The Team

Dr. Jeyhan Kartaltepe

My name is Jeyhan Kartaltepe and I am an astrophysicist at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). My research covers the broad area of galaxy evolution, studying how galaxies first formed in our universe and how they have evolved over time. I am especially interested in galaxy mergers and interactions, very distant galaxies, and learning about their physical properties through spectroscopy (which Redshift Wrangler is all about!).

Sadie Coffin

My name is Sadie Coffin and I am a PhD student at RIT working with Dr. Kartaltepe to study galaxy evolution. I work on the main pages of the Redshift Wrangler site organizing the content and workflows, and I am conducting the analysis of our output data from Redshift Wrangler. I'm excited to see what our project can do and watch our team grow! I love learning about the Universe because I'm drawn to what we don't know, and I am passionate about communicating science, especially through research with citizen science. Along with working on Redshift Wrangler, I am interested in studying interacting galaxies and galaxy pairs to learn more about the timeline of the universe and how galaxies have evolved over cosmic history. I'm excited to have you working with us!

Dr. Ali Ahmad Khostovan

My name is Ali Ahmad Khostovan and I am an astrophysicist working as a postdoctoral fellow with Jeyhan Kartaltepe at RIT. My research is primarily investigating how galaxies form and evolve over cosmic time that resulted in the large-scale structure and galaxies we see today (including the one we currently live in). Specifically, I am interested in understanding statistical/physical properties of star-forming galaxy populations, their internal/ISM properties, star-formation histories (especially for extreme, star-forming galaxies), and clustering properties (how galaxies group within the large, cosmic structure). As part of Redshift Wrangler, I am working on reducing spectroscopic data drawn from the archives of various observatories which will be used to determine accurate redshifts (distance) and observe emission lines associated with star-formation activity, stellar populations, and interstellar medium properties which are all needed to really grasp what happened inside galaxies over cosmic time.

Rohan Pattnaik

My name is Rohan Pattnaik and I am a PhD student at RIT working in Dr. Kartaltepe's group. My primary fields of interest are extragalactic astrophysics and applications of machine learning to study galaxy evolution. In particular I am investigating how galaxies evolved during the the early stages of the universe and trying to understand the role that the local environments of galaxies played in their evolution. But before I can start my investigation, we need to identify these interesting galaxies from the early universe and measure their properties. That's where Redshift Wrangler and you come in! Channel your inner Sherlock Holmes and identify important clues that are hidden in the data. Using the properties that you've helped identify I will be able to train a Convolutional Neural Network that can identify the redshift and ISM properties directly from the spectra of galaxies!

Fiona Hufford

I’m Fiona Hufford, an undergraduate student at Rochester Institute of Technology up in Western, New York. I am studying Physics and Mathematics leading on a path toward Astrophysics and Physics Education! My part of Redshift Wrangler was all things spectroscopy and spectra. I worked on the videos and set up the instructions.

Ash Bista

Howdy strangers. My name is Ash Bista and I am an undergraduate physics student at RIT. This is my first summer of astrophysical research and it has been a super fun, but also tricky process. The research I'm doing involves grasping a better understanding of the last major phase change of the universe, known as the Era of Reionization. This is accomplished through measuring redshifts and emission line fluxes in order to calculate star formation rates and possibly even look for active galactic nuclei (the stuff of blackholes!) These redshift measurements from users like you are significant to my studies, as well as the rest of the team. Here at Redshift Wrangler we hope to achieve great things together with your help. Come along and join me for this cosmic journey!

Roselyn M. Veras

My name is Roselyn M. Veras, and I am an undergraduate student at Bennington College studying physics and computer science. I am working on the outreach portion of the Redshift Wrangler project, aiming to make it accessible and engaging for classrooms. In this role, I focus on creating educational materials and activities that bring the exciting aspects of galaxy evolution research to students. I am passionate about making science accessible and inspiring the next generation of scientists. In addition to my work on Redshift Wrangler, I am deeply interested in understanding the mysteries of the Universe and sharing the wonders of astronomy with others. I am thrilled to be part of this project and to collaborate with you on this journey of discovery!

Jon Fitch

Jon is a senior undergraduate student at RIT who's always been excited by stars and galaxies. They split their time between physics and public policy research, but in their free time, they're a big fan of sci-fi books and movies. This love for science fiction helped fuel their love for science fact all the way to adulthood, when they could achieve a childhood dream of theirs by helping to study galaxies.

Amy Culig

Amy is a fifth-year undergraduate at RIT who's planning on graduating with a degree in physics and mathematics. When she's not working on her academics, Amy likes to assemble large thousand-piece puzzles, watch old cartoons about giant robots, and sample cheap fruity wines. She's always excited to contribute to scientific research, and she always forgets to bring her telescope to go stargazing.

Sangeeta Kumar

Sangeeta is a sophomore undergrad researching for the Research Experience Undergraduate program at RIT. She attends Folsom Lake Community College, plans on transferring to a UC, and majors in astrophysics. She loves going out to eat at cute restaurants and trying new food. She also loves pointing out constellations to her friends and annoying them with little factoids about astronomy. She aims to contribute to the impactful research of our ever-expanding universe.

This work is funded by NASA. Find other information about NASA Citizen Science Projects here: http://science.nasa.gov/citizenscience