METAL Group


Credit: Adrian Crawford (Design & Logo) & JWST/NASA (for Cas A images)

Group Head: Prof. Maryam Modjaz

Ph.D. Student Adrian Crawford (homepage) works on large-scale photometric surveys and machine learning

Ph.D. Student Noshin Yesmin works on Young SNe Ib and transition SNe

Ph.D. Student Raphael Baer-Way works on on interacting supernovae through multiwavelength observations using X-ray, optical, and radio data

Postdoc Dr. Sahana Kumar works on SNe Ia and leads the observational large-aperture telescope (Magellan, MMT, LBT) program of our group

Postdoc Dr. Craig Pellegrino works on interacting Stripped SNe (ie, SNe Icn, SNe Ibn). He is our liaison with the LCO’s Global SN Project and leads the SNEX2 efforts.

Former group members:

  • Dr. Marc Williamson, astronomer at MIT Lincoln Labs(homepage), former PhD student at NYU (2017-2023)
  • Dr. Tyler Pritchard (homepage), staff at NASA Goddard, former postdoc with me at NYU (2018-2022)
  • Prof. Federica Bianco, now faculty at Delaware (homepage), former James Arthur Postdoc in my group at NYU (2012-2016)
  • Prof. Wolfgang Kerzendorf, now faculty at Michigan State University (homepage), former postdoc in my group at NYU (2018-2019)
  • Junior Research Scientist Magdalena Siwek (Feb 2018 – July 2018, now PhD student at Harvard University)
  • Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Shan Huang (2014-2017, now Senior Data Scientist and Strategist at IBM)
  • Prof Or Graur, now faculty at Portsmouth, UK) (homepage), former postdoc in my group at NYU (2012-2016)
  • Ph.D Student: Yuqian Liu (2012-2017; now at Capital One as Data scientist)
  • Ph.D. Student Kierran Finn (2015-2016 now PhD student in the UK)
  • Junior Research Assistant: David Fierroz (2011-2015)
  • NYU-Abu Dhabi undergraduate student Seung Man Oh (2013-2015)
  • Ph.D Student Nitya Doddamane (2012-2012)

Some of our activities, besides working on awesome science:

METAL conference at UVa/NRAO in July 2023: current and former group members
Group outing to the Rose Center Hayden Planetarium (July 2012).