I am an astronomer at the Institute for Computational Cosmology, part of the Department of Physics at Durham University. Before this, I was an ITC Fellow at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (2017-2021). I received my PhD at Durham (2013-2017), and my undergraduate/Masters degree in Physics at St.Catherine's College, University of Oxford (2009-2013).
My research makes use of some of the largest supercomputers in the world to study the formation of galaxies in our Universe. I am especially interested in trying to figure new ways to test models of dark matter and gravity, and making predictions that could potentially be measured in the real distribution of galaxies in the cosmos. You can read more about my research interests here .
Besides research, I am very passionate about education and outreach, and enjoy thinking about new ways of communicating science. Perhaps most importantly, my primary passion is football, and my outlook on life is usually dictated by how Manchester United have been performing at that point in the season.
What is the identity of the dark matter that dominates the gravity of our Universe? How do the properties of the particle affect the formation of galaxies in our cosmos? By confronting theoretical data with ever more precise observational data, we can hope to one day pin down the nature of this most enigmatic component of our Universe.
Click here for my publications on this topicThe Milky Way and its faint, neigbouring satellite galaxies offer some of the best laboratories for constraining the properties of dark matter, and provide us an opportunity to understand how the first generation of galaxies formed.
Click here for my publications on this topicWhile our goal as comsologists is to infer the underlying structure of the Universe, all we observe is the observable galaxy population. What determines the mapping between the luminous and the dark matter? How does the growth history of dark matter haloes influence the galactic populations that eventually reside within them?
Click here for my publications on this topicAs the Universe emerges out of the cosmic dark ages, the first stars and galaxies begin to illuminate the cosmos through gradually expanding islands of radiation. This epoch of "cosmic dawn" encodes key details of identity of the dark matter, and plays a vital role in the distribution of the galaxies we observe today.
Click here for my publications on this topicThe Cosmic Web of structure spans several billions of light years and is dotted with galaxies; galaxies that we one day hope to map through large-scale redshift surveys. In the upcoming decade a plethora of new surveys will provide some of the tightest constraints on the cosmological parameters underpinning our Universe.
Click here for my publications on this topicIt is now well-established that expansion of our Universe is accelerating--but our theories for what drives this expansion are still woefully incomplete. Is it the vacuum energy in the form of a cosmological constant? Or does a complete picture of accelerated expansion demand a modification to the equations of General Relativity altogether?
Click here for my publications on this topicUnder construction!
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