Ph.D. Candidate Pivots from Modeling Earth to Galactic Ideas

Ann-Marsha Alexis, a first-year Ph.D. student in physics at Carnegie Mellon University, has been awarded the John Peoples Jr. Fellowship in Physics. The fellowship provides a stipend and allows first-year graduate students to explore research in their first semester.

"I really like the department. It's very supportive, and a lot of the research is interesting to me," said Alexis, who graduated from Wellesley College with a bachelor's degree in physics.

She uses computational techniques to study the sciences, particularly physics. For example, she created computational models to predict the effects of climate change. Using the physics of fluid dynamics, she built tools to determine the effects of climate change in Mozambique, which is prone to flooding.

"I was always interested in using the physics of climate change, and modeling and simulations in general," Alexis said. "It wasn't new physics research, but it was using physics, which interested me."

Alexis is now applying her modeling skills to computational astrophysics. Her advisor, Rupert Croft, a professor of physics, said that her computer science background helps her stand out from other doctoral candidates.

"Although we don't study climate change in the Physics Department directly, we've recently had a lot of people working on climate change coming through because of the NSF Artificial Intelligence Institute hosted in the Physics Department," Croft said. "They're studying our planet. We study galaxies and other things. But we use similar computational techniques."

Currently, Alexis is simulating spectra to determine the formation of galaxies. She and researchers from other colleges are using the James Webb Telescope to further develop large-scale cosmological models.

Alexis and Croft are using data gathered from the telescope to enhance their cosmological simulations and, in turn, suggesting areas of space to investigate.

"Right now, we are making predictions for what the galaxy should look like," Croft said. "Our computer simulation — the one that Ann-Marsha is working on — we're using that to make galaxy images that we're comparing to the real data."

Outside of the lab, Alexis enjoys hiking and music. She learned traditional drumming, and she is learning to play the organ. However, physics is her major passion.

"I'm looking forward to see where the Ph.D. takes me," Alexis said.