Schedule:

Effective 2/1/2009:

• June 25-July 3, 2009 -- Observing

Education:

2008-2011 -- Robert A. Millikan Postdoctoral Scholar in Astronomy
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

2008 -- PhD., Astronomy and Astrophysics
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Advisor: Professor Andrea Ghez
Funding: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

2000 -- S.B., Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Advisor: Professor Victoria Kaspi

Research Interests:

Postdoctoral Work -- I am currently continuing my work on understanding star formation near the supermassive black hole at the center of our Galaxy. I use high-resolution infrared images taken with the Keck Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics (LGS AO) system to measure how the young stars move (astrometry) around the black hole. The orbits of these young stars tell us a lot about their formation.

I am also working on spatially resolved kinematics (2D) on the nucleus of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), which also shows an unusual population of young stars around the supermassive black hole. Unlike our own Galactic Center, M31 does not have a lot of molecular material in its nucleus so star formation is even more of a mystery.

Finally, I am hoping to use our ability to do high-precision astrometry (~0.2 mas precision) to learn about star formation in other extreme environments such as at the cores of young massive (>10^4 solar masses) star clusters.

Graduate Work -- I conducted my Ph.D. work with Prof. Andrea Ghez on studies of star formation at the Galactic Center. The center of the Milky Way harbors a supermassive black hole (SBH) and a cluster of apparently young, massive stars. The presence of the SBH and the harsh surrounding environment make the origin of these young, massive stars something of a puzzle. I am primarily focused on looking for observational clues to the origins of these young stars. Check out

• UCLA Galactic Center Group
• Published works from NASA ADS

Undergraduate Work -- As an undergraduate at MIT, I worked with Prof. Victoria Kaspi studying Anomalous X-ray Pulsars using Rossi XTE and Gamma-Ray Pulsars using EGRET. Here are a few publications (under my maiden name: Lackey).