Aaron Parsons

Aaron Parsons is an Associate Professor in the Astronomy Department at the University of California, Berkeley, and serves as the Director of the UC Berkeley Radio Astronomy Laboratory and Equity and Diversity Officer. He earned an A.S. from Colorado Northwestern Community College (1998), a B.A. in Physics and Mathematics from Harvard (2002), and a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley (2009), where he worked under Don Backer and spent time at Arecibo Observatory as a predoctoral researcher.

• Research focuses on early universe cosmology using 21cm hydrogen observations
• Lead of HYPERION and HERA projects
• Expertise in radio astronomy instrumentation and digital signal processing

Key Projects:

• HYPERION: Detecting the spatial monopole of the 21cm brightness temperature to study the Epoch of Reionization
• HERA: Characterizing the Epoch of Reionization through redshifted neutral hydrogen observations

His work provides insights into the formation of the first stars and galaxies, with technical contributions to interferometer design and signal processing.

Scientific Recognition:

• National Science Foundation (NSF) Postdoctoral Fellow
• Charles Townes Fellow at UC Berkeley

Contact: aparsons@astro.berkeley.edu