Lea Hirsch

Lea Hirsch is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), affiliated with the Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences. Her research focuses on discovering and characterizing exoplanets using radial velocity and direct imaging methods, with particular emphasis on planetary orbits, brown dwarfs, and the effects of binary star systems on planet formation. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (2018).

Her research interests include studying exoplanet demographics, occurrence rates, and the dynamics of planets in binary systems. She investigates how binary companions influence planetary formation and stability, leveraging statistical comparisons between single and binary star systems. She emphasizes innovative teaching methods in astronomy courses, integrating computational skills and problem-based learning.

Lea collaborates extensively with projects like the TESS-Keck Survey and the California Legacy Survey, contributing to large-scale exoplanet detection and cataloging efforts. Her work bridges observational astronomy with planetary science, addressing fundamental questions about our galactic neighborhood and the prevalence of Earth-like worlds.