Hello, and happy birthday Charles Darwin!

Hello Cosmic Diary readers!  As this is my first post, I thought I would give a quick intro … and start by saying that I’ve blogged off and on on other websites before in the past, but have never been very consistent.  I am going to do my best to post here weekly, though.

So, I got my Ph.D this past summer…and after what sometimes seemed like endless years of college, I am finally a “real” astronomer. 🙂 I am in my first year as a postdoc at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. After living in the desert for six years (I did my graduate work at Arizona State University), it is wonderful to live in a place with seasons! We got snow last week, and it was beautiful. Our two Great Danes loved it! It’s hilarious to see such gigantic dogs frolicking in the snow.

As for my research, I am interested broadly in galaxy evolution…and specifically, how galaxy interactions over cosmic history have influenced the physical properties of those galaxies; e.g., star formation and supermassive black hole growth. But I will write more about my research later…

So, today is the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birthday! The New York Times had a cool article about it today, which talks about his contributions to science and society in general much more eloquently than I can. So, I’ll just say Happy Birthday!