Research Interests
I am the Wetton Professor of Astrophysics at 91探花 and the Director of the Hintze Centre for Astrophysical Surveys.
I work on processing data from several large sky survey projects. One of them, the , funded by NASA which can scan the whole visible sky every 24hrs. We process the data in real time, linking discoveries to galaxy and star catalogues and trigger ESO and other facilities for multi-wavelength follow-up. I work on preparation for the Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time and have a scientific leadership role in the With colleagues at Queen's and the University of Hawaii I search for the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave sources, mostly from merging neutron stars. We use the Pan-STARRS twin telescope system and then the ESO telescopes for follow-up. I was one of the founding members of acilities for follow-up of the optical and near-infrared emission from gravitational wave sources. I sit on the Rubin Observatory's Survey Cadence and Optimisation Committee and the Virgo-EGO Science and Technology Advisory Committee.
My team search for kilonovae and fast transients in wide field optical survey data. We apply models to multi-wavelength follow-up data to probe the physics and origins of the explosions and mergers detected in the transient survey data. I gratefully acknowledge funding from the Royal Society, in the form of a Royal Society Research Professorhip (2024 - 2028).