Welcome New Postdoctoral Researchers!
We are delighted to announce fourteen postdocs will be joining the CIERA community in fall 2025. Please join us in extending a warm welcome to these fantastic researchers!
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Aneesh Baburaj Aneesh (University of California, San Diego) joins CIERA as a Postdoctoral Associate working with Prof. Jason Wang. He comes with a strong background in high-resolution stellar spectroscopy and high-contrast exoplanet imaging with JWST. His research at CIERA will focus on high-contrast exoplanet imaging using both ground-based instruments (GRAVITY, GPI 2.0, Keck) and space-based telescopes (JWST, Roman).
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Leïla Bessila Leïla (CEA Paris-Saclay, France) is joining CIERA as a Postdoctoral Associate working with Prof. Daniel Lecoanet. She studies the effects of rotation and magnetic fields on wave excitation in stars. At CIERA, she will investigate inertial wave excitation and damping by convection and tidal forces, expanding our understanding of stellar dynamics. |
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Shanika Galaudage Shanika (Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, France) joins CIERA and the Adler Planetarium as the CIERA-Adler Postdoctoral Fellow. Her research focuses on gravitational-wave observations of merging compact objects to explore their formation and evolution. At CIERA, she will combine gravitational wave and electromagnetic observations to gain deeper insights into these systems while also engaging in research and outreach at the Adler Planetarium. |
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Ish Gupta Ish (Penn State University) will join CIERA as an N3AS Postdoctoral Fellow (NSF Physics Frontier Center – Network for Neutrinos, Nuclear Astrophysics, and Symmetries). Ish has extensive experience in analyzing gravitational-wave data to infer cosmological parameters, constrain neutron star properties, and perform multi-messenger analyses. At CIERA, he will advance research in multi-messenger astrophysics, leveraging next-generation gravitational-wave detectors. |
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Jason Hinkle Jason (University of Hawai’i, Mānoa), recipient of an NHFP Einstein Fellowship at UIUC, will join both CIERA and the SkAI Institute in Fall 2025 as a Visiting Scholar. He studies nuclear transients and SMBH accretion, focusing on tidal disruption events (TDEs) and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). At CIERA, he plans to collaborate with experts in time-domain astronomy and SMBH physics, utilizing resources like LS4 and large telescopes to study faint, fast transients and advance understanding of SMBH activity. |
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Fulya Kiroglu Fulya (Northwestern University) will become a CIERA Postdoctoral Fellow. Her research centers on transient events and gravitational waves, particularly the tidal disruption of stars by black holes. She will use magnetohydrodynamic simulations to study accretion processes and emission mechanisms, contributing to upcoming transient discoveries from LSST and the Roman Space Telescope. |
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Yijia Li Yijia (Penn State University) is joining CIERA as a CIERA Postdoctoral Associate working with Prof. Allison Strom. Yijia investigates ionizing sources in galaxies developing and applying spectral modeling techniques. At CIERA, she will continue developing nebular emission models and analyzing data from galaxy surveys to study the role of ionizing sources in galaxy evolution across cosmic time. |
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Stephanie Monty Stephanie (University of Cambridge, UK) will join CIERA as a CIERA Postdoctoral Fellow. Her work spans galactic archaeology and astronomical instrumentation. At CIERA, she will explore the Milky Way’s formation history through chemical abundance analysis and investigate globular cluster dynamics, contributing to our understanding of exotic nucleosynthesis in and around globular clusters. |
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Kenzie Nimmo Kenzie (MIT) joins CIERA as an NHFP Einstein Fellow. She focuses on uncovering the origins of fast radio bursts (FRBs) using very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). At CIERA, she will localize FRBs with the CHIME Outriggers, a groundbreaking upgrade that transforms CHIME—already the world’s leading FRB discovery instrument—into a VLBI array. |
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Nicholas Rui Nicholas (Caltech), recipient of an NHFP Hubble Fellowship at Princeton, will join CIERA in Fall 2025 as a Visiting Scholar. Nicholas studies stellar physics, particularly at the intersection of seismology, binary interactions, and magnetic fields. He will collaborate with experts in stellar evolution at CIERA to investigate the role of stellar oscillations in identifying past interactions and measuring magnetic fields in white dwarfs. |
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Kung-Yi Su Kung-Yi (Harvard University) will join CIERA as a Research Associate. His research addresses AGN (Active Galactic Nucleus) feedback across multiple scales, from black hole accretion physics to galaxy-scale effects. At CIERA, he will develop models to bridge these scales, improving our understanding of AGN influence on galaxy evolution. |
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Nicholas Vieira Nicholas (McGill University, Canada); will join CIERA as an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow. Nicholas is a multi-messenger astrophysicist studying electromagnetic follow-up observations of gravitational-wave events. In his research at CIERA, he will work with Profs. Wen-fai Fong and Charlie Kilpatrick to continue his focus on kilonovae spectra and photometric analysis, aiming to refine the knowledge of r-process nucleosynthesis and heavy element formation. |
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Zepei Xing Zepei (University of Geneva, Switzerland) is joining CIERA as a Postdoctoral Associate working with Prof. Vicky Kalogera. Zepei focuses on compact-object binary evolution, using detailed modeling and population synthesis methods. At CIERA, he will contribute to the development of POSYDON, enhancing predictions of compact binary astrophysics. |
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Zhuyun Zhuang Zhuyun (Caltech) is joining CIERA as a CIERA Postdoctoral Fellow. Her research explores chemical evolution in distant galaxies through spectroscopic studies. At CIERA, she will analyze interactions between stellar populations and ionized gas, leveraging data from JWST, KCWI, and the upcoming PFS survey. |
In addition, we are also happy to congratulate CIERA Postdoctoral Associate Noah Rogers, who has been selected as a CIERA Postdoctoral Fellow!
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Noah Rogers Noah (Northwestern University) will begin his CIERA Postdoctoral Fellowship in Fall 2025. His research focuses on the chemical enrichment of galaxies across cosmic time, and how heavy elements fundamentally shape galaxy evolution. Noah utilizes spectroscopic observations from a variety of telescopes, including HST and JWST, to reveal the detailed physics and chemical abundance patterns within star-forming galaxies. |