I’m an astronomy professor at the University of Washington. My research combines observations and theory to explain how the largest (and weirdest!) stars in the universe evolve and die.

I’m currently a Fulbright U.S. Scholar and a Guggenheim Fellow. I’ve received the 2023 Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award, the 2020 Newton Lacy Pierce prize, and the 2014 Annie Jump Cannon award from the American Astronomical Society. I’m also a 2019 Cottrell Scholar, a 2018 Kavli Fellow, and a 2017 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. From 2010 to 2015 I was a Hubble and Einstein postdoctoral fellow at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I received my astronomy PhD at University of Hawaii in 2010 and my S.B. in physics from MIT in 2006.

My first popular science book, The Last Stargazers, shares the tales and experiences of astronomical observing; read more about it at the link! I’ve also written two academic books: a professional text on red supergiants and a graduate textbook on stellar interiors and evolution written with co-author Henny J. G. L. M. Lamers. You can learn more on my Books page!