News Item
Jun 2007
Congratulations 2007 Astronomy PhDs
RYAN CHORNOCK Hometown: Sterling, VA Dissertation: "Astrophysical Applications of Spectropolarimetry" Advisor: Alex Filippenko Next steps: Staying here at Berkeley as a postdoc Favorite Cal Astronomy moment: Using the Keck telescopes The biggest challenge of grad school: Deciding when to leave... Words of wisdom for fellow students: Take your time! Explore! MICHAEL COOPER Hometown: State College, PA Dissertation: "The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey and the Role of Environment in Galaxy Formation and Evolution" Advisor: Marc Davis Next steps: Loiter about Berkeley as a postdoc for the summer, prior to moving on to a Spitzer Fellow at the University of Arizona Favorite Cal Astronomy moment: Oh, there's so many that it's difficult to pick just one...but if I have to, then I'd say the subsidized trips to Hawaii. The biggest challenge of grad school: Finding a place to live in Berkeley that could be afforded on a grad student income. Words of wisdom for fellow students: Talk to the older grad students. They hopefully learned a thing or two over the years, and you could likely benefit from that collective wisdom. MICHAEL P FITZGERALD Hometown: Dallas, TX Dissertation: "Revealing Planet Formation: Technique, Observation, and Analysis" Advisor: James Graham and Geoff Marcy Next steps: I will be taking a Michelson Fellowship to work with Bruce Macintosh at LLNL, to work on high-contrast imaging of circumstellar debris. Favorite Cal Astronomy moment: Finishing the Ph.D. The biggest challenge of grad school: Applying for jobs. Words of wisdom for fellow students: Break your research up into self-contained chunks, and then publish when you finish a chunk. BRIAN GERKE Hometown: Columbia, MO Dissertation Title: "Groups and Clusters of Galaxies in the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: Significance for Cosmic Evolution" Advisor: Marc Davis Next steps: Postdoc in Berkeley for the summer, before starting a postdoc fellowship at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Favorite Cal Astronomy moment: The subsidized travel to various exotic locales is pretty sweet. The biggest challenge of grad school: 1st semester, 2nd year. But it was my own fault. Words of wisdom for fellow students: Don't try to teach, take classes, and do research at the same time. Big mistake. JOHN A JOHNSON Hometown: St. Louis, MO Dissertation: "Planet Hunting in New Stellar Domains" Advisor: Geoff Marcy Next steps: NSF Postdoc at IfA (U of Hawaii) Favorite Cal Astronomy Moment: When I got to travel to Asiago Observatory in Italy for a project I was working on. I basically got a 3 week paid vacation and my first publication all in one trip! It was then I realized that Astronomy is the best way to do science because our "labs" are located in the best parts of the world: Italy, Chile, Hawaii, um, San Jose...uhhh...outer space. Okay, you get the point. The biggest challenge of grad school: The 1st year Words of wisdom for fellow students: Never stop asking stupid questions. Don't be afraid to knock on the doors of older grad students. If they know more than you, it's only because they learned it from older grad students. So make sure you regularly take advantage of the best resource in the department. JULIA MILLER KREGENOW Hometown: Soldiers Grove, WI Dissertation: "Best Thesis Ever" (or, "A Far-Ultraviolet Study of the Transient Warm/Hot Gas in the Galaxy Through Emission from Highly Ionized Species") Advisor: Carl Heiles (Astronomy) & Jerry Edelstein (Space Sciences Lab) Next steps: Bring Science and Math to the masses. Look for a job. Favorite Cal Astronomy moment: Finishing my thesis. Graduation. The biggest challenge of grad school: Being afraid to ask questions. Words of wisdom for fellow students: Ask questions. RENBIN YAN Hometown: Beijing, China Dissertation: "Studies of Galaxy Evolution with Redshift Surveys" Advisor: Marc Davis Next steps: Postdoc Fellow at University of Toronto Favorite Cal Astronomy moment: Observing at Keck, and Christmas plays. I will miss the latter so much. The biggest challenge of grad school: If I could rewind and do grad school again, I would put more effort into socializing within the department. Cultural differences made this challenging. I would try to get more into American culture, as the culture barrier is still hard to overcome. I think this was the most challenging aspect of my grad school years. Words of wisdom for fellow students: Talk more with professors, fellow students, and people around you. |