معرفی
Catherine Espaillat is a Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Astronomy at Boston University, where she also serves as the Director of the Institute for Astrophysical Research. She joined Boston University in 2013 after completing postdoctoral fellowships at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, supported by the NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship and NASA Carl Sagan Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Education:
- B.A. from Columbia University (2003)
- Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the University of Michigan (2009)
Her research centers on planet formation through the study of protoplanetary disks as planetary nurseries, investigating circumstellar disk structure, evolution, and multiwavelength variability in young stellar systems. She employs radiative transfer modeling and observational data spanning X-ray to radio wavelengths, with significant contributions through the ODYSSEUS international collaboration analyzing HST ULLYSES datasets and coordinating ground-based observations.
Scientific Awards:
- Sloan Research Fellowship
- National Science Foundation CAREER award
- Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
- NASA Carl Sagan Postdoctoral Fellowship
- NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship
Dr. Espaillat secures major research funding including the NSF CAREER award and leads large-scale collaborative projects like ODYSSEUS. She is deeply committed to mentoring, founding the LUMA peer-mentoring program that supports underrepresented minority women in astronomy, physics, and planetary science through structured peer guidance and professional development.
She directs Boston University's Institute for Astrophysical Research and co-leads the ODYSSEUS collaboration, which coordinates observational campaigns across global facilities to advance understanding of star and planet formation processes.
