FFL Current & Past Fellows

Dr. Romy Rodríguez Martínez  (Sept. 2023 - Present)
Dr.  Romy Rodríguez Martínez received her undergraduate and master's degrees in Physics at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras and she received her doctoral degree from The Ohio State University in 2023. Her research is on a variety of exoplanet-related topics. She uses exoplanet observations from the ground and from space to detect and characterize exoplanets. She is interested in the characterization and interior composition of small exoplanets in particular, and in the links between planetary composition and the chemical composition of their host stars.

Dr. Paola Domínguez Fernández (Jan. 2023 - Present)
Dr. Paola Domínguez Fernández received her doctoral degree from the Universität Hamburg, Germany (2021) and master’s degree from the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Germany (2017). Her research focuses on large-scale magnetic fields and non-thermal phenomena in the Universe, with special interest in the magnetized cosmic web and galaxy clusters. Specifically, the areas related to her work are: primordial magnetic fields, small-scale dynamo theory, turbulence in the intracluster medium, shock dynamics, particle acceleration mechanisms and radio continuum/polarized emission.

Dr. Tyler Holland-Ashford  (Sept. 2021 - Present)
Dr. Tyler Holland-Ashford received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in 2021. He studies X-ray observations of supernova remnants, using spatially resolved imaging and spectral analysis to investigate these extremely energetic objects. His goal is to use supernova remnant observables -- e.g., ejecta masses and distributions, energetics, compact object properties -- to learn more about the processes that occur during supernova explosions and the links between supernova progenitor scenarios and explosion types.

Dr. Yeimy Rivera (Nov. 2020 — 2023)
Dr. Yeimy Rivera, received her PhD from the University of Michigan in 2020. Her research pertains to investigating the evolution of plasma from the Sun by studying heavy ions in the solar wind and transients. In the past, she has simulated the non-equilibrium ionization evolution of ions in a coronal mass ejection and the solar wind between the Sun and interplanetary space to investigate the thermodynamic conditions that reproduce ion observations. Presently, she is investigating heavy ion depleted plasma, measured near the Earth, to understand the mechanism responsible for the absence of selected charge states in the heliosphere. Additionally, throughout her postdoctoral appointment she plans to investigate heavy ion signatures in the solar wind with Solar Orbiter's Heavy Ion Sensor and Parker Solar Probe's SPAN-Ai. She is now an Astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

Dr. Bryan Terrazas (Sept. 2019 — 2022)
Dr. Bryan Terrazas, received his PhD from the University of Michigan. He studies the mechanisms behind the suppression of star formation (i.e. quiescence) in galaxies, working to develop a more comprehensive theoretical understanding of how black hole-driven feedback may influence the galaxy-baryon cycle as well as how it may affect the observed trends and correlations found in galaxy populations. In January 2024 he will begin as an assistant professor in physics and astronomy at Oberlin College.

Dr. Richard Anantua (Jan. 2019 - 2021)
Dr. Richard Anantua arrived following his postdoctoral appointment at the Theoretical Astrophysics Center at UC Berkeley, where he collaborated with Prof. Eliot Quataert. Prior to this, Richard earned his doctoral (2016) and master’s degrees (2013) in physics from Stanford University under Prof. Roger Blandford; his master’s in education policy and management (2014) from Harvard University; and his bachelor’s (2010) in (physics and philosophy) and (economics and mathematics) from Yale University. His research seeks to model near-horizon emission from supermassive black holes in AGN using the methodology of “observing” simulations of jet (or outflow)/accretion disk/black hole (JAB) systems. He is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Dr. Laura Mayorga (2017 - 2020)
Dr. Mayorga received her PhD and MS in Astronomy from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico, after receiving her BS in Astronomy and Physics from the University of Washington. Her research focuses on the use of data from the Cassini spacecraft to determine the reflected light phase curve of Jupiter, and to use the ground truth of the solar system to prepare for direct imaging studies of extrasolar planets. She is now a Post Doctoral fellow in the SES/SRE division at The Johns Hopkins Applied Research Laboratory.

Dr. Joseph E. Rodriguez, Jr. (2016 - 2019)
Dr. Rodriguez earned his doctorate in physics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee after receiving a B.S. in astrophysics and psychology at Rutgers College and an M.S. in applied and engineering physics at George Mason University. His research focuses on the discovery and characterization of exoplanets and protoplanetary disks to better understand how planets form and evolve. He is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University. 

Dr. Trevor Rhone (2015 - 2019)
Dr. Rhone earned his doctorate at Columbia University in New York. He began his postdoctoral fellowship in the group of Professor Amir Yacoby and Professor Ronald Walsworth in 2015. His research includes investigating materials' properties using NMR spectroscopy based on nitrogen­vacancy centers in diamond. Trevor recently returned from Japan where he worked at NTT Basic Research Labs and the National Institute of Materials Science. His research comprised NMR spectroscopy of two dimensional electron systems and materials informatics, respectively. He is now Assistant Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

Dr. Nia Imara (2014 - 2017)
Dr. Imara earned her doctorate in astrophysics from the University of California, Berkeley and her BA in physics and math from Kenyon College in Ohio. Her research focuses on giant molecular clouds, the birth sites of stars, as well as on the properties and cosmological effects of galactic and intergalactic dust. She is also an organizer for the Banneker & Aztlán Institute at the Center for Astrophysics. She is now Assistant Professor at UC Santa Cruz.