Alyssa A. Goodman

Alyssa A. Goodman is the Robert Wheeler Wilson Professor of Applied Astronomy at Harvard University, Co-Director for Science at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution. Her work bridges astronomy, computational methods, and educational innovation.

Research Interests: Goodman investigates star formation and galactic structure using multi-wavelength observational techniques. She focuses on interstellar gas dynamics, particularly dense filamentary clouds dubbed "The Bones of the Milky Way," and contributes to 3D dust mapping projects like MilkyWay3D.org. Her computational work explores linked-view data visualization and machine learning applications.

Leadership & Projects: She led The COMPLETE Survey of Star-Forming Regions and co-founded Harvard's Initiative in Innovative Computing. Current projects include "Seamless Astronomy," with tools such as glue, Authorea, the Astronomy Dataverse, and the WorldWide Telescope Ambassadors Program. Her NASA-funded glue software supports James Webb Space Telescope data analysis.

Presentations:

• May 6, 2025: "How do young stars leave home? And why might that matter?" at Ringberg Castle, Germany.
• April 7, 2025: "Seeing the Milky Way in 3D" at CIERA, Northwestern University.