CV
Education
- B.A. in Astrophysics and Physics, Harvard College, May 2021. Cum laude.
- M.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Los Angeles, December 2023.
Work experience
- Spring 2022 - Present, University of California, Los Angeles Infrared Laboratory
- Testing and development of aspects of the detector head for the upcoming Keck Observatory instrument, SCALES
- Implementation of API handling for complex detector hardware, including the use of Teledyne H2RG infrared detectors
- Supervisor: Prof. Michael Fitzgerald (UCLA), Prof. Andy Skemer (UCSC)
- Fall 2020 - Spring 2021, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
- Developing and testing elements of a Wide Field Phasing Testbed for the Giant Magellan Telescope.
- Supervisor: Dr. Brian McLeod
- Summer 2020, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
- Performing astrometry on Vega using historical Hipparcos data and new observations from ALMA to constrain the presence of a companion
- Supervisors: Dr. David Wilner, Dr. Luca Matra
- Spring 2019 - Fall 2020, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
- Using Submillimeter Array observations of the HD 34700 multiple system to resolve an azimuthal asymmetry in the circumbinary disk
- Performed forward modeling in visibility space using MCMC to determine the properties of the detected asymmetry
- Attended 2020 SMA Interferometry School
- Supervisors: Dr. Luca Matra, Dr. Qizhou Zhang, Dr. David Wilner
- Spring 2019 - Spring 2020, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
- Using spectra obtained from SDSS-MaNGA, in combination with SED fits performed in Prospector, to determine the star formation histories of low-redshift galaxies
- Download summary of project here
- Supervisor: Dr. Sandro Tacchella
- Spring 2018, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
- Research Assistant for Worldwide Telescope Ambassadors
- Managed and refined web interfaces for WWTA website
- Reviewed and refined curriculum for elementary and middle school aged students
- Supervisor: Dr. Pat Udomprasert
- Summer 2015 & 2016, Calvin University
- Using ground-based photometry of the globular cluster M56 to plot a color-magnitude diagram to determine if the cluster’s stars belong to one population or two
- Duties included: Debugging DAOPHOT and IRAF, calibrating and reducing optical data
- Supervisor: Professor Jason Smolinski
Skills
- Proficient in Python
- Familiar with most common packages used in astronomy
- Familiar with C, Java, SQL, Linux/Unix operating systems
- Formatting languages including HTML, CSS, etc.
- IRAF
- Including integration with DS9
- Data reduction
- Familiar with optical, infrared, and radio wavelength observations
- Familiar with photometric, spectroscopic, and interferometric data calibration and reduction
Publications
AAS Poster: A Dust Trap around the Young Multiple System HD 34700
Benac P., Matra L., Jimenez-Donaire M.J., Zhang Q., Wilner D., 2020, AAS, 281.08
ApJ: A Dust Trap around the Young Multiple System HD 34700
Benac, P., Matrà, L., Wilner, D., Jimènez-Donaire, M., Monnier, J., Harries, T., Laws, A., Rich, E., & Zhang, Q. (2020). A Dust Trap in the Young Multiple System HD 34700. The Astrophysical Journal, 905(2), 120.
AJ: Re-examining the Radial Distributions of M13 Multiple Populations
Smolinski, J., Hoogendam, W., Van Kooten, A., Benac, P., & Bruce, Z. (2020). Re-examining the Radial Distributions of M13 Multiple Populations. The Astronomical Journal, 160(5), 208.
Talks
Teaching
Service and leadership
- Jenison Girls in STEM, Founder, 2014-2017
- Science Olympiad, 2013-2017
- Science Club for Girls, 2017
- Yleana Leadership Academy, Summer 2018
- Harvard Ed Portal Mentor, 2018