Featured Undergraduate Alumni
Class of 2016
Andrew started at MSU as an undergraduate in astrophysics in Fall of 2012 and instantly fell in love with the program. He worked on a few research projects during his time at MSU, but primarily worked with Professor Laura Chomiuk studying low-mass X-ray binaries, particularly at radio wavelengths using data from the Very Large Array in New Mexico. He also worked for two years at the Abrams Planetarium as a show presenter and assisted in the programming of a few shows. At MSU, he discovered his love of being an educator and since graduating, he has begun work as a teaching assistant and residential mentor at the Summer Science Program in Boulder, Colorado where he helps high school students complete astronomy research projects. Once the program ends, he hopes to enter graduate school to pursue a degree in science education and help spread his passion with the world
Class of 2016
While at MSU, Edward worked with Laura Chomiuk on observations of Cepheid variable stars and with Mark Voit on galaxy cluster projections. He was involved in the Astronomy club, which sponsored talks with professors, observatory trips, and rooftop grilling sessions. Edward now attends Arizona State University where he works with Evan Scannapieco doing galaxy formation simulations.
Class of 2010
Nathan Sanders leads the Quantitative Team at Legendary Pictures, a Hollywood entertainment company best known for its films like Dark Knight, Godzilla, and Interstellar. The Quantitative Team brings diverse experience in physical, computational, and social sciences to Legendary's Boston-based Applied Analytics division. They build novel statistical models, identify first-of-their-kind applications of machine learning methodologies, and design scientifically rigorous experiments and surveys that enable remarkable inferences and predictions about consumers in the entertainment industry and beyond. At Michigan State, Nathan was a Physics and Astrophysics major who worked with Steve Zepf on IR observations of extragalactic globular clusters, with Ed Loh on the development of the Spartan IR Camera, and with Michael Velbel on microscopy of comet samples returned from the NASA Stardust mission. He did his doctoral work on Bayesian statistical modeling of core-collapse supernova populations with Alicia Soderberg at Harvard University.
Class of 2016
While at MSU, Carolyn worked with Laura Chomiuk on classical novae. She presented her work at the January 2015 meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Carolyn now attends graduate school at the University of Michigan studying Solar Physics.