Michael Wood-Vasey

Michael Wood-Vasey is a Professor and Co-Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh, within the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on observational cosmology, particularly the nature of dark energy using Type Ia supernovae (SNeIa) and large-scale surveys like the Rubin Observatory's LSST. He led the SDSS-III project (2012-2015) and contributed to the Pan-STARRS-1 survey. His work includes statistical analysis of supernova data, exoplanet transit research through the STEPUP program, and developing tools like SNCosmo for transient analysis. He advises graduate students and collaborates internationally on projects like MARVELS and BOSS. His research group explores galaxy evolution via quasar absorption systems and exoplanet detection.

Wood-Vasey’s academic roles include mentoring over 30 undergraduates in the STEPUP program and serving as a graduate advisor. His research spans next-generation time-domain astronomy, emphasizing big data techniques and multi-wavelength surveys. He has published extensively on dark energy probes, survey simulations, and observational methodologies, with ongoing work preparing for LSST’s 100,000+ SNeIa dataset.