Physics, Remote Sensing & Astronomy
Jenn Cooper completed her PhD in Physics in 2021 and was a Madison & Lila Self Graduate Fellow in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Kansas. She completed undergraduate degrees at Cornell University in 2014 in Mathematical Geophysics cum laude and Archaelogy, with a moinor in Astrophysics, followed by a Msc in Physics at Cal State Los Angeles & UC Irvine. In her free time, she can be found swimming laps in the pool, hiking in the mountains, exploring a new country, swimming laps in the pool or reading a book.
Life & death in the cosmos: how do dense environments such as galaxy clusters affect their ability to survive and create new stars? This study investigates the hydrogen alpha content of galaxies in 3 environments (cluster core, infall, & field) at a redshift ~ 0.5 using the Hubble Space Telescope. Results are in progress and will be published soon.
How can machine learning automate and improve our classification of the gas morphology of galaxies? Image classification is an efficient and accurate method to discern between artifacts, noisy data, and usable sources. This study will be trained on 3DHST (z ~ 1) and GLASS (0.3 < z < 0.7), the latter of which has a 10 orbit depth and will allow for gas morphology classification.
Jenn is currently the President of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists, an organization that focuses on providing opportunities for early career polar scientists around the globe through capacity building, being on the cutting edge of information assessment, and education and outreach to local communities. She previously served as Vice President (2018-2019) and Council Co-Chair (2017-2018) and currently sits on the US National Committee Board of USAPECS.
This is a unique program that is sponsored by Royal Street Ventures, the Kauffman Foundation, and other private donors that focuses on private finance, including angel investing, venture capital, growth equity and private equity for Midwestern startups.