About Me

Research Overview

I am currently a graduate astrophysics student at McGill University (Department of Physics; Trottier Space Institute) in Tiohtià:ke or Mooniyang, colonially known as Montréal, Québec, Canada. I study black holes, compact object accretion, and relativistic jets with radio very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations. Most recently, I applied Bayesian hierarchical modelling to 2017 Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations of Sagittarius A*—the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy—to infer physical parameters of the surrounding environment and characterise near-event horizon variability.

In May 2026, I completed my Bachelor of Science in Astronomy and Computer Science at the University of Maryland, College Park (High Honours in Astronomy). I defended an undergraduate thesis with Dr. Massimo Ricotti, which included developing a pipeline for producing nebular line emission from early-universe galaxies in cosmological simulations.

Astronomy Ethics

Responsible Telescope Siting

I am a contributing member of the next-generation Event Horizon Telescope (ngEHT) Responsible Siting Committee. We work with lawyers, anthropologists, representatives, and local indigenous communities to ensure responsible, ethical siting practices for telescopes/observatories in the EHT network. A central tenet is ensuring consent-based siting practices (with continuous, informed consent) become the norm in astronomy funding schemes and institutional practices. We are currently developing a responsible siting framework/paper in advance of the next Astronomy Decadal Survey to disseminate across the field and promote ethical siting practices. I am primarily contributing discussion of epistemic violence and the importance of considering historically excluded ontologies/ways of knowing. We held a conference at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Boston to think through these issues and co-generate paths forward.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

As of September 2026, I am serving as the McGill Graduate Association of Physics Students (MGAPS) Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Officer. Systemic barriers along intersecting lines of identity (i.e. race, class, gender identity and expression, sexuality, dis/ability, economic status) have resulted in the field of physics sorely lacking diversity of thought, background, and experience, especially in higher-ranking academic positions. I aim to make the McGill Physics Graduate program more welcoming and inclusive, especially for historically excluded and underrepresented identities in physics. While reducing and eliminating this exclusion and the resultant harms requires vast institutional change through a combination of grassroots/bottom-up pressure and top-down approaches, striving to generate safe, life-affirming environments locally/departmentally is an important step in reducing the “leaky pipeline effect”—the haemorrhaging of minoritised groups from the field at each step of the academic ladder. As such, I work to build community safety in several key ways:

1) I act as a central contact for EDI-related concerns and suggestions for improvement.

2) I am a member of the Departmental EDI committee, representing the needs and desires of MGAPS members.

3) I help organise events and initiatives that celebrate and promote the rich and varied perspectives and backgrounds in the department. So far, this includes:

• Women and nonbinary catered lunches.
• Weekly MGAPS newsletter notes on local and global cultural and religious events, holidays, and anniversaries.

I intend to expand the role. Stay tuned!

Land Acknowledgement

The city colonially known as Montréal originally went by the names Tiohtià:ke and Mooniyang. It is located on the unceded traditional territory of the Kanien’ké:ha, Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Wendat peoples. This land has long served as a place for meeting and exchange among groups of Indigenous people. While this recognition is an important step, settlers must work to further understand their obligations as guests on Indigenous land. For more information, or to get involved, please read the Indigenous Ally Toolkit or donate time or money to the Native Women’s Shelter, Resilience Montreal, or other Indigenous organizations. Land acknowledgement adapted from Queer McGill.