Heidi Jo Newberg

Heidi Jo Newberg is a Professor in the Department of Physics, Applied Physics & Astronomy at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She specializes in Galactic structure, dark matter distribution, and space telescope design, utilizing stars as tracers for Milky Way substructures. Her work spans astrophysics, astronomical surveys, and big data analysis.

Research Focus:

• Galactic Halo and Disk Substructure
• Dark Matter Localization
• Primary Objective Grating Telescopes
• Participation in Sloan Digital Sky Survey and LAMOST surveys

Recent Publications highlight advancements in grating telescope technology, analysis of tidal streams (Orphan-Chenab, Sagittarius), and chemodynamic studies of the stellar halo. Her MilkyWay@home project enables distributed computing for galactic modeling.

Education:

• BS in Physics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1987)
• PhD in Physics, University of California, Berkeley (1992)