Hello, and welcome to my website! I'm currently a postdoctoral fellow working on small body astronomy at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. I study the behavior and evolution of comets, asteroids, and related objects roaming the solar system.
Academic History
- 2023–present: Lowell Observatory
- Percival Lowell Postdoctoral Fellow
- 2017–2023: California Institute of Technology
- Planetary Science, Ph.D. (2024)
- Planetary Science, M.S. (2019)
- 2013–2017: University of California, Santa Barbara
- Physics, B.S. (2017)
Recent Highlights
2023 Nov 14: Zhang et al. (2023b) (arXiv:2311.04267) constrained the number density of kilometer-scale objects in the Kuiper Belt through a survey for serendipitous occultations.
2023 Apr 25: Zhang et al. (2023a) (arXiv:2303.17625) used SOHO & STEREO imagery to show asteroid (3200) Phaethon's comet-like brightening and tail to be from sodium fluorescence. Also see press releases by ESA and NASA.