Expertise
My research focuses on dark matter in Andromeda's satellite galaxies, particularly the "classical" dwarf spheroidal galaxies. I measure the stellar mass, velocity, and luminosity of these objects to further understand their dark matter composition. In doing so, I am able to compare these results with our current understanding of these dwarfs, helping to better understand the creation and current status of the M31 system. The results of this work will expand existing databases of dwarf galaxies, which primarily consist of Milky Way dwarfs. The addition of M31 constraints will provide another system with which to compare objects orbiting our home galaxy.
I primarily use Justin Read's GravSphere software, allowing for the measurement of dwarfs' dark matter profiles through dynamical Jeans modeling. The resulting fits contribute to the ongoing process of a finding a solution to the infamous "cusp-core" and "too big to fail" problems in galactic astronomy. I also work closely with students in the EDGE Simulation collaboration, in which we can compare simulations of dwarf galaxies and globular clusters to real-Universe objects.