Robin Herrnstein
Welcome!
From 2003 - 2005, I was a post-doctoral fellow in astronomy at Columbia University. Now I'm living out on Long Island, but I'm still working on a few astronomy projects through Columbia. Feel free to look around!
Contents:
Research Interests:
The central parsecs
of the Galaxy:
The center of the Milky
Way provides a unique opportunity to study the processes
in galactic nuclei at high resolution. Observations of molecular gas allow us to study large-scale accretion (or lack thereof!) as well as place limits on the resevoir from which new stars may form. I am working on a number of projects
that hope to increase the understanding of the kinematics of gas very
close to a super-massive black hole.
- High-Velocity (>150 km/s) Molecular Gas at the Galactic Center
Collaborators: Jen Donovan (Columbia) and P.T.P. Ho (CfA)
- Dense Molecular Gas in IC342
Collaborators: Maria Montero-Castano (CfA) and P.T.P. Ho (CfA)
- Sgr A* flux density monitoring project:
Collaborators: J. Zhao, G. Bower,
W.M. Goss
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Activities in the Astronomical Community
- I am currently one of the editors of GCNews, a newsletter dedicated to recent results in Galactic Center research.
- I have also served as a referee for the Astrophysical Journal.
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Teaching
Most Recent Teaching:
From 2003 to 2005, I was an instructor for Frontiers
of Science through the Columbia Science
Fellows Program. In 2003, I was involved in the first
(pilot) offering of this course. Although still rough around the
edges, the course went well, and beginning in Fall 2004, Frontiers was
taken by every frist-year student at Columbia!! Experts
give a series of lectures in fields such as biodiversity, global
climate change, the brain, and astronomy. Following these
lectures, students meet in small seminar groups. Unfortunately, you
need to be a member of the Columbia community in order to view the
full course content. Please check out the public
course site for more information.
Links and Figures used in the 2004 Astronomy Unit of Frontiers can be found here.
Previous Teaching Experience:
Astro S-8 (summer term 2001) "Planets, Moons, and the Search for Alien Life: An
Introduction to the Solar System and to the Search for Planets
Around Other Stars" (Teaching (Lab) Fellow)
Science A-36
(fall term 1999,2000) "Observing
the Sun and the Stars" (Teaching Fellow)
Science
A-35 (spring term 1999,2000) "Matter in the Universe" (Teaching Fellow, section page
)
I also participated in the Bok Center's Senior Teaching Fellow Program
in spring of 2001 and the Discussion Leading Seminar in fall of 2002.
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Public Outreach
- In 2002, I was a Science Mentor
for undergraduate women majoring in astronomy at Harvard University.
- I helped out with CfA Virtual
Observatory , one of the prototypes for the NVO
(National Virtual Observatory). In the future, the NVO
will allow astronomers and the public easy access to astronomical
data at all wavelengths. Linking everyone up takes a lot
of time and communication, though, and we're just getting started!
In addition to helping out with the "radio" perspective, I'm also
helping design the website!
- I am a trained astronomer for
Project Astro --Boston . During the 2001-2002
school year, I visted my partner teacher (Lovelee) to teach
the kids about astronomy. I worked with kindergarten
afterschool kids at the Agassiz Afterschool Program and also
with 4-year-olds at the Beacon Hill School.
- I was a science email buddy for 7th
and 8th graders at Cummings Elementary School during the 1999-2000
and 2000-2001 school years.
- I was a volunteer for a Freshmen Science
Class at
Cambridge Ringe and Latin School
through Cambridge School Volunteers
during the 2000-2001 school year.
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Fun Stuff
A little bit about me...
I received my PhD in Astronomy from Harvard University
in 2003. I went to college at
Furman University in Greenville, SC and am originally from Fayetteville,
NC .
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Contact information
Robin M. Herrnstein
Department of Astronomy
Columbia University
Mail Code 5246
550 West 120th St.
New York, NY 10027
(note: I am only occasionally on campus now, so if you need to get in touch with me, email is your best bet)
email: herrnstein@astro.columbia.edu
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last updated Jan 2, 2006