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ABOUT ME

My research explores the extreme endpoints of matter in the Universe: black holes and neutron stars. I am principle investigator on programs to identify electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave sources detected by the LIGO-Virgo laser interferometers, including the discovery in 2017 of the first neutron star merger GW170817, for which I co-led the identification of the first X-ray counterpart. This discovery was Science Magazine’s 2017 Breakthrough of the Year and my team was awarded a Top 10 Discovery of 2018 by Québec Science.

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I also lead multi-wavelength, time domain studies of growing supermassive black holes, including Sagittarius A* and M87. As a member of the multi-wavelength coordination team, I joined the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration in reporting the first direct image of a black hole’s shadow in 2019. This amazing image appeared on the front page of nearly every prominent newspaper worldwide, and I was honoured as La Presse’s Personalité de la semaine for my role in the discovery. I was also thrilled to be a part of the EHT team receiving the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.

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My research has been highlighted by the CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars Award in the Gravity and the Extreme Universe Program, and a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Multi-messenger Astrophysics.

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EDUCATION

EMPLOYMENT 

McGill University/McGill Space Institute

Montréal, QC, Canada

Associate Professor of Physics, 2020 – present

Assistant Professor of Physics, 2015 – 2020

University of Washington

Seattle, WA 

PhD, Astronomy, 2010

MSc, Astronomy, 2006

Amherst College

Amherst, MA

Assistant Professor of Astronomy, 2014 – 2015

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

CIERA Postdoctoral Fellow, 2010 – 2014

NSF GK-12 Coordinator/Mentor, 2010 – 2013

University of Washington

Seattle, WA

NASA Jenkins Predoctoral Fellow, 2005 – 2008

Research Teaching Assistant, 2003 – 2010

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA 

MSc, Physics, 2004

St. John's College

Santa Fe, NM

BA, Philosophy, 1995

PUBLICATIONS

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