Education

PhD: Physics

Georgia Institute of Technology @ Atlanta, Georgia - 2022 to Present

PhD Advisor: Dr. John Wise

Minor: Higher Education

BS: Physics

Clemson University @ Clemson, South Carolina - 2018 to 2022

Minor: Digital Production Arts


Publications

McCaffrey, J., Hardin, S., Wise, J. H., Regan, J. A. 2023, “No Tension: JWST Galaxies at z > 10 Consistent with Cosmological Simulations,” The Open Journal of Astrophysics, 6 (September): arXiv:2304.13755


Presentations

Poster Presentation, “JWST Predictions for the First Galaxies and Black Holes,” Flatiron Institute First Stars Conference VII, May 2024

REU Presentation, “Exploring Self-force Through the Teukolsky Equation,” Louisiana State University Physics and Astronomy REU, July 2021

REU Poster Presentation, “Investigating Nuclear Reaction Networks and Studying One Dimensional Flames,” Stony Brook University Physics and Astronomy REU, July 2020


Research Experience

Graduate Research Experience

Georgia Institute of Technology @ Atlanta, Georgia - Aug. 2022 to Present

Advisor: Dr. John Wise

  • Compared Renaissance Simulation results (stellar mass, star formation rate, halo mass) with JWST and large-box simulation data
  • Computed synthetic observations (SEDs and Images) for the Renaissance Simulations using dust radiative transfer code Powderday
  • Determined synthetic observable properties (absolute magnitude, apparent magnitude, half-light radius, etc.) of Renaissance Simulation galaxies

Undergraduate Research Experience

Clemson University @ Clemson, South Carolina - Aug. 2021 to May 2022

Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Zrake

  • Determined the morphology of a spiral wave in a primary accretion disk through its radius and pitch angle
  • Plotted LISA verification binaries’ characteristic strain against LISA sensitivity curves
  • Created a senior thesis poster of information on LISA and LISA verification binaries

Lousiana State University @ Baton Rouge, Louisiana - May 2021 to July 2021

Advisor: Dr. Peter Diener

  • Transformed the Teukolsky equation to tortoise coordinates and hyperboloidal coordinates
  • Decomposed the Teukolsky equation into spherical harmonics in Schwarzschild spacetime and spin-weighted spherical harmonics in Kerr spacetime
  • Helped modify code solving the Teukolsky equation in Kerr spacetime, so it stored the mode coupling in a matrix in a more efficient way

Stony Brook University @ Stony Brook, New York - May 2020 to July 2020

Advisor: Dr. Michael Zingale

  • Validated the porting of code from Fortran to C++
  • Analyzed mass fractions over time from neutron star simulation in Python
  • Altered nuclear reaction networks
  • Ran Castro code to simulate a one-dimensional flame burning in a neutron star

Clemson University @ Clemson, South Carolina - Sept. 2019 to Aug.2021

Advisor: Dr. Jian He

  • Assisted with thermoelectric study of half-heusler compounds
  • Assisted with preparation of n-type and p-type SiGe for a NASA research program
  • Take X-ray diffraction measurements
  • Maintained group website

Teaching Experience

Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Georgia Institute of Technology Physics Department @ Atlanta, Georgia - Aug. 2022 to Aug. 2023, May 2024 to July 2024

  • Taught two lab sections of Intro Physics I (PHYS 2211) in the fall and spring semester and one lab section in the summer semester of the 2022 to 2023 academic year
  • Taught one lab section of Intro Physics II (PHYS 2212) in the 2024 summer semester

Honors and Awards

Presidential Fellowship @ Georgia Institute of Technology - 2022 to 2026

Nominated for College of Science Outstanding Senior in Science @ Clemson University - 2022

Nominated for College of Science Outstanding Junior in Science @ Clemson University - 2021

L.D. Huff Junior Award in the Physics Department @ Clemson University - 2021

L.D. Huff Sophomore Award in the Physics Department @ Clemson University - 2020

President's List @ Clemson University - Fall: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and Spring: 2020, 2021, 2022

Dean's List @ Clemson University - Spring: 2019


Conferences and Workshops

First Stars VII Conference: attended and presented a poster - 2024

Conference of Undergraduate Women in Physics: volunteered at Georgia Tech - 2024; assisted planning the conference that would be hosted at Clemson University (unfortunately cancelled due to Covid) - 2022; attended - 2020, 2021

Enzo/Enzo-E Workshop - attended 2023


Clubs and Organizations

Honors College @ Clemson University - Aug. 2018 to May 2022

Society of Physics Students @ Clemson University - Aug. 2019 to May 2022

Women in Physics @ Clemson University - Aug. 2019 to May 2022