Research Interests

Mass Build-Up of Luminous Red Galaxies

My main research focus is constraining how elliptical galaxies gain their mass. Specifically, I focus on Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs), which are massive elliptical galaxies that are “red and dead,” that is, non-star forming. I’m using data from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys to study the environments of LRGs with the goal of constraining how much mass these galaxies gain by accreting smaller satellite galaxies.

Evolution in the Cosmic Suburbs

I’m also involved in a collaboration that is studying the evolution of galaxies as they fall into a cluster environment. Galaxies tend to travel from the field to a cluster along a filament, concentrations of dark matter that lead from one area of over-density to another. The plot above from Castignani et al 2021 shows different filaments on which galaxies and groups of galaxies are moving toward the Virgo Cluster. I focus on how Hα-based star formation rates change as a function of position in the filament.