Featured Graduate Alumni
PhD: 2020
Advisor: Steve Zepf
Thesis: Long Term Optical and X-Ray Monitoring of Black Hole Candidates in Extragalactic Globular Clusters
Currently: faculty at Curtin University, Perth, Australia
After her MSU PhD, Kristen was a postdoctoral fellow at McGill and then a Hubble Fellow at Wayne State University. As a community college transfer student, Kristen is strongly committed to equitable access to research opportunities for students from a range of backgrounds, and has an outstanding record of success in mentoring students to reach their career goals.
PhD: 2016
Advisor: Megan Donahue
Thesis: Multi-Wavelength Observations of Galaxy Clusters: Population Evolution and Scaling Relations for Intermediate-Redshift Clusters
Currently: Astrophysicist at the Chandra X-ray Center, Cambridge, MA
Thoughts on MSU: "Michigan State was a fantastic place for me to develop as an astronomer. MSU's involvement with the SOAR telescope meant that I could observe on a 4m telescope roughly once a month without any travel, which was critical for my development as an observer. Beyond that, MSU faculty are consistently securing observing time on the Hubble Space Telescope, XMM, Chandra, and other world-class observatories; access to that data drove the success of my dissertation. I spent five years in Lansing, and the community in the department was always friendly and welcoming; conversations between people who work in different fields and who are at different stages of their career are common. "
PhD: 2013
Advisor: Megan Donahue
Thesis: Observations of Physical Processes in Cluster Cores: Connections Between the Intracluster Gas and the Brightest Cluster Galaxy
Currently: Bank.Green
Thoughts on MSU: "Grad school gave me the opportunity to become both a better teacher and researcher. As a lead instructor for ISP 205L, I learned how to work effectively with undergraduate students, build course curriculum, and manage a large classroom environment. As a researcher, I worked both as a contributing member to larger projects as well as the lead on multiple projects, which became the basis of my thesis. Having the opportunity to observe with a major telescope (SOAR) enabled me to more deeply work with a variety of instruments and their different modes. These research opportunities allowed me to build my presentation skills at conferences, which were invaluable for connecting with and learning directly from colleagues."
PhD: 2023
Advisor: Jay Strader
Thesis: Accreting Neutron Stars in Galactic Globular Clusters
Currently: Executive Director of the NoVeL consortium, Norfolk State University
Teresa won an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship while an MSU graduate student. As part of the broader impacts of her fellowship, she founded and led the Physics and Astronomy Research Experiences for Drew Scholars (PAREDS) program, which continues to this day.