some things i'm doing at mit

coursework

mentorship and teaching

i’ve been mentoring for mit’s physics department since fall 2022; i’ve mentored for 8.033 (relativity) and 8.04 (quantum physics I). i teach physics and astronomy to high schoolers for splash. science olympiad was a major catalyst for my current interest in astrophysics, and i try to pay that forward in my involvement in the national Science Olympiad A-team

research

i’ve completed several different research projects at mit: one on investigating exoplanets around variable stars, one on tracing dark matter particles in the TNG-100 cosmological simulation, one on modeling the conversion of axion dark matter into photons in neutron star magnetospheres, and one on biases in population inference of gravitational wave data. in the last project, i worked with professor Salvatore Vitale at MIT LIGO. using gravitational wave data from the latest dataset (GWTC-3), i used hierarchical bayesian inference to constrain the branching fractions of different binary black hole formation channels, made projections for what the same analysis could look like in a few years at the end of the current observing run, and investigated at the potential pitfalls of this method. see my publication here! last summer, i participated in caltech’s ligo surf, where i did similarly exciting gravitational-wave astrophysics research on binary black hole populations

this semester, i’ve pivoted to work on something a little different: cosmology with fast radio bursts (FRBs)! i’ve always been interested in cosmology, and my research in binary black hole populations with gravitational waves helped me realize that i really enjoy population analyses and using cool astrophysical phenomena to answer bigger questions. i work with professor Kiyo Masui at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research; i’m simulating frb DM-galaxy cross correlations in the Illustris-TNG cosmological simulations to better understand the error bars on the power spectrm and selection effects

i also participate in mit’s physics directed reading program, where each iap (january), undergrads are paired with grad students to read and learn about a topic of their choice. in 2022, i learned about the general relativistic treatment for cosmology and using perturbation theory to understand features of the cosmic microwave background. in 2023, i learned more in-depth about gravitational waves, binary black-hole inspirals, and the mathematical formalism behind general relativity

clubs

• i dance for adt (asian dance team) and lion dance!
• i wrote for mit's infinite magazine, and i modelled for them at the first ever mit gala!
• i performed duet (from omori) at the fall 2022 vgo (video game orchestra) concert
• i'm the former webmaster and VP of advocacy for undergraduate women in physics (UWiP)
• i serve on the mit physics values committee, which makes recommendations to the department on how to make mit physics better
• i'm the physics common room steward, which means i buy snacks for it and maintain it as a nice space for students
• i teach for splash, a student-run teaching program for high school students! i taught an astronomy class (2021) and a relativity class (2022).
• i'm the treasurer, Valorant coordinator, and Valorant team manager for mit's riot games club! i organize customs and watch parties and things like that