Floor Broekgaarden

Floor Broekgaarden is Assistant Professor of Astronomy at UC San Diego, pioneering Gravitational Wave Paleontology to study massive stars through compact object mergers. She directs the Gravitational Wave Paleontology Lab and founded the SMASH initiative for interdisciplinary data science collaboration.

Education includes:

• Ph.D. Astrophysics, Harvard University (2023)
• M.Sc. Astronomy, University of Amsterdam/Vrije Universiteit (2018)
• B.Sc. Physics & Astronomy and B.Sc. Mathematics, University of Amsterdam (2017)

Research develops computational methods to analyze binary evolution across cosmic time, addressing the 'Uncertainty Challenge' in gravitational wave source modeling. Projects integrate population synthesis, machine learning, and cosmological simulations to trace stellar evolution pathways.

Publications explore metallicity dependencies in binary formation, detector capabilities for next-generation observatories, and multi-messenger strategies. Recent work quantifies deviations between black hole merger rates and cosmic star formation histories.

Recipient of Simons Foundation, NASA, and NSF grants supporting research on stellar populations and gravitational wave detection. Leads international collaborations in the COMPAS consortium and Einstein Telescope initiative.

Mentors graduate students in projects spanning r-process enrichment, detection rate predictions, and machine learning applications for binary evolution modeling.