Speaker: Kristen McQuinn (Rutgers & STScI)

Host: Jake Simon

Title: Transformational Resolved Stellar Populations Studies with the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes

 Abstract:

Our ability to resolve and measure the properties of 1,000's of individual stars in external galaxies was transformed by the high sensitivity and spatial resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and is now being transformed again with the more powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Data from these incredible observatories allow us to characterize and age-date ensemble stellar populations which have far-reaching scientific impacts. In this talk, I will present the most detailed and quantitative measures of the star formation histories of nearby galaxies, discuss insights into their growth across cosmic timescales as a function of environment, and provide constraints on the intersection of the epoch of reionization in the early universe and galaxy evolution. I will focus on low-mass galaxies which are the most sensitive probes of myriad astrophysical processes.

Bio:

Kristen McQuinn is an astrophysicist interested in the formation and evolution of low-mass galaxies, near-field cosmology illuminated by the faint-end of the galaxy luminosity function, and precision measurements of the extragalactic distance scale. She received her PhD from Univ. of Minnesota in 2010, has been on the faculty at Rutgers University since 2019, and is currently the Mission Head of Science Operations at the Space Telescope Science Institute for NASA’s new flagship telescope: The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope.