I am currently a senior undergraduate student at Ball State University, majoring in physics and minoring in astrophysics. I currently represent the physics department on the student advisory council to the Dean, as well as tutoring for the department and working on several research projects.

Research Interests
Currently, I am working on two separate projects. I work with Dr. Berrington and several other students studying short-period variable star systems, and I also amassed a group of myself and 4 other students to monitor exoplanetary transits about their host stars. In the former project, I photometrically analyze data from these short-period systems and model what the system might look like, based on the data collected and reasonable assumptions about the system. On the latter project, very similarly we gather photometric data of the system as the planetary transit occurs and then look for the dip in the amount of light that reaches the telescope that would correlate with the transit of a planet, then look for abnormalities in the orbit that might be indicative of something greater. Ideally, once I finish graduate school, I will look for a correlation between various characteristics of a massive star system and how those characteristics affect the supernova they undergo and the dispersion of the heavy elements.

Personal Interests
Outside of the classroom, I’m also found to have a wide variety of activities and interests. I can be found watching a multitude of plays at various professional levels, participating in various different niche sports (bocce ball, battleship, etc.), and playing a variety of games ranging from Dungeons and Dragons to a number of different video games. I’m also an avid reader and enjoying intellectual discussions with people over just about any topic. If I’m doing none of those things, I’m probably back home visiting friends while they’re in town.