About Me

Education: Currently an Astrophysics PhD Candidate at Arizona State University
Graduated Fall 2019: Bachelor of Sciences in Physics - Fresno State, Minors in Astronomy and Mathematics, Magna Cum Laude

Research Interests: Astronomy instrumentation. 21-cm cosmology, specifically in connection to the Epoch of Reionization and Cosmic Dawn.

Publications: HERA Memo #058: Constant Offset in Cross-Polarized HERA IDR2.1, 2018 Investigating mutual coupling in the MWA Phase II compact array, 2024, In Press

Research

Current Research

Mutual Coupling in the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA)
Dissertation Project - Advisor is Dr. Daniel Jacobs
I am studying how much excess correlation mutual coupling and antenna-to-antenna reflections contributes to the 21-cm observations. I have built models in FEKO determine how much mutual coupling changes the beam as more antennas are added. These results are compared to a semi-analytic model of mutual coupling to determine which model will be most effective for reducing mutual coupling in the calibration pipeline.

Past Research

Cable Reflections in the OVRO-LWA
I worked with Dr. Daniel Jacobs during the Phase 3 EoR commissioning of the OVRO-LWA radio telescope. I used observations to study how the upgrade affected the amount of cable reflections present. I wrote code in Python to create 2-D power spectra of the Phase 3 observations and compared to historic observations to determine if the severity of cable reflections had been reduced with the upgrade.

Low reflectivity surface treatments for a spectrograph optical table
I worked with Dr. Nathaniel Butler on the EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope (EXCITE). Because the spectrograph is made of reflective metal, there was a concern over scattered light making its way into the detector. To minimize this issue, I researched possible low reflectivity surface treatments to coat the inside of the spectrograph. I modeled the light scattering and thermal emission properties of each treatment in python to compare to the theoretical noise level requirement.

Stress in transition edge sensor-based bolometers
Summer research internship at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center under the supervision of Dr. Edward J. Wollack and Dr. Karwan Rostem
I studied sources of stress in cryogenically cooled transition edge sensor (TES) based bolometers. I built models in COMSOL and simulated the fabrication process of the bolometers to determine what caused the existing bolometers produced by the HIRMES team for an experiment on SOFIA to deform.

Maintenance on a 16-inch optical telescope
Semester research at CSU Fresno under the supervision of Dr. Fredrick Ringwald
I performed maintenance on Fresno State's station at Sierra Remote Observatories. This included updating the computers, mounting a camera on the 16-inch telescope, commissioning replacement hardware, and other routine maintenance required.

Signal leakage in the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array
Summer internship at ASU working with Dr. Daniel Jacobs.
I worked with the HERA radio telescope to study the source of signal leakage in the cross-polarization data. I wrote code in CASA and Python to create 2-D and 3-D power spectra. I then created a mathematical model of the possible sources and compared to the real observations.

Community

Teaching

ASU
I taught the Introduction to Astronomy - Laboratory at ASU for two years. As a TA for one semester, I taught three lab sections. As Head TA for three semesters, I taught two lab sections per semester.

Fresno State
I was a recitation leader for Calculus II for one semester, and then a recitation leader for Introduction to Thermodynamics and Electromagnetism for three semesters.
I was a Physics tutor for one year.

Outreach and Science Communication

Fresno State Downing Planetarium Assistant
I worked with the head of the Planetarium, Dr. White, on the science communication aspects of running the Planetarium. This included leading visiting school groups through crafts about astronomy, leading guided tours of the museum, and giving science demonstrations. During the monthly shows open to the public, I assisted with customer service aspects of the job as well as setting up and operating the telescope.

Low Frequency Cosmology (LoCo) Lab Graduate Student Representative
I have represented the LoCo lab at various outreach events with SESE, along with other students. This includes answering questions about the research in the lab, leading demonstrations, and overseeing the undergraduate student representatives.

Mentoring

LoCo Lab
Since the summer of 2021, I have acted as a mentor to the undergraduate students working in the LoCo lab. During the school year, I provide advice and answers to research questions for the ASU students who conduct research as part of the lab. During the summers, I act as a research mentor to the summer interns who are employed in the lab.

Cal-Bridge
I have been a peer mentor with Cal-Bridge since 2020. This has included one-on-one mentoring for undergradute students and volunteering at workshops on applying to graduate school, mental health in college, and research and scientific coding.

Contact

Email: kat.elder[at]asu.edu