People

Welcome to the West Virginia University Astronomy Page! Use the sidebar to become familiar with the faculty, staff, and graduate students!

Faculty

Loren Anderson

loren.anderson@mail.wvu.edu

Phone 304-293-4884
B.S. Whitman College, 2002
Ph.D. Boston University, 2011
Research Galactic HII Regions and Star Formation

Zachariah Etienne

zbetienne@mail.wvu.edu

Phone 304-293-8515
B.S. Indiana University, 2003
Ph.D. University of Illinois, 2009
Research Computational Astrophysics and Numerical Relativity

Duncan Lorimer

duncan.lorimer@mail.wvu.edu

Phone 304-293-4867
B.S. University of Wales, 1990
Ph.D. University of Manchester, 1994
Research Compact Objects and Radio Transients

Maura McLaughlin

maura.mclaughlin@mail.wvu.edu

Phone 304-293-4812
B.S. Pennsylvania State University, 1994
Ph.D. Cornell University, 2001
Research Neutron Stars and General Relativity

Sean McWilliams

Sean.McWilliams@mail.wvu.edu

Phone 304-293-3076
B.S. Pennsylvania State University, 2003
Ph.D. University of Maryland, 2008
Research Compact Binary Systems and General Relativity

D.J. Pisano

djpisano@mail.wvu.edu

Phone 304-293-4886
B.S. Yale University, 1996
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2001
Research Neutral Hydrogen in Distant Galaxies

Sarah Burke Spolaor

sarah.spolaor@mail.wvu.edu

Phone 304-293-2771
B.S. Haverford College, 2006
Ph.D. Swinburne University of Technology, 2011
Research Binary Supermassive Black Holes and Radio Transients

Kathryn Williamson

kewilliamson@mail.wvu.edu

Phone 304-293-3422
B.S. University of Georgia, 2008
Ph.D. Montana State University, 2013
Research Education and Public Outreach

Staff

Nathaniel Garver-Daniels

nathaniel.garver-daniels@mail.wvu.edu

Phone 304-293-3422
System Administrator

Margaret Mattson

mamattson@mail.wvu.edu

Phone 304-293-3784
Program Coordinator

Post-Docs

Harsha Blumer

harsha.blumer@mail.wvu.edu

Ph.D. University of Manitoba, 2013

Peter Breiding

peter.breiding@mail.wvu.edu

B.S. University of Virginia, 2013
Ph.D. University of Maryland - Baltimore County, 2018

Paul Brook

paul.brook@gmail.com

MPhys University of Leeds and UC Berkeley, 2010
Ph.D. University of Oxford, 2015

Natalia Lewandowska

natalia.lewandowska@mail.wvu.edu

Ph.D. University of Wuerzburg, 2015
Research Single pulse radio emission, giant radio pulses, multiwavelength emission from pulsars

Matteo Luisi

maluisi@mail.wvu.edu

B.S. Graz University of Technology
Ph.D. West Virginia University, 2019

Dustin Madison

dustin.madison@mail.wvu.edu

B.S. University of California, Berkeley, 2007
Ph.D. Cornell University, 2015

Michal Pirog

michal.pirog@mail.wvu.edu

B.S.
Ph.D.

Mayuresh Surnis

msurnis@gmail.com

B.S. Fergusson College, 2008
Ph.D. National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (Pune), 2017
Research Fast Radio Bursts

Current Graduate Students

Devansh Agarwal

da0017@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution
Enrolled
Project
Advisor Duncan Lorimer

Kshitij Aggarwal

ka0064@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution
Enrolled
Project
Advisor  Sarah Burke-Spolaor

Belinda Cheeseboro

bdc0001@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution Andrews University
Enrolled 2015
Project Unmodeled Searches for Eccentric Binaries
Advisor Sarah Burke Spolaor

Ashok Choudhary

aschoudhary@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution
Enrolled 2015
Project Simulating Electromagnetic Counterparts to GW Sources
Advisor Sean McWilliams

William Carl Fiore

wcf0002@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution
Enrolled
Project
Advisor

Golnoosh Gopayegani

gogolpayegani@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution Azad University, Central Tehran Branch
Enrolled 2014
Project Detection and Classification of Transient Radio Sources
Advisor Duncan Lorimer

Andrew Kaiser

ark0015@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution
Enrolled
Project
Advisor Sean McWilliams

Joseph Kania

jkania@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution
Enrolled
Project
Advisor  Duncan Lorimer

Amber Lenon

al0034@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution Syracuse University
Enrolled 2016
Project Modeled Searches for Eccentric Binaries
Advisor Maura McLaughlin

Josh Mascoop

jlmascoop@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution Boston University
Enrolled 2015
Project The HII Region Luminosity Function
Advisor Loren Anderson

Patrick Nelson

penelson@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution
Enrolled
Project
Advisor  Zach Etienne

Nihan Pol

nspol@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution
Enrolled
Project
Advisor  Maura McLaughlin

Brent Shapiro-Albert

bjs0024@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution Union College
Enrolled  2016
Project
Advisor  Maura McLaughlin

Evan Smith

ets0005@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution
Enrolled
Project
Advisor  D.J. Pisano

Jacob Turner

jet0027@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution  Oberlin College
Enrolled  2018
Project
Advisor  Maura McLaughlin

Haley Wahl

hmw0023@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution  University of Vermont
Enrolled  2017
Project  Polarization Calibration and Rotation Measure Variations of the NANOGrav 12.5-Year Data Set
Advisor  Maura McLaughlin

Caitlin Witt

caw0057@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution Cornell University
Enrolled 2017
Project
Advisor  Sarah Burke-Spolaor

Former Graduate Students

Will Armentrout

warmentr@nrao.edu

Undergraduate Institution Westminster College
Enrolled 2012
Graduated 2018
Thesis A Census of the Galactic HII Region Population
Current Affiliation Postdoctoral Fellow, Green Bank Observatory

Jason Boyles

jason.boyles@wku.edu

Undergraduate Institution Franklin College
Enrolled 2006
Graduated 2011
Thesis Studies of pulsar populations: Searching, timing, and modeling
Current Affiliation Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics, Western Kentucky University

Jayanth Chennamangalam

jayanthc@gmail.com

Undergraduate Institution Mahatma Gandhi EE College
Enrolled 2009
Graduated 2014
Thesis Sampling the Radio Transient Universe: Studies of Pulsarsand the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Current Affiliation Starting an Indian Engineering Firm

Pete Gentile

pgentile@mail.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution
Enrolled
Graduated 2018
Thesis Pulsars as Calibration Tools and X-Ray Observations of
Spider Pulsars
Current Affiliation  Insight Data Science Fellow

Lucas Hunt

lhunt@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution University of Wisconsin-Madison
Enrolled
Graduated 2017
Thesis The Evolution of Luminous Compact Blue Galaxies in COSMOS between z~0.0-1.0
Current Affiliation Postdoctoral Research Fellow, United States Naval Observatory

Megan Jones

mljones1@mail.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution  University of Wisconsin-Madison
Enrolled
Graduated 2018
Thesis   Multi-Telescope Radio Observations forLow Frequency Gravitational WaveAstrophysics
Current Affiliation  Postdoc, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Matteo Luisi

maluisi@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution Graz University of Technology
Enrolled 2014
Thesis
Current Affiliation Postdoc, West Virginia University

Mitch Mickaliger

maledict20@gmail.com

Undergraduate Institution Boston University
Enrolled 2007
Graduated 2013
Thesis Searches for Radio Pulsars & Fast Transients and Multiwavelength Studies of Single-pulse Emission
Current Affiliation Engineer, SKA, University of Manchester, UK

Joshua Miller

j314159@gmail.com
Undergraduate Institution Eastern Michigan University
Enrolled 2006
Graduated 2013
Thesis Multiwavelength Studies of Rotating Radio Transients
Current Affiliation First Data Scientist, Samba TV, San Francisco

Nipuni Palliyaguru

nipunipalliyaguru9@gmail.com

Undergraduate Institution University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Enrolled 2009
Graduated 2015
Thesis Probing Pulsar Emission on Short Timescales: Rotating Radio Transients, Cyclic Spectroscopy, and Single-Pulse Studies of Millisecond Pulsars
Current Affiliation Postdoctoral Scientist, Arecibo Observatory

Nikolas Pingel

Nickolas.Pingel@anu.edu.au

Undergraduate Institution University of Wisconsin-Madison
Enrolled 2012
Graduated 2018
Thesis Deep Extragalactic Neutral Hydrogen Surveys with the Green Bank Telescope
Current Affiliation Astronomer, Australian National University

Katie Rabidoux

rabidouxk@uwplatt.edu

Undergraduate Institution Michigan State University
Enrolled 2008
Graduated 2015
Thesis Evolution of z ~ 0 Luminous Compact Blue Galaxies
Current Affiliation Asst. Professor, University of Wisconsin-Platteville

Akshaya Rane

arane@mix.wvu.edu

Undergraduate Institution
Enrolled 2011
Graduated 2017
Thesis A Study of the Fast Radio Burst Population
Current Affiliation

Joshua Ridley

jridley@murraystate.edu

Undergraduate Institution Grove City College
Enrolled 2006
Graduated 2010
Thesis Pulsar Populations in the Galaxy and Magellanic Clouds
Current Affiliation Asst. Professor of Physics, Murray State University

Andrew Seymour

seymour.andrew@gmail.com

Undergraduate Institution West Virginia University
Enrolled 2009
Graduated 2014
Thesis A Study of Dynamical and Emission Variabilities in Pulsars
Current Affiliation PostDoc Researcher, Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico

Joseph Swiggum

swiggumj@gmail.com

Undergraduate Institution Carleton College
Enrolled 2009
Graduated 2015
Thesis Pulsar population synthesis using palfa detections and pulsar search collaboratory discoveries including a wide DNS system and a nearby MSP
Current Affiliation PostDoc Researcher, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Spencer Wolfe

spencer.wolfe@gmail.com

Undergraduate Institution West Virginia University
Enrolled 2007
Graduated 2014
Thesis Neutral Hydrogen in the Local Group and around the Milky Way
Current Affiliation PostDoc Researcher, SKA South Africa, Cape Town