Introduction

I'm a second-year Ph.D. student working with Prof. Decker French at UIUC. I study galaxy evolution with a focus on AGN variability and quenching, or the shutoff of star-formation.

A white woman with shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes.

Publications

Fading AGN in Post-Starburst Galaxies K. Decker French, Nicholas Earl, Annemarie B. Novack, Bhavya Pardasani, Vismaya R. Pillai, Akshat Tripathi, Margaret E. Verrico The Astrophysical Journal, 2023

Merger Signatures are Common, but not Universal, in Massive, Recently-Quenched Galaxies at z ∼ 0.7 Margaret Verrico, David J. Setton, Rachel Bezanson, Jenny E. Greene, Katherine A. Suess, Andy D. Goulding, Justin S. Spilker, Mariska Kriek, Robert Feldmann, Desika Narayanan, Vincenzo Donofrio, Gourav Khullar The Astrophysical Journal, 2023.

Star Formation Suppression by Tidal Removal of Cold Molecular Gas from an Intermediate-Redshift Massive Post-Starburst Galaxy Justin S. Spilker, Katherine A. Suess, David J. Setton, Rachel Bezanson, Robert Feldmann, Jenny E. Greene, Mariska Kriek, Sidney Lower, Desika Narayanan, Margaret Verrico The Astrophysical Journal, 2022.

The Origin and Evolution of Compact Massive z∼0.7 Post-Starburst Galaxies in the SQuIGGLE Survey David J. Setton, Margaret Verrico, Rachel Bezanson, Jenny E. Greene, Katherine A. Suess, Robert Feldmann, Andy D. Goulding, Khalil Hall-Hooper, Erin Kado-Fong, Mariska Kriek, Desika Narayanan, Justin S. Spilker The Astrophysical Journal, 2022.

SQuIGGLE: Studying Quenching in Intermediate-z Galaxies— Gas, AnguLar Momentum, and Evolution Katherine A. Suess, Mariska Kriek, Rachel Bezanson, Jenny E. Greene, David Setton, Justin S. Spilker, Robert Feldmann, Andy D. Goulding, Benjamin D. Johnson, Joel Leja, Desika Narayanan, Khalil Hall-Hooper, Qiana Hunt, Sidney Lower, and Margaret Verrico The Astrophysical Journal, 2021.

Now you see it, now you don't: Star formation truncation precedes the loss of molecular gas by ~100 Myr in massive post-starburst galaxies at z~0.6 Rachel Bezanson, Justin S. Spilker, Katherine A. Suess, David J. Setton, Robert Feldmann, Jenny E. Greene, Mariska Kriek, Desika Narayanan, and Margaret Verrico The Astrophysical Journal, 2021.

Outreach

Summer Camp

I ran the UIUC High School Girls' Astronomy Summer Camp in June 2023. We work with local high schoolers on a variety of astronomy-related projects, including night observing, spectroscopy, and a coding exercise. We are currently working on expanding the camp to a full week and expanding our target audience from girls to all under-represented minorities in astronomy and physics. Watch this space for more information for the summer of 2024!

Science Olympiad

In 2023, I ran the regional and state Solar System B events for Illinois Science Olympiad. I wrote the exam for the regional-level competition at Parkland College. I ran the event for the state-level competition at UIUC. I plan to continue participating in Science Olympiad events in spring 2024.

Society for Equity in Astronomy

In academic year 2023-2024, I will be co-head of SEA, the Society for Equity in Astronomy at UIUC. SEA provides several services to undergraduates and grad students at UIUC, including a mentor-mentee program, information on research funding and opportunities, study breaks, and our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Tea with visiting colloquium speakers. In 2024, we plan to re-establish relationships with local schools and teachers to show students of all ages that anyone can be an astronomer!You can learn more about SEA at our website.

CV

For more information on my publications, talks, teaching experience, and research, please see my professional CV linked below.