, my favorite experience as a member of the Wright Lab community has been embarking on field work operations with my group. While we develop our drone systems here in lab, the only way to utilize them is to pack everything in foam and travel to large radio instruments. We’ve mapped a telescope in southern California, a telescope I helped build during my MSI degree program at Brookhaven National Lab, and most recently a radio array at Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia. Although these trips can be stressful, its a joy to come together to work as a group, and I love having the opportunity to cook for my friends and coworkers.
What are you looking forward to in the coming year at Wright Lab?
As we make upgrades to our drone systems, we are always eager to test these improvements at collaborating facilities. As COVID precautions are lifted, new opportunities for domestic and international research trips are presenting themselves and I am looking forward to working with these new collaborators. While travelling is certainly fun and exciting, it is crucial to take measurements that verify your system and procedures. When these trips produce successful results we have the opportunity to increase the footprint of our calibration method in the radio cosmology community, and that feels very fulfilling. Hopefully this year we can analyze and publish results from our Green Bank measurements and share our beautiful beammaps with the radio community. My group is also welcoming new undergraduate students, and I am excited to assist them with their projects and hopefully make some new radio converts.
What is something that people might not know about you that you’d like to share with the community?
I’m from Wisconsin, vegan, and an NFL owner. I also have pretty eclectic musical tastes that my coworkers are thrilled to endure on our fieldwork trips, including four hour playlists of irish folk and western. If you ever want to talk about Marty Robbins or the Clancy Brothers, my office is WL258C.
