Research
Astrophysics
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Dark Matter in Galaxies: We are working on methods to accurately determine the distribution of dark matter
in the center of spiral and dwarf galaxies using neutral hydrogen 21-cm line observations.
I am also interested in Bayseian methods for deriving the rotation curve parameters.
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Galaxies in Voids:
We are working on methods to accurately determine the stellar content and
star formation history of galaxies in extreme low density environments
to compare their properties with those of similar galaxies in higher
density environments. We are making use of Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data
as well as infrared observations obtained using the Palomar 200-inch telescope.
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Reverberation Mapping:
We are working on comparing the disk wind AGN model of Waters and Proga
to reverberation mapping data obtained by the LAMP collaboration.
Climate Change
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Renewable Energy:
I am working on a way to consult the public in Nevada to help see what pathways
will be acceptable to switch to renewable energy in the next decades. Nevada has
a vast untapped solar resource that could provide substantial amounts of clean
energy to supply the energy needs of the southwestern US.
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With the drought that the Colorado River has been experiencing the last fifteen
years, we (George Rhee and Corwin Grigg) have been computing the probability of
continuing drought based an inferred flows from tree ring statistics for the past
millenium.