Astronomy PhD Students
Vic (Yuxin) Dong
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8037D
yuxin.dong@northwestern.edu
Group: Fong Group
Research Statement: Multiwavelength follow-up observations of Fast Radio Bursts to uncover the origin of their progenitor system(s)
Elena González Prieto
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8038C
elena.prieto@northwestern.edu
Group: Rasio Group
Research Statement: Dynamical evolution of dense stellar environments and the formation of compact objects
Alexa Gordon
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8032B
AlexaGordon2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Fong Group
Research Statement: Spectral energy distribution modeling of fast radio burst (FRB) host galaxies to constrain FRB progenitor models
Saarah Hall
PhD Student
GEM Associate Fellow 2022-2023
Office location: 1800 Sherman #7433
saarahhall2027@u.northwestern.edu
Research Statement: I study time-domain astronomy with wide-field surveys like the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). I'm interested in utilizing ZTF data to evaluate the volumetric rate of rare transients.
Danat Issa
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8033
danatissa2023@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Tchekovskoy Group
Research Statement: Simulations of neutron star mergers and their electromagnetic counterparts
Emma Kaufman
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8030A
EmmaKaufman2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Lecoanet Group
Research Statement: Simulations of magnetic waves in stellar interiors
Fulya Kiroglu
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8031
FulyaKiroglu2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Rasio Group
Research Statement: Dynamics and evolution of black holes through close encounters in dense star clusters.
Nathalie Korhonen Cuestas
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8048D
nathaliekorhonencuestas2029@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Strom Group
Research Statement: Characterising the relationships between galactic mass, metallicity, and star formation rate at cosmic noon to better understand the chemical evolution of the universe.
Aretaios Lalakos
PhD Student- Graduated 24-25 school year
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8033
aretaioslalakos2022@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Tchekovskoy Group
Research Statement: The role of magnetic field configuration on black hole accretion and radiation signatures from the interaction of outflows with the ambient medium
Camille Liotine
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8038F
cliotine@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kalogera Group
Research Statement: The evolution of binary star systems, in particular the populations of stellar binaries that result in double compact object mergers that are detectable with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)
Chang Liu
PhD Student
Miller Group
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8034C
ChangLiu2025@u.northwestern.edu
Research Statement: Probing the progenitor properties of supernovae with multi-band observations
Miguel Martinez
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8036A
miguel.martinez@northwestern.edu
Group: Rasio Group
Research Statement: Dynamics across a wide range of astrophysical regimes, from exoplanets and exomoons to massive star clusters
Serena Moseley
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8032D
SerenaMoseley2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kalogera Group
Nick Omahen
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8027
NicholasOmahen2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Tchekovskoy Group
Research Statement: I study the assembly and evolution of accretion disks and their outflows in a wide variety of black hole feeding scenarios
Teresita Ramirez Aguilar
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8038E
TeresitaRamirezAguilar2028@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Tchekovskoy Group
Jillian Rastinejad
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8027
JillianRastinejad2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Fong Group
Research Statement: Observation of the astronomical explosions created by merging neutron stars, kilonovae, from both the short gamma-ray burst and gravitational wave perspective
Nabeel Rehemtulla
PhD Student
Group: Miller group
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8038B
NabeelRehemtulla2027@u.northwestern.edu
Research Statement: Building machine learning models to learn about and classify sources detected by the Zwicky Transient Facility
Jonathan Roberts
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8044B
JonathanRoberts2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Larson Group
Kyle Akira Rocha
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8035
karocha@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kalogera Group
Research Statement: Machine learning and the evolution of binary stars and compact objects
Kierstin Sorensen
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman, 7417
KierstinSorensen2024@u.northwestern.edu
Jacob Sprague
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8034A
JacobSprague2021@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Larson Group
Research Statement: Novel GW sources in conjunction with the levitated-sensor GW detector
Elizabeth Teng
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #7421
ElizabethTeng2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kalogera Group
Research Statement: Using machine learning to accelerate simulations of binary star and compact object populations
Asad Ukani
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman, #7431
asadukani2028@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Murchikova Group
Caroline von Raesfeld
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 9D
carolinevonraesfeld2027@u.northwestern.edu
Hailin Wang
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8046C
hwr5641@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Novak Group
Nycole Wenner
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8034D
NycoleWenner2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Zadeh Group
Rachel Zhang
PhD Student
Rasio Group
Office location: 1800 Sherman #8038A
rczhang@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Rasio Group
Research Statement: Formation and evolution of radio pulsars and magnetars