Stellar Astrophysics | Exoplanet Science | Space Missions
I lead a research program at the intersection of stellar astrophysics and exoplanet atmospheric characterization, developing the foundations needed to separate stellar and planetary signals in transmission spectra. My group combines space-based spectroscopy (HST, JWST, Pandora) with new modeling and data-driven methods to constrain stellar photospheres and enable robust atmospheric inference for small exoplanets.
I am a Research Scientist at MIT in the Disruptive Planets group. I earned my PhD in Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Arizona before joining MIT as a 51 Pegasi b Fellow.
Before astronomy, I studied neuroscience at Westminster University and worked as a field biologist in Utah and Arizona.
Knowing Stars, Knowing Planets: My research bridges stellar astrophysics, exoplanet discovery, and atmospheric characterization, with a focus on understanding and correcting the imprint of stellar photospheres on exoplanet transmission spectra. The most accessible rocky planets orbit nearby K and M dwarfs — but extracting reliable atmospheric signals from these systems requires precisely understanding the stars themselves. I develop the theoretical framework, observational strategies, and mission-scale programs needed to separate stellar and planetary signals in transmission spectroscopy.
Together, these efforts connect exoplanet discovery, stellar physics, atmospheric characterization, and mission design — building the methodological foundation required to interpret biosignature searches in the coming decades.
The most promising rocky exoplanets for atmospheric characterization orbit nearby M dwarfs. I contribute to discovery and follow-up efforts in SPECULOOS and TESS, with an emphasis on identifying systems that will define the JWST era.
During my PhD, I established the modern theoretical framework for the transit light source (TLS) effect (Rackham et al. 2018, 2019), showing that unocculted starspots and faculae can imprint spectral signals comparable to — or larger than — planetary atmospheric features in transmission spectra. This work established that stellar contamination is a dominant systematic for M-dwarf planets and many active K dwarfs. The framework we presented now underpins interpretation strategies for precise transmission spectroscopy with HST and JWST.
To move toward practical correction strategies, I lead large-scale archival programs that are focused on infer stellar photospheric properties from space-based transit observations.
These programs are uniformly re-analyzing dozens of archival transit observations from HST and JWST to build Legacy Libraries of time-dependent stellar heterogeneity constraints and contamination-corrected transmission spectra.
I serve as the Stars Science Working Group Lead for NASA’s Pandora SmallSat Mission, a Pioneers-class mission specifically designed to address stellar contamination in exoplanet spectroscopy.
Having launched in January 2026, Pandora will obtain repeated, simultaneous visible and near-infrared time-series observations of transiting exoplanets orbiting active K and M dwarfs with long time baselines, enabling precise constraints on stellar photospheric properties at the time of planetary transits. This dedicated mission strategy will provide critical insights for quantifying stellar heterogeneity and its imprint on exoplanet transmission spectra.
I am a core science team member for the Nautilus Space Observatory, a mission concept designed to scale atmospheric characterization to large samples of transiting exoplanets with a constellation of spacecraft utlizing large-aperture, low-cost, replicable optics.
My work contributes to defining the stellar science requirements and contamination-mitigation strategies needed for future flagship-scale atmospheric surveys.
I have authored more than 100 publications to date, including 6 as first author. ADS libraries summarizing my publication record are available below.
Teaching and mentoring are central to my professional identity. I aim to help students become confident, flexible scientific thinkers who use quantitative, evidence-based reasoning and clear communication to interpret data and solve problems collaboratively. I emphasize evidence-informed practices (active learning, formative assessment, and computational apprenticeship) and design learning experiences that connect core physical principles to active research frontiers.
At MIT, I developed and delivered modules for 12.425/12.625 (Extrasolar Planets) and 12.420/12.601 (Physics & Chemistry of the Solar System), including Jupyter-notebook-based labs using real JWST data. I have also guest lectured in astrobiology at Westminster University and taught large-enrollment astronomy courses at the University of Arizona.
My mentoring approach emphasizes scaffolded skill development, transparent expectations, and building a supportive research-group culture. I have mentored undergraduate researchers, graduate students, and postdocs on projects spanning stellar spectroscopy, transmission spectra, and mission science, with 14 advisee-led publications to date.
I contribute to the exoplanet community through mission leadership, community synthesis, open tools, and workshops that bring together stellar, exoplanet, and instrumentation communities.
Co-led NASA ExoPAG Study Analysis Group 21, convening >100 scientists to identify priorities for addressing stellar contamination in precise transmission spectroscopy. Our final report was published as an Invited Review in RASTI (Rackham et al. 2023).
Organizer and co-organizer of focused workshops and meetings on exoplanet science, stellar contamination, and JWST exoplanet observations, designed to accelerate progress through shared methods and open resources.
I develop and maintain open-source tools that support reproducible stellar and exoplanet spectroscopy, with an emphasis on practical utilities for working with model spectral libraries and time-domain stellar signals.
