Caltech Postdoctoral Scholar at IPAC

rafelski at me.com

I am a postdoctoral researcher in Astrophysics working at IPAC at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. I just graduated from the University of California, San Diego, where I worked with Professor Arthur Wolfe on low surface brightness emission in the outskirts of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field at z~3 and the possible star formation in neutral atomic-dominated hydrogen gas, known as damped Lyman alpha systems (DLAs). I’m also working on the metallicity evolution of DLAs at z > 4. My research interests involve galaxy formation and evolution, star formation, and observational cosmology. I’m very passionate about teaching; I believe that Astrophysics is a great vehicle for teaching critical thinking and giving the public an appreciation for science. I’m interested in applying inquiry and active based teaching methods to improve science education.