Postdoctoral Scholars
Postdoctoral scholars and fellows conduct research in collaboration with faculty and graduate students, and participate in the activities and mission of the Astronomy program.
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Michael Busch
NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship
Dr. Michael Busch studies molecular astrophysics, galactic structure and interstellar medium science with an emphasis on radio astronomy, atomic and molecular spectroscopy. He currently uses the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), Very Large Array (VLA), SOFIA and the Parkes Radio Telescopes to observe atoms and molecules in our galaxy and nearby galaxies. -
Saavidra Perera
CASS Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Saavidra Perera is an instrumentalist working on the adaptive optics system for the Gemini Planet Imager upgrade, and develops atmospheric profiling techniques for astronomical observing sites. Her observational interests include using Doppler imaging techniques to map magnetically active M dwarfs.
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Sean Pike
CASS Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Sean Pike studies semiconductor detectors for high-energy astrophysics missions such as the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI), and he uses X-ray observatories like the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) to investigate accreting neutron stars and black holes.
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Anna Rosen
NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship & UC Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship
Dr. Anna Rosen specializes in theoretical and computational astrophysics with an emphasis on star formation. She uses numerical simulations to study the formation of massive stars and star clusters and how stellar feedback shapes the interstellar medium and galaxies.
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Jessica Sutter
CASS Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr Jessica Sutter is a postdoctoral researcher working with the “Physics at High Angular Resolution in Nearby GalaxieS” (PHANGS) JWST data. Sutter is interested in using JWST to better understand the distribution and properties of dust in other galaxies, as well as study the interstellar medium conditions in other galaxies to determine how galaxies grow over time.
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Christopher Theissen
UC Chancellor’s Postdocotral Fellowship
Dr. Theissen explores the habitability of planets around the smallest stars. He combines large survey datasets (e.g., Gaia, SDSS, Rubin/LSST), ground based observations (e.g., Keck, Gemini, IRTF) , and machine learning methods to examine stellar and exoplanet demographics to understand habitability in a galactic context.