Risa Wechsler

Last updated

Risa Wechsler
Born
Seattle, WA, United States
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of California, Santa Cruz
Scientific career
Fields Physics, cosmology, astrophysics
Institutions Stanford University
Website risawechsler.com

Risa H. Wechsler is an American cosmological physicist, Professor of Physics at Stanford University, and Professor of Particle Physics and Astrophysics at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. [1] She is the director of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology. [2]

Contents

Education & Career

Wechsler earned her S.B. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1996, and earned her Ph.D from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2001. [1] She completed postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan Department of Physics from 2001 to 2003, and at the University of Chicago from 2003-2006, where she was a NASA Hubble Fellow in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, [3] [4] [5] and an Enrico Fermi Fellow at the Enrico Fermi Institute. [6] [7] [4] She joined the faculty of the Department of Physics at Stanford University in 2006. [4]

Wechsler has been a Trustee on the Board of the Aspen Center for Physics, and a board member of KICC and NOIRLab since 2020. [8] [4] She has served on the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academy of Sciences since 2021, and has been on the Operations Management Board of the Rubin Observatory since 2022. [9] [4]

Research

Wechsler’s cosmology research investigates dark energy, dark matter, galaxy formation, and the growth of structure in the universe. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] She has pursued many collaborative research projects in the course of which she has served as Co-Spokesperson for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Collaboration (2014-2018) [15] [16] [17] [18] and has worked on the Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Dark Energy Science Collaboration [19] and the Dark Sky Simulations on the Titan Supercomputer. [20] [21]   She founded the Satellites Around Galactic Areas (SAGA) Survey with Marla Geha, [22] [23] and helped initiate the Dark Energy Survey in 2004. [23] [24]

Recognition

Outreach

Sharing her expertise with the general public, Wechsler has conveyed her passion for physics in a range of media. In 2016, she appeared on the BBC show Horizon: The Mystery of Dark Energy, [31] and the Science Channel program called Space's Deepest Secrets: Secret History of the Big Bang. [32] In 2012, she spoke on the PBS series Science Bytes: Dark Matters [33] [34]

Wechsler also collaborated with the artist Oxossi Ayofemi on an art exhibit entitled Black Matter, exhibited from July 2018 to January 2020 at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. The show combined discussions about the elusive nature of the universe's dark matter with notions of presence and absence in African American culture. [35]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hartle</span> American physicist (1939–2023)

James Burkett Hartle was an American theoretical physicist. He joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1966, and was a member of the external faculty of the Santa Fe Institute. Hartle is known for his work in general relativity, astrophysics, and interpretation of quantum mechanics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael S. Turner</span> American theoretical cosmologist

Michael S. Turner is an American theoretical cosmologist who coined the term dark energy in 1998. He is the Rauner Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Chicago, having previously served as the Bruce V. & Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor, and as the assistant director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences for the US National Science Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology</span>

The Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) is an independent joint laboratory of Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, founded in 2003 by a gift by Fred Kavli and The Kavli Foundation. It is housed on the grounds of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, as well as on the main Stanford campus. Roger Blandford was the director from 2003 until 2013, and Steven Kahn was the initial deputy director. Tom Abel was appointed acting director in 2013, and director in 2015. In 2018, Risa Wechsler took the position of KIPAC's director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Blandford</span> British theoretical astrophysicist

Roger David Blandford, FRS, FRAS is a British theoretical astrophysicist, best known for his work on black holes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Freese</span> American astrophysicist

Katherine Freese is a theoretical astrophysicist. She is currently a professor of physics at the University of Texas at Austin, where she holds the Jeff and Gail Kodosky Endowed Chair in Physics. She is known for her work in theoretical cosmology at the interface of particle physics and astrophysics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Burchat</span> Canadian particle physicist

Patricia Burchat is the Gabilan Professor of Physics at Stanford University who researches experimental particle physics and cosmology. She is interested in mapping dark matter in the universe, and understanding the nature of dark energy. She was named a fellow of the American Physical Society in 2001, and a Guggenheim Fellow in 2005. In 2013 she became a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracy Slatyer</span> Particle physicist

Tracy Robyn Slatyer is a professor of particle physics with a concentration in theoretical astrophysics with tenure at MIT. She was a 2014 recipient of the Rossi Prize for gamma ray detection of Fermi bubbles, which are unexpected large structure in our galaxy. Her research also involves seeking explanations for dark matter and the gamma ray haze at the center of the Milky Way. In 2021, she was awarded a New Horizons in Physics Prize for "major contributions to particle astrophysics, from models of dark matter to the discovery of the "Fermi Bubbles."

Rachel Mandelbaum is a professor of astrophysics at Carnegie Mellon University, studying cosmology and galactic evolution with a focus on dark matter and dark energy. Much of her work has used the phenomenon of gravitational lensing of galaxies and she has made significant improvements in the calibration of lensing parameters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JoAnne L. Hewett</span> Theoretical particle physicist

JoAnne L. Hewett is a theoretical particle physicist on the faculty of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University, where she is a professor in the Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics. Since 2017 she has been the associate lab director of the Fundamental Physics Directorate and the chief research officer at SLAC. Her research interests include physics beyond the Standard Model, dark matter, and hidden dimensions. She is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Hooper</span> American cosmologist and particle physicist (born 1976)

Daniel Wayne Hooper is an American cosmologist and particle physicist specializing in the areas of dark matter, cosmic rays, and neutrino astrophysics. He is a senior scientist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Olinto</span> Astroparticle physicist and professor

Angela Villela Olinto is provost of Columbia University and an astroparticle physicist. Previously, she served as the Albert A. Michelson Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago as well as the dean of the Physical Sciences Division. Her current work is focused on understanding the origin of high-energy cosmic rays, gamma rays, and neutrinos.

Abigail Goodhue Vieregg is a professor of physics at the Enrico Fermi Institute and Kavli Institute of Cosmology, University of Chicago, specializing in neutrino astrophysics and cosmology. Her work focuses on cosmic high-energy neutrinos and mapping the cosmic microwave background.

Joshua A. Frieman is a theoretical astrophysicist who lives and works in the United States. He is a senior scientist at Fermilab and a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago. Frieman is known for his work studying dark energy and cosmology, and he co-founded the Dark Energy Survey experiment. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2022.

Cora Dvorkin is an Argentine physicist, who is a professor at the physics department at Harvard University. Dvorkin is a theoretical cosmologist. Her areas of research are: the nature of dark matter, neutrinos and other light relics, and the physics of the early universe. Dvorkin is the Harvard Representative at the newly NSF-funded Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions (IAIFI)'s Board. In 2022, she was voted “favorite professor” by the Harvard senior Class of 2023. She has been awarded the 2019 DOE Early Career award and has been named the "2018 Scientist of the year" by the Harvard Foundation for "Salient Contributions to Physics, Cosmology and STEM Education". She has also been awarded a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship and a Shutzer Professorship at the Radcliffe Institute. In 2018 she was awarded a Star Family Challenge prize for Promising Scientific Research, which supports high-risk, high-impact scientific research at Harvard. In 2020, Dvorkin gave a talk on machine learning applied to the search for dark matter as part of the TEDx Río de la Plata event.

Anna Elisabeth Krause is a German-American astronomer and assistant professor of physics at the University of Arizona.

Stefan Funk is a German astroparticle physicist. He is a professor at the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics at the FAU Erlangen-Nuernberg in Germany and an elected a fellow of the American Physical Society.

Scott Dodelson is an American physicist. He is a professor of physics at Carnegie Mellon University and chair of its physics department.

Daniel S. Akerib is an American particle physicist and astrophysicist. He was elected in 2008 a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS).

Hsiao-Mei (Sherry) Cho is a solid state physicist who works as a lead scientist at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California. Her research involves the development of instruments to measure cosmological phenomena including dark matter and the polarization of the cosmic microwave background.

Katrin Heitmann is a German cosmologist whose research involves large-scale computer simulations of the universe, focused on understanding its distribution of matter and rate of expansion. She is a Deputy Division Director of High Energy Physics at the Argonne National Laboratory, the former spokesperson of the LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration, a senior associate of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago, and an affiliate of the Northwestern-Argonne Institute of Science and Engineering at Northwestern University.

References

  1. 1 2 "Risa Wechsler". stanford.edu. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  2. ↑ Gnida, Manuel. "Risa Wechsler named director of KIPAC". SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Hubble Fellows" . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "CV". Risa Wechsler. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  5. 1 2 "NASA Hubble Fellowship Program". STScI. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  6. ↑ "Fellowships | Enrico Fermi Institute | The University of Chicago". efi.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  7. ↑ "Current and Previous Fellows | Enrico Fermi Institute | The University of Chicago". efi.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  8. ↑ "Aspen Center for Physics". www.aspenphys.org. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  9. ↑ "About the Board on Physics and Astronomy". www.nationalacademies.org. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "Risa Wechsler | Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC)". kipac.stanford.edu. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "NASA/ADS". ui.adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  12. ↑ "Research". Risa Wechsler. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  13. ↑ "Risa Wechsler". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  14. ↑ "Publications". Risa Wechsler. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  15. ↑ Radice, Mark (13 October 2016), How astronomers will measure Dark Energy from Kitt Peak. , retrieved 29 June 2023
  16. ↑ "Collaborations". Risa Wechsler. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  17. ↑ "Risa Wechsler | Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC)". kipac.stanford.edu. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  18. ↑ "PublicPages/Contacts – DESI". desi.lbl.gov. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  19. ↑ Collaboration, LSST Dark Energy Science. "Home". LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  20. ↑ Skillman, Samuel W.; Warren, Michael S.; Turk, Matthew J.; Wechsler, Risa H.; Holz, Daniel E.; Sutter, P. M. (1 July 2014). "Dark Sky Simulations: Early Data Release". arXiv: 1407.2600 .{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. ↑ Scacco, Andy; Huang, Da; Marcondes, Rafael; Powell, Devon. "Dark Sky Simulations" (PDF).
  22. ↑ Mao, Yao-Yuan; Geha, Marla; Wechsler, Risa H.; Weiner, Benjamin; Tollerud, Erik J.; Nadler, Ethan O.; Kallivayalil, Nitya (1 February 2021). "The SAGA Survey. II. Building a Statistical Sample of Satellite Systems around Milky Way-like Galaxies". The Astrophysical Journal. 907 (2): 85. arXiv: 2008.12783 . doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/abce58 . ISSN   0004-637X. S2CID   221376962.
  23. 1 2 "Collaborations". Risa Wechsler. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  24. ↑ "Dark matter map puts Big Bang theory on trial". 26 October 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  25. ↑ University, Stanford (5 June 2023). "Faculty Women's Forum announces 2023 award winners". Stanford Report. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  26. ↑ "New Members Elected in 2023". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 19 April 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  27. ↑ "Faculty Awards | Physics Department". physics.stanford.edu. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  28. ↑ "Distinguished Alumni Award". UC Santa Cruz Science. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  29. ↑ "AAAS Announces Leading Scientists Elected as 2020 Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)". www.aaas.org. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  30. ↑ "APS Fellow Archive". www.aps.org. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  31. ↑ "BBC Horizon: The Mystery of Dark Energy" . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  32. ↑ "Science Channel Space's Deepest Secrets: Secret History of the Big Bang" . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  33. ↑ "PBS Science Bytes: Dark Matters" . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  34. ↑ "PBS Science Bytes - Dark Matters | Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC)". kipac.stanford.edu. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  35. ↑ "In That Case: Havruta in Contemporary Art—Oxossi Ayofemi and Risa Wechsler" . Retrieved 12 November 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.