Ryan Cooke

Ryan Cooke is a Professor (Research) and Royal Society University Research Fellow at The Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics, Department of Physics, Durham University. Previously, he was a Morrison and Hubble Research Fellow at the University of California, Santa Cruz (2012-2016) and a Junior Research Fellow at Peterhouse, Cambridge (2011-2012). He completed his PhD at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge (2008-2011) under Prof. Max Pettini and Prof. Donald Lynden-Bell, with undergraduate degrees from the University of Sydney and Queensland University of Technology.

His research focuses on Big Bang nucleosynthesis, cosmology, and fundamental physics, particularly studying the earliest stars and chemical evolution in the universe. Cooke specializes in analyzing extremely metal-poor systems to understand Population III stars and the primordial chemical composition. His work spans observational cosmology, spectroscopy of distant galaxies, and precision measurements of light element abundances.

Analysis of Cooke's recent publications reveals a strong focus on metal-poor gas systems across cosmic time, with particular emphasis on damped Lyman-alpha systems, circumgalactic medium studies, and precision measurements of primordial element abundances. His research increasingly incorporates advanced data analysis techniques and instrumental development for next-generation telescopes like the Extremely Large Telescope.

• Royal Society University Research Fellow
• Morrison and Hubble Research Fellow
• Junior Research Fellow at Peterhouse, Cambridge

Cooke actively supervises graduate students, with Aldric Wong listed among his current supervisees. His research is supported through prestigious fellowships and collaborations with major observatories including Keck Observatory. He contributes significantly to instrumental development through projects like PypeIt, a Python spectroscopic data reduction pipeline.

As part of the MAGG (MUSE Analysis of Gas around Galaxies) survey team and involved in the KBSS (Keck Baryonic Structure Survey) collaboration, Cooke works with international teams to study galaxy formation and evolution through integral field spectroscopy. His current research at Durham's Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics continues to push the boundaries of our understanding of the early universe's chemical evolution.