I serve as the faculty lead for the Georgia Outreach Team for Space (GOT Space). Our team consists of undergraduate and graduate ambassadors from Georgia State University, Georgia Tech, and Kennesaw State University. Since the founding in 2018, we have impacted over 15,000 K-12 students in 63 unique schools/programs across 7 Atlanta congressional districts. We proudly continue to be partnered with and funded by the Georgia Space Grant Consortium. Click on the image above for more information or to submit a request to our team!
I serve as the program manager of the Atlanta chapter of Astronomy on Tap. Our monthly series, which we premiered in October 2023, consists of a Georgia State University graduate student, faculty, or research scientist guest speaker, followed by stargazing sessions with an 8-inch Celestron NexStar Go-To Telescope. Each talk is geared for a general audience, and topics have ranged from small stars, the Milky Way galaxy, the expansion rate of the Universe, supermassive black holes, and active astrophysics research conducted at GSU. Click on the image above for more info on this month's event!
In collaboration with the Fernbank Science Center, I serve as the program manager of Cosmic Conversations, a public talk series that showcases astrophysics research conducted at Georgia State University by senior PhD students and faculty. The series debuted in September of 2025, and features ~monthly events in the 500 seat, 10k resolution dome of the Jim Cherry Memorial Planetarium. Click on the image above for more info and to reserve your ticket for our next Conversation!
The Tully-Fisher Relation
Tully & Courtois 2012, ApJ, 749, 78Kourkchi et al. 2020, ApJ, 896, 3JWST DistancesImage credit: MeThe Tully-Fisher relation is a correlation between the rotational velocity of a spiral galaxy and its intrinsic brightness. Using this relation, measurement of the rotation speed allows the true brightness of a galaxy to be estimated.
The Tully-Fisher relation's main importance to extragalactic astronomy is distance measurement. The relation predicts a spiral galaxy's intrinsic brightness, which when compared to its apparent brightness observed from Earth allows the distance to the galaxy to be measured.
Active Galactic Nuclei
Image credit: DESY/Science Communication LabAn active galactic nucleus (AGN) is an environment created by a supermassive black hole that actively feeds on nearby material. AGN activity generates an enormous amount of energetic feedback back into the galaxy, which is thought to play a major role in galaxy evolution over cosmic time. I measure distances to galaxies that host an AGN such as this, and also use the behavior of these environments to measure black hole masses.
Downtown Campus Observing
Georgia State University on-campus observation session info, location, and FAQs is kept up-to-date on our official website.
