About

Hi, I'm Bryan

I am a Physics PhD Student who specializes in radiative transfer within dwarf galaxies in cosmological simulations. Outside of my professional life, I enjoy the outdoors, running, playing guitar, and flying airplanes. I am also a semi-professional Star Wars nerd, a LEGO collector, and an avid 3D-printing tinkerer.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics

George Mason University

Bachelor of Science in Physics with Highest Honors

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Research

At UNC, I worked with Dr. Adrienne Erickcek, building a neural network that predicts which density peaks in the early universe actually collapse into dark matter halos in cosmological simulations.

At GMU, I work with Dr. Ferah Munshi, running cosmological zoom-in simulations of dwarf galaxies with radiative transfer and following how light from young stars heats and ionizes the gas around them and shapes how these small galaxies grow.

Skills & Tools

Simulation & analysis: GasolineChaNGapynbodyAHF halo finderradiative transfer
Computing: PythonNumPy / MatplotlibSLURM & HPC clustersGitLaTeXHTML / CSS / JS
Machine learning: feedforward neural networksclassification
Astrophotography: APTPHD2plate solvingPixInsightDeepSkyStackerPhotoshopSolar Eclipse Maestronarrowband (SHO / HOO)HDR compositing

My Setup

Meade 80 mm APO with guide scope on a Celestron AVX mount under the stars

Wide-Field Narrowband

My workhorse for nebulae, including the Cygnus Wall, the Heart, and the Veil.

Meade 6000 Series 80 mm APO triplet
Celestron AVX mount
ZWO ASI1600MM Pro (mono) with Astromania filter wheel
SVBony 7 nm Hα, OIII, SII filters
SVBony S120 guide scope + ZWO ASI120MM Mini

Large Celestron Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope on a CGX mount, with Bryan looking up at it

Planetary Sky Cannon

Long focal length for high-resolution planetary imaging.

Celestron 11" Schmidt–Cassegrain
Celestron CGX mount
ZWO ASI224MC with a ZWO atmospheric dispersion corrector
IR-cut filter

Bryan setting up two imaging rigs on eclipse day in Newport, Vermont

Solar & Eclipse

Portable enough to fit in a suitcase; it chased the 2024 eclipse to Vermont.

Lunt LS50THa, double-stacked, with a QHY5L-II-M
Canon SL2 with a Tamron SP A011 telephoto
Skywatcher Solar Quest and Celestron Alt-Az mounts

Orange-tube Celestron Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope set up for observing

Visual Observing

The classic orange tube, for looking rather than imaging.

Celestron 8" SE Schmidt–Cassegrain

Beyond Research

When I'm not simulating galaxies or photographing them, you'll usually find me on a trail, out for a run, in a cockpit, behind a guitar, or halfway through a very large LEGO build.